The Irony is That Immigrants Aren’t Taking Your Job—Trump’s Administration Is

For years, conservatives have warned that immigrants are coming to take your job. They have pushed the idea that brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking, undocumented workers are the greatest threat to American employment. But the irony—the bitter, undeniable irony—is that it’s not immigrants taking your job. It’s the Trump administration.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump, now worshiped as a near-deity within the Republican Party, has gutted the very workforce that keeps America running. His administration has aggressively slashed federal jobs, downsized entire agencies, and pushed policies that prioritize billionaire tax breaks over worker protections. In 2019 alone, his administration eliminated nearly 20,000 federal jobs, from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Agriculture. These were jobs held by everyday Americans—teachers, social workers, engineers, and scientists—people who dedicated their lives to public service.

And yet, his most fervent supporters don’t seem to notice.

Trump demands absolute loyalty from his base, but he offers them none in return. The very people cheering for him at rallies—blue-collar workers, rural farmers, middle-class government employees—are the ones he is throwing under the bus. His administration has waged war on unions, underfunded public education, and gutted crucial labor protections. His economic policies have benefited only the wealthiest, leaving everyday Americans—Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike—struggling to keep up.

The conservative narrative about job loss has always relied on fear. Immigrants are the perfect scapegoat: they are “other,” they speak different languages, they come from different cultures. The truth, however, is far more damning. Study after study has shown that immigrants do not steal jobs from American workers. In fact, they help sustain entire industries—agriculture, construction, healthcare—by taking on jobs that many Americans won’t or can’t do. They contribute billions in taxes and are vital to the economy.

Meanwhile, it is Trump’s government that has been erasing jobs.

Under his watch, coal jobs have not returned. Manufacturing jobs have continued to vanish. Factory closures have left entire towns without economic lifelines. The federal hiring freeze Trump instituted early in his presidency stifled job opportunities for thousands of Americans. Agencies like the EPA, already underfunded, have been hollowed out, leaving fewer people to monitor pollution and protect public health. The Department of Agriculture was gutted, slashing research funding and pushing scientists to resign in droves.

This isn’t about partisan politics. It’s about the reality that working-class Americans—whether they wear MAGA hats or Bernie Sanders pins—are all getting played. Whether you’re a Democrat in Chicago, an independent in Pennsylvania, or a Republican in Kentucky, these job losses affect you. They affect your children’s schools, your local hospitals, your ability to access essential services. They make life harder for everyday Americans while billionaires reap the benefits.

And yet, Trump’s base remains devoted. He has built a movement that runs on grievance, fear, and blind allegiance. He tells his supporters that immigrants and “the radical left” are the problem, even as he decimates their communities with policies designed to benefit only the wealthiest elite. He demands unwavering loyalty, but he will never return it.

The next time someone rants about immigrants taking jobs, ask them: Did an immigrant shut down your factory? Did an immigrant cut funding to your child’s school? Did an immigrant lay off thousands of federal workers? No. That was Trump’s administration.

The real threat to the American worker isn’t the immigrant trying to build a better life. It’s the president who demands loyalty while giving nothing back.