NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. crackdown on

foreign-born workers could spell trouble for the hotel and

hospitality industry, which has lobbied for years to expand the

pathways for immigration to the United States to help fill over

1 million job vacancies.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would issue an

immigration order soon, following a social media post in which

he cited labor issues in the farm and hotel industries stemming

from his immigration crackdown. But on Friday, the Washington

Post reported that no such policy changes were under way,

according to three people with knowledge of the administration's

immigration policies.

IMMIGRATION AND HOSPITALITY

In 2024, travel supported the jobs of 15 million U.S.

workers and directly employed 8 million, with approximately

one-third of those workers immigrants, according to the U.S.

Travel Association and American Hotel and Lodging Association.

There are about 1 million job openings in 2025.

Hotels and resorts have struggled to find enough Americans

willing to work hospitality jobs, including seasonal or

temporary jobs at ski resorts and amusement parks. The leisure

and hospitality industries have quit rates higher than all other

industries. The accommodation and food services subsector has

experienced a quit rate consistently around or above 4% since

July 2022, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

About 71% of the hotels that had job openings were unable to

fill them despite active searches, according to a 2024 survey

conducted by AHLA and Hireology, an employee management

platform.

LOBBYING EFFORTS

U.S. Travel and AHLA have lobbied Congress for broader

pathways for legal immigration in an effort to close these

gaps.

The industry's priority was to push for expanding the H-2B

visa program, which was capped at 66,000 visas a year, to bring

more seasonal workers to the United States.

In March 2024, then-President Joe Biden signed the Further

Consolidated Appropriations Act, which authorizes the Department

of Homeland Security to increase the number of H-2B temporary

nonagricultural workers if the agency determines there are not

enough American workers "willing, qualified, and able to perform

temporary nonagricultural labor."

DHS and the Department of Labor in December published a

joint temporary final rule increasing the limit on H-2B

non-immigrant visas for fiscal year 2025.

The industry also supported legislation that looked to make

it easier for temporary workers to return to the U.S. and allow

people seeking asylum to work as soon as 30 days after applying

for asylum.

EXECUTIVE AND UNION VIEWS

Industry executives, including those from Marriott ( MAR )

and Hilton, have talked about the need for practical

immigration solutions for years.

"One of the most important issues in our industry for time

and eternity has been workforce ... and the need for

comprehensive immigration reform," Hilton Worldwide ( HLT ) CEO Chris

Nassetta said at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in

January, according to a report by Travel Weekly.

Labor union Unite HERE, which represents thousands of

workers in U.S. hotels, casinos, and airports, a majority of

whom are immigrants, said the union will continue to fight "the

increasingly arbitrary rules" about who can and cannot live and

travel to the United States.

The Culinary Workers Union, which represents hospitality

workers in Las Vegas, rallied against escalating Immigration and

Customs Enforcement raids in Nevada and pushed back against

claims the Trump administration was only responding to people

breaking the law.