Immigration crackdown causing ‘Trump slump' in Las Vegas tourism, unions say

The Guardian

2 days ago

The Trump administration's immigration policies are affecting workers and driving, in part, a decline in tourism, including international tourists, to Las Vegas, according to workers and the largest labor union in the state of Nevada.
Visitors to Las Vegas overall dropped 11.3% in June 2025, compared to the same month last year. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, international visitors to one of the world's largest tourist destinations dropped 13% in June.
'A lot of departments are having a lot of layoffs,' said ​​Norma Torres, a housekeeper for eight years at Mandalay Bay and a member of the Culinary Union, who has worked in the hospitality industry since she was 18 years old. 'In the housekeeping department, the people on call are barely called into work.'
Canada is Nevada's largest international market. Flair Airlines, a Canadian airline, reported a 55% drop in passengers compared to last year. Air Canada reported a 13.2% drop in passengers from May to June this year to Las Vegas, and one third lower compared to last year.
Trump administration officials have reportedly pushed for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents to arrest 3,000 people a day as part of their anti-immigration agenda. They have subsequently denied that those quotas exist. But they have continued to revoke immigration statuses, delayed action for childhood arrivals, and other humanitarian immigration programs.
'If you tell the rest of the world you're not welcome, they are going to listen. Our members are telling us that they're quite nervous, and that's why they're calling it a Trump slump,' said Ted Pappageorge, secretary treasurer of Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
But the Ice raids, trade wars with trading partners and fears that rising tariffs will hit the finances of potential visitors are all having an impact on Sin City tourism.
'You have Canadians that have said, 'We're going to go elsewhere.' Some of our best customers are Mexican tourists. But the biggest one is southern California and visitation is down because they're nervous about raids, the tariffs, the economy riled up,' added Pappageorge. 'The way these kind of chaotic immigration policies have been handled have a direct impact, we think, on what's happening with this slowdown in Las Vegas and our members are quite concerned.'
The union noted its members come from 178 different countries and speak 40 different languages. The union represents 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, and 45% of its members are immigrants.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of Nevada's workforce are immigrants, and an even higher share of Nevada's leisure and hospitality industry are immigrants. Immigrants contribute an estimated $20.2bn to Nevada's economy annually.
Norma Torres, who was born in Mexico, currently has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) immigration status, a policy enacted in 2012 for immigrant individuals brought to the US as children.
Torres explained she is worried about how the Trump administration will impact her immigration status.
'Before I had a Daca, I was living in fear. Since I've had DACA, I've been living free, I've been working, I've been having the best life with my daughters, but now with this administration that we have going on with Daca and TPS, they are in danger and again I'm living in fear,' said Torres. 'I can be driving on the street, they can pull me over. I can be separated from my daughters, they are US citizens who were born here and just thinking about that makes me afraid. For me and my family, we live in fear now.'
Nery Martinez, a bartender at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and Culinary Workers Union Local 226 member for 10 years, has been in the US for decades under temporary protected status from El Salvador and is worried about the push from the Trump administration to revoke TPS for thousands of immigrants from El Salvador and other countries.
'That would be devastating, not only for me but for thousands of families,' said Martinez. 'After 25 years in this place, what would I do if they separate me from my children, from my wife, from my life I had built from scratch? Those things hurt not just me and people like me, but also hurt citizen children, the community and the economy we help sustain.'
He said he loves working in Las Vegas, working alongside others from all around the world and interacting with tourists from abroad and throughout the US, but emphasized he now worries about what is going to happen to his immigration status.
'We are working people with families who love this country. We don't want privilege, just that we are allowed to stay here legally as we have done for decades. Our families are American, I also feel part of this nation. Taking away TPS (temporary protected status) would be tearing away my life. I can't have a nice night, go to bed, wake up the next day, because every night I have those thoughts about what's going to happen.'
Ted Pappageorge noted that for 20 years the culinary union has secured in their contracts that any worker who has their immigration status removed or expired is able to maintain their job, seniority, and pay until they get their status resolved, a support mechanism he argues should be legally provided to all workers.
'The idea that you're bringing in Marines and arresting dishwashers or landscapers, people that actually contribute to society, pay taxes, that go to our churches, their kids go to our schools, they're neighbors, is just crazy. This is just chaos what's going on here,' concluded Pappageorge. 'There needs to be a complete 180 course correction on this damage being done to the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry, that's ground zero here in Las Vegas.'
The Nevada governor's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.