Saket Soni, founder of Resilience Force, says skilled restoration workers, with a range of legal statuses, are doing the arduous task of repairing US cities affected by disasters

Summary

Trump’s immigration crackdown threatens disaster recovery efforts, as immigrant workers make up the majority of skilled restoration labor.

Deportations could stall rebuilding in hurricane- and wildfire-affected states like Florida, California, and North Carolina.

Trump has also proposed eliminating FEMA, further jeopardizing recovery.

Experts warn that past anti-immigrant policies, like Florida’s in 2022, forced workers underground, worsening labor shortages.

The disaster-recovery workforce, built over two decades, cannot be easily replaced, and without it, rebuilding efforts across the U.S. will face severe delays.