Companies Warn SEC That Mass Deportations Pose Serious Business Risk

WIRED

6 hours ago

Jun 16, 2025 4:16 PM Since Trump took office, ICE arrests have more than doubled. Business throughout the US economy are sounding the alarm on the potential impact. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detain a suspect during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Lyons, Illinois, US, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. Photograph:As the Trump administration executes an aggressive deportation campaign across the United States, a growing number of US companies warn the crackdown could threaten their operations.
Since January of this year, more than forty companies have mentioned the impact of deportations in filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, with many saying it could hurt the labor force, increase the risk of a recession, or create more economic uncertainty, according to seventy-four filings reviewed by WIRED. The impacted industries span a wide cross-section of the US economy, including food production, tech, and construction.
'Many farms employ hard-working, non-criminal employees who have not yet achieved legal citizenship,' reads one filing from ImmuCell, which develops and sells drugs for animals in the beef and dairy industries. 'Significant deportations of these individuals could have a negative impact on the operations of our customers and of our source farms.'
It's highly unusual for companies to mention deportations in filings to the SEC. Between June of 2020 and January of 2025, just six SEC filings mentioned deportations. From June of 2015 to January of 2025, that number rose to just 22.
Since taking office, however, President Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a cornerstone of his policy agenda. White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller has instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to work toward a minimum of 3,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants daily, and the agency has been orchestrating raids at workplaces, outside elementary schools, and even inside people's homes.
The highly visible deportation campaign has sparked nationwide anti-ICE protests, and helped energize the 'No Kings' demonstrations that swept the country this past weekend. The Trump administration has reportedly told ICE to scale back its workplace raids, in part due to concerns over how they are affecting the agriculture, hospitality, and restaurant industries.
Zevin Asset Management, a 'socially-responsible' investment firm that owns shares in Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a proposal on behalf of two investors that mass deportations should prompt Alphabet to have a better 'due diligence process' to determine whether its businesses "contributes to human rights harms in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.'
Google's work as 'one of the leading cloud computing providers' to ICE, US Customs and Border Protection, and the US government at large raised concerns of a 'potential complicity in human rights harms,' happening at the US Southern border, the proposal claims.
'These abuses include the separation of children from their parents, arbitrary arrests and detentions, poor detention conditions, and unlawful deportations to countries with poor human rights records,' the proposal claims.
Most of the other filings mention deportations in relation to risks to future business or net income.
Hawaiian Electric, the primary electricity provider of Hawaii, said in its SEC filing that 'recession risks increase due to federal policies and actions, including trade policies, mass deportations, and spending cuts.' The filing cited an economic forecast from the University of Hawaii published in May, which predicted 'limited GDP growth for 2025 and a contraction in 2026, marking Hawaii's first recession since the pandemic.'
Other filings suggested a recession could come even earlier. The community bank Hanmi Bank, under its holding company Hanmi Financial Corp., said in an SEC filing that 'the combination of tariffs, rising inflation, deportations, global political unrest and tensions, and reduced credit availability' could cause 'a mild recession in 2025.'
Some companies said that deportations could fuel labor shortages. Century Communities, a homebuilding company, said in its 2024 annual report that if it's unable to hire enough skilled tradesmen and contractors, it "may have a material adverse effect on our standards of service."
'Labor shortages may be caused by, among other factors, slowing rates of immigration and/or increased deportations since a substantial portion of the construction labor force is made up of immigrants,' the filing says.
A few companies mentioned deportations but said that they aren't sure how the crackdown will impact their business. The holding companies for banks Bridgewater Bancshares, Heartland Bank and Trust Company, and Heritage Bank, for example, mention mass deportations in a list of factors that could affect their 'forward looking statements,' which predict how well the banks may perform in the coming months. However, the companies stopped short of saying whether deportations would harm or help their businesses.
Other companies said that deportations present some risk to the economy, but noted they do not expect it to cause widespread damage or hurt their business.
In a filing for Forum Investment Group's real estate income fund, the firm said that 'stricter immigration controls and deportations' could have mixed outcomes. The filing claims these policies could increase inflation, but possibly be a 'boon for U.S. workers (higher wages)' or cool down 'overheated housing markets.'
Some companies argued that their businesses could be at risk if their customers are affected by deportations. Pacific Airport Group, which operates through airports in Mexico and Jamaica, said that policies like mass deportations and restrictions on international travel would hugely impact airport traffic, and therefore the company's bottom line.
'These measures could create uncertain economic conditions in Mexico, affecting leisure, visiting friends and relatives, and business travel, to and from the country,' the filing says.
Meanwhile, the cloud communications and financial services company IDT Corporation said that mass deportations could 'negatively impact' its enterprise customers, like the remittance transfer service BOSS Money, and the money transfer and international call servicing company BOSS Revolution. Anything that disrupts people's ability to work or travel outside their country of origin, IDT claimed, could hurt customers and therefore its business.
The discount store chain Pricesmart, which operates throughout Central America, said that mass deportations could have a devastating effect on an entire region. If there's a major reduction in foreign workers sending money to their families in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, those nations' economies would suffer, and so would Pricesmart stores, the filing said. Money from foreign workers, the company warns, is 'a key source of income and poverty alleviation for millions of families.'