US visa crackdown: Hotels order 36% more background checks on foreign staff

US hotels ordered 36 per cent more background checks in early 2025 amid Trump's immigration crackdown, raising job hurdles for Indian workers in hospitality

Now, getting a job in America’s hospitality sector is set to get tougher for Indians. According to new data from human resources firm Hireology, hotel hiring managers in the US requested 36 per cent more background checks in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year.

 

The company, which tracks hiring trends across a thousand hotels, linked the surge to heightened immigration scrutiny following President Donald Trump’s return to office.

 

“Companies are certainly far more cognisant of that than they've ever been, and they don't want to be caught up in or be accused of lax hiring practices when it comes to verification of immigration status,” Patrick Scholes, hotel equity analyst at Truist told Reuters.

 

 

The spike in background checks comes just weeks after the US Department of Homeland Security reversed its previous guidance and allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to resume workplace raids at farms, hotels and restaurants. The earlier restriction had been in place since the Biden administration.

 

Meanwhile, Hireology said in a blog post that background checks were a cornerstone of any effective hiring strategy. "They ensure that candidates meet the qualifications for the role, protect your organisation from potential risks, and help you build a safe, compliant, and high-performing workforce. Negligent hiring can have serious consequences, from legal liabilities to reputational damage," it said.

 

Hotels under pressure as foreign-born workers bear the brunt

 

The change has intensified pressure on hotel managers who are already grappling with post-pandemic staff shortages. The US Travel Association says immigrants make up at least one-third of workers in the country’s travel industry. Among frontline hotel jobs, the share is even higher—34 per cent of housekeepers and 24 per cent of cooks are foreign-born, based on 2023 data from the US Census Bureau and Tourism Economics.

 

In 2024, hotels directly employed over 2.15 million people, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Hireology reported that total hiring across the hotels it monitors rose 22 per cent to over 8,000 workers between January and June 2025. But hiring for critical roles such as front desk staff, cleaners and kitchen workers was mostly flat compared to the previous year.

 

Trump signals shift after backlash from rural employers

 

President Trump has publicly acknowledged the strain that his immigration crackdown is placing on sectors like hospitality and agriculture. Speaking at a White House event on June 12, he said, “Our farmers are being hurt badly... and we’re going to have to do something about that. We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think... and leisure, too—hotels.”

 

He repeated the message on Truth Social, writing: “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”

 

Trump has also claimed that many recent arrivals under the Biden administration are now seeking work in these industries. “This is not good,” he wrote. “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming.”

 

Compliance tightening amid enforcement push

 

Trump’s broader immigration agenda includes ending temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants and deporting millions of undocumented people. For US hotels, the message is clear: background checks and hiring practices are now under closer watch.

 

As a result, hotel managers are increasingly turning to verification systems to shield themselves from potential fines, reputational damage or legal fallout. Analysts say the shift marks a break from earlier norms, where enforcement was often lax and many employers turned a blind eye to undocumented workers.