Unite Here, a hospitality workers union that represents 300,000 hospitality workers in the United States and Canada, has released a report titled, “Inhospitable,” which details Trump Administration immigration policies that it says are stoking fear among its members. Unite Here’s members work in airports, casinos, hotels, and restaurants.
“Industry leaders and our elected officials need to act to protect the hospitality industry and the people who make it run,” said Gwen Mills, the group’s President. “While immigrant families are on the front lines of the White House’s violent crackdowns and enforcement actions, our members—immigrant and U.S.-born alike—are struggling with their economic impact. If current immigration policies remain in place, conditions in the industry will worsen, threatening not only the workers who sustain it but industry leaders, municipalities and communities that depend on tourism revenue.”
Unite Here notes that while the global tourism industry is growing at a rapid pace, the situation in the U.S. is in crisis, with these policies, “damaging America’s reputation as a welcoming destination and devastating the workers and businesses that depend on international tourism.”
The report includes numerous worker testimonies, as well as quotes from economic experts that detail how they feel the hospitality industry is being hurt by the policies, as well as the government’s actions including what Unite Here calls, “military-style occupations, violent raids on immigrant communities, and the abrupt termination of legal status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.”
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