Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2025 — A new report from the American Immigration Council warns that the U.S. childcare system (already stretched thin by rising costs, staffing shortages, and high demand) is facing catastrophic disruption under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. The loss of even a fraction of the childcare workforce could leave families with no coverage and no ability to work.
The report, Immigrant Workers and the Childcare Crisis: What’s at Stake for Families and the Economy, finds that immigrant workers make up 1 in 5 childcare workers nationwide, with even higher concentrations in major metro areas like Miami and San Jose. More than half are non-citizens and nearly a third are people who are undocumented, vulnerable to deportation or loss of work authorization.
The report also features in-depth profiles of 10 childcare providers and parents whose livelihoods and family stability are already being shaken by enforcement crackdowns and visa uncertainty.
“Working parents already feel the strain of a childcare system that’s barely holding together. Parents can’t clock in if they don’t have safe, stable childcare, and immigrants play a key role in providing that. Mass deportation pulls that foundation out from under families and jeopardizes parents’ ability to stay in the labor force,” said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council.
The report documents how stepped-up enforcement has already disrupted childcare availability in several communities. In south Philadelphia, a daycare center serving predominantly low-income immigrant families saw enrollment plummet from 158 children to 97 after enforcement actions, forcing layoffs and classroom closures. At one Washington, D.C. preschool, teachers had to quit because of new barriers to maintain work authorization.
Other key findings include:
- 20.1 percent of childcare workers are immigrants: over 282,000 people, overwhelmingly women.
- In cities like San Jose and Miami, immigrants make up over two-thirds of childcare workers. In Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, they make up nearly half.
- Staffing shortages are already severe. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 160,200 childcare jobs will open each year over the next decade due to turnover.
- Immigrant childcare workers overall are more likely to be self-employed and to work full-time, filling childcare jobs where hiring U.S.-born workers has proven difficult.
- Aggressive immigration enforcement has already caused closures, empty classrooms, and absenteeism in daycare centers in some communities.
- The report includes testimonies profiling 10 individuals, including childcare providers and parents, about how they would pay the price should the childcare system tighten further because of mass raids and more visa restrictions. “I want to be productive. I want to be part of the workforce,” said alias ‘Jen,’ one mother in New York City. “As things ratchet up, there’s always a little voice in my head, ‘Please, please don’t revoke visas.’ [But] if [my au pair] goes then I would have to quit my job.”
Disruptions to the U.S. childcare system stemming from Trump’s immigration policies will affect not only households, but the broader labor market as well. According to U.S. census data analyzed in the report:
- In 2025, 12.8 million households with children under the age of 14, or 41.9 percent of those households, had at least one adult whose job was affected after losing access to childcare.
- This includes 2.5 million households that used unpaid leave, 2 million households that cut work hours, 1.3 million households with adults who did not look for a job, and more than 600,000 households with adults who quit a job.
“From hospitals to retail to tech, U.S. employers depend on parents being able to work,” said Nan Wu, director of research at the American Immigration Council. “Removing the workers who make childcare possible would choke off workforce participation and weaken our economy at a time when it’s already struggling.”
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