The National Restaurant Association has alerted us to some member concerns nationwide regarding President Trump’s recent immigration policies and orders. In some cases they learned that some restaurant employees are being stopped and questioned, and in some instances, are being asked for their “papers” and/or taken into custody. They do not believe that restaurant employees are being targeted, but instead, employees are being affected by the ICE activities around the country.
The National Restaurant Association has provided the State Associations with the following points to consider regarding immigrants and the restaurant industry.
Immigrants and the Restaurant Industry
- Restaurants welcome people from all backgrounds and cultures to dine with us and work in our industry. Legal immigrants are an important part of the restaurant family.
- We strongly encourage our members to follow all laws and strongly discourage them from preventing federal agents from doing their job.
- We support the Legal Workforce Act, which mandates an improved E-verify program. We support changes to the E-verify program that make it easier and more cost efficient for business owners.
- By encouraging walk outs, these organizations disrupt the workplaces of hard-working Americans who are trying to provide for their families.
Research on Immigrants in the Restaurant Industry
- Restaurants Employ Nearly 2.3 Million Foreign-Born Workers. According to the U.S.Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey, nearly 2.3 million foreign-born workers are employed in restaurants. This represents approximately 8.4 percent of the 27.4 million foreign-born workers in the U.S labor force. (“Compilation of Wage and Labor Research Conducted in Recent Years,” National Restaurant Association Industry Wage and Labor Research, September 2016 Update)
- Restaurants Have a Higher Concentration of Foreign-Born Workers than the Overall U.S. Economy. More than 23 percent of individuals employed at restaurants are foreign-born, versus 18.5 percent for the overall economy. (“Compilation of Wage and Labor Research Conducted in Recent Years,” National Restaurant Association Industry Wage and Labor Research, September 2016 Update)
- Forty-Three Percent of Restaurant Chefs are Foreign-Born, as are 25 Percent of Restaurant Managers. (“Compilation of Wage and Labor Research Conducted in Recent Years,” National Restaurant Association Industry Wage and Labor Research, September 2016 Update)
- Immigrants Are Also More Likely to be Business Owners in The Restaurant Industry. Twenty-nine percent of businesses in the combined restaurant/hotel sector are immigrant-owned, compared to just 14 percent of all U.S. firms. (“Compilation of Wage and Labor Research Conducted in Recent Years,” National Restaurant Association Industry Wage and Labor Research, September 2016 Update)
As the situation unfolds, NRA is trying to gather a sense of the scope and scale of these occurrences across the country and any experiences of this nature of which you may be aware. Please contact Shannon Meade, director of labor and workforce policy, at smeade@restaurant.org or 202-331-5994 with any questions you may have. NRA staff is in the process of assembling immigration legal experts to provide assistance and guidance in the wake of the heightened enforcement.
NMRA will continue to keep you posted as we hear more from NRA.
