Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Chart: Axios Visuals

The U.S. construction, agriculture/mining and accommodation/food services industries have the greatest shares of foreign-born noncitizen workers, per census data.

Why it matters: President Trump earlier this summer acknowledged that his massive immigration crackdown is "taking very good, long time workers away from" the farming and hotel industries, and promised changes.

  • Yet there's still no major policy decision from the White House, which must balance economic realities with MAGA demands to deport as many people as possible.

By the numbers: Foreign-born noncitizens — including those who are legal residents or have work visas — make up 8.3% of the country's civilian workforce age 16 and older, based on a 2019-2023 average of U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

  • They account for 17.5% of construction workers; 17.1% of those in agriculture and mining; and 11% of those in accommodations, food service and recreation.

Zoom in: Around 40% of crop farmworkers lack work authorization, per USDA estimates.

The latest: Farmers "are getting frustrated with the delays" on a big White House plan for undocumented workers, Politico reports, while some farm workers say they're being "hunted like animals" in immigration raids, per The Guardian.

  • The Trump administration has taken some smaller steps, such as the Labor Department's new "Office of Immigration Policy," meant to streamline some temporary worker visas.

Yes, but: Some in Trump's MAGA base view any form of capitulation on immigration as a form of amnesty — and a broken promise to conduct mass deportations.

  • "MAGA is always on amnesty watch. It will not move forward no matter what name anyone tries to call it. They all have to go home," right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec told Axios' Tal Axelrod.

What they're saying: "This is not amnesty. It's not amnesty lite," a senior Trump administration official told Axios' Marc Caputo of the visa effort.

  • "No one who is illegally here is being given a pathway to citizenship or residency."

The bottom line: Both undocumented workers and the industries relying on them are still largely in limbo.