With the tightening scrutiny on foreign-born employees in the hotel industry, the number of background checks requested by American hotel recruitment managers in the first half of 2025 has increased compared to the same period in 2024.
According to data from Hireology, a company tracking recruitment and employment trends in 1,000 American hotels, the number of background checks requested by hotel recruitment managers from January to June 2025 has increased by 36% compared to the same period in 2024.
Patrick Scholes, an analyst with Truist Hotels, stated, “Corporations are more aware of this than ever before. They do not want to be implicated or accused of laxity in immigrant status verification during the recruitment process.”
Data from the U.S. Travel Association shows that at least one-third of employees employed or supported by the American tourism industry are immigrants. Statistics from the American Hotel and Lodging Association indicate that in 2024, the hotel industry directly employed over 2.15 million people.
The total recruitment numbers in 1,000 hotels have increased by 22%, exceeding 8,000 people. The popularity of positions such as front desk assistants, room attendants, and chefs have either remained steady or slightly increased compared to the previous year.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Tourism Economics in 2023, approximately 34% of room attendants and 24% of chefs in the U.S. were foreign-born.
The AHLA data reveals that 30% to 40% of these positions are filled by foreign-born individuals, many of whom are unauthorized immigrants or temporary workers. Around half of the agricultural labor force in the U.S. consists of illegal immigrants.
Industries such as farms, hotels, and restaurants have historically operated in a gray area where illegal workers were tolerated, and employers were seldom held accountable.
With the shift in policies under the Trump administration, enforcement exemptions for these establishments were lifted. Todd Lyons, ICE director in July 2025, emphasized, “We won’t overlook you just because you work in a restaurant or a hotel.”
This signifies that ICE no longer only targets individuals with criminal records; rather, their focus is on finding and arresting those who are present in the country illegally. Employers are also being held accountable, potentially facing penalties.
This shift sends a strong message to society about the importance of abiding by the law, strengthens the enforcement agencies’ authority, promotes compliance with the law, and upholds the rule of law principle – illegal means illegal.
As the saying goes, “You can’t selectively enforce some laws; that would render the law meaningless.”
Supporters of these policies view them as a fundamental solution. It aims to deter future illegal immigrants, protect the domestic labor market and wage levels, reduce the strain on public resources and financial burdens, and combat human trafficking and underground labor practices.
Human rights groups argue that undocumented status exposes immigrants to exploitation, thus reinforcing the system may have positive implications.
Critics of these policies warn of the “human cost,” such as family separations, industry disruptions, labor shortages in agriculture and the hotel industry, and increased racial tensions among Asian and Latinx communities.
Employing illegal immigrants has transformed these industries into a “contradictory zone” in American immigration policy. While these industries rely on immigrant labor, including unauthorized individuals, immigration enforcement agencies are intensifying efforts against illegal residents.
Between 2024 to 2025, the U.S. hotel industry faces multiple challenges in terms of hiring, including labor shortages, market dynamics, policy changes, and societal issues. By mid-2025, the primary obstacle faced by the hotel industry in terms of employment is the shortage of workers, particularly in positions like housekeeping, laundry staff, front desk, and maintenance workers.
After the pandemic, many hotel workers shifted to other industries such as retail or Amazon warehouses. Additionally, young individuals are less willing to engage in physically demanding work, legal low-skilled labor sources, especially immigrants, are limited, while many hotels that previously relied on undocumented workers are now facing tighter ICE enforcement.
According to the 2025 report by the American Hotel and Lodging Association, over 80% of hotels nationwide indicate labor shortages, even with increased wages, making it challenging to fill staffing schedules. Reports have mentioned a chain hotel in Florida offering $22 per hour for front desk positions but still struggling to find staff due to high job stress and difficult guests.
In a report, CBS highlighted that post-ICE enforcement resumption, numerous hotels in various regions lost a significant number of cleaning staff and temporary workers, leading to outsourcing or service cutbacks.
Legal immigrant worker statuses primarily include H-2A temporary agricultural worker visas, which allow U.S. farms to temporarily hire foreign agricultural workers. However, the process is cumbersome and costly, often prompting farm owners to complain about low efficiency. Green card holders or other permanent residents are allowed to work legally, including in farm labor. Furthermore, some individuals in the U.S. with precarious legal status, such as DACA recipients, also contribute to the workforce.
(*This article has been referenced from relevant reports by Reuters)