Walmart (WMT) , the largest retail chain in the U.S., has sent a harsh message to employees after a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
For years, President Donald Trump has promoted his plan to secure the U.S. borders and conduct mass deportations of immigrants who are in the country illegally.
💵💰Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter đź’°đź’µ
“Illegal immigration costs our country billions and billions of dollars each year…And I will therefore take every lawful action at my disposal to address this crisis,” said Trump during a briefing in the White House in 2018.
Related: IRS sends stern warning to employees after layoffs
Shortly after Trump was sworn in for a second term as president in January, he signed several executive orders focused on cracking down on illegal immigration. Some are targeted at increasing border security, reinstating “enhanced vetting” of visa applicants, and adding limits on birthright citizenship.
Walmart delivered bad news to some of its employees.
Image source: Getty Images
Walmart sends a harsh warning to employees
Last week, the Trump administration gained major ground in its immigration agenda when the Supreme Court gave it the green light to cut a humanitarian program that granted temporary U.S. residency to over 500,000 immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
The decision comes after the court ruled in another case that the administration could also remove temporary legal status from roughly 350,000 Venezuelan migrants.
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, Walmart reportedly informed its stores nationwide to identify workers who will lose their work authorization due to the ruling, according to a recent report from Bloomberg.
Related: Walmart suffers another major boycott from customers
The retailer also fired an unknown number of workers in Florida and Texas who will soon lose temporary legal residency in the U.S. Walmart even warned employees in at least two Florida stores that they will be let go if they don’t get new work authorizations.
Walmart’s move follows in the footsteps of Disney, which reportedly warned its Venezuelan employees in Florida that their jobs are at risk after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to cut protections for thousands of Venezuelans last month.
On May 20, Disney placed those employees (45 cast members) on a 30-day unpaid leave and told them they would be fired if they did not obtain new work authorization by the end of the 30-day period.
Trump’s deportation efforts can have a domino effect
So far, since Trump took office on Jan. 20, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested over 100,000 immigrants. ICE is reportedly arresting up to 2,000 immigrants a day. Last year, under the Biden administration, ICE was making 300 daily arrests.
The dramatic increase in arrests comes after the Trump administration’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan warned in an interview last year that the U.S. will soon see a “historic deportation operation.”
More Labor:
Amazon CEO gives hard-nosed message to employeesIRS has an alarming solution to a growing problem after layoffsJPMorgan Chase CFO issues stern warning to employeesÂ
These efforts have so far sparked controversy on social media and massive protests in a few cities across the nation.
The Trump administration’s deportation plan can also have a major domino effect in workplaces across the country, as immigrants make up a significant portion of the U.S. workforce.Â
Out of the roughly 169 million workers in the U.S., over 32 million are immigrants, which is about 19% of the workforce.
Many industries in the U.S. have also relied on the employment of undocumented immigrant workers. According to a report from the American Immigration Council last year, the U.S. is estimated to have over 7.5 million undocumented workers in various industries.
Construction is the top industry with the most undocumented workers, who make up about 14% of its workforce. Following construction is the agriculture industry, where almost 13% of its workforce is made up of undocumented workers. The hospitality industry comes in as No. 3, as undocumented workers make up about 7% of its workforce.
Related: Dollar General suffers major boycott from customers
