Fear and loathing grip L.A. hotels as Trump deportation threats loom

In late February, rumors that the federal government was planning a massive immigration enforcement sweep in Los Angeles County swirled.

And Travis Gemoets’ phone was ringing off the hook. The attorney at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, a firm that represents hundreds of hotels across Southern California, said he received about a dozen calls from nervous hotel general managers who reported an unusual number of workers failing to show up for work.

“There was more absenteeism than you would normally expect,” Gemoets said. “We have people who are afraid. That’s unfortunate.”

Although the big enforcement sweep never came, many hotel workers and businesses remain anxious about the potential disruption it could cause.

The hospitality and tourism industry is a key contributor to L.A.’s economy, employing more than 540,000 people who work as room cleaners, dishwashers, restaurant servers and bellhops, among other jobs. The industry brings in more than $25 billion annually in visitor spending, according to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.

Hoteliers have been making contingency plans, consulting with lawyers, planning webinars and educating their managers on what to do in case immigration authorities knock on their doors.

In preparation for a predicted increase in audits of Form I-9s, the documents used to verify whether an employee is eligible to work in the U.S., some employers have been conducting internal checks or hiring firms to conduct mock audits to ensure their paperwork is all in order.

About 10% of all workers in the hospitality industry — including hotels and restaurants — are unauthorized immigrants, said Michael Clemens, an economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Immigrant workers fill crucial roles; they are “key ingredients” without which other jobs in the industry would cease to exist, he said.

“We have clear evidence that mass deportations will be generally disruptive to the economy and to the U.S. labor market — and specifically hospitality will be hard hit,” Clemens said. “Their labor is a crucial factor of production, and it’s that production that generates other jobs in the sector. That’s something I wish everyone understood.”

Clemens said that although businesses have not yet been hit with the workplace raids the federal government has threatened, it’s clear the Trump administration is allocating a great number of resources to enforcement actions.

“Anyone that declares [the Trump administration’s] intentions are unfeasible or just bluster is fooling themselves,” Clemens said.

Some hotel workers are too fearful to show up for work, said Jacob Monty, an immigration and employment lawyer who advises chain restaurants.

“The hysteria is worse than what’s happening on the ground, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an effect,” Monty said.

In late January, the labor union Unite Here Local 11 sent a letter backed by thousands of hotel workers urging hotel owners to provide additional protections for immigrant workers, asylum seekers and recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

Current union contracts include provisions prohibiting employers from using E-Verify, a long-standing computer-based federal program that makes it easy for employers to spot and reject unauthorized immigrants seeking jobs.

“Workers are making a pledge to themselves to stand up for immigrant families during this tough time,” said Ada Brice?o, co-president of Unite Here Local 11. “We need to tell employers that they’ve got to stand strong to protect the same people they’ve been leaning on to make a profit.”

A representative of the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles did not respond to a request for comment.

The threat of workplace immigration raids has been a concern for hoteliers who worry they may disrupt staff and customers alike, said Ray Patel, president of the Northeast Los Angeles Hotel Owners Assn.

“The worry is having dozens of people in ICE jackets come into a hotel and spooking guests and workers,” Patel said, referring Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “We don’t want that to happen.”

Dina Paredes, 57, a housekeeper at the Alsace Hotel, a boutique property in West Adams, said she and her husband are afraid to go outside, even though they have formal immigration status. They are either at work or at home, and rarely go elsewhere these days, Paredes said.

“We felt safe to go out before, but not anymore,” Paredes said.

Both are immigrants from El Salvador who have Temporary Protected Status, which allows people to stay in the U.S. and obtain work permits if they are from a country deemed too dangerous to return to because of violence, natural disasters or other unsafe conditions.

About 230,000 Salvadorans in the U.S. have this status, which the Biden administration extended by 18 months before Trump took office. But the Trump administration has now twice revoked extensions of Temporary Protected Status by the Biden administration, first for Venezuelans and then for Haitians. And in recent days, Trump said he is weighing whether to revoke status for about 240,000 Ukrainians who fled its conflict with Russia.

Paredes worries that Salvadorans could be next.

“I feel like the clock just stopped,” Paredes said. “Not just for me, but for so many people who are immigrants.”

Emmanuel Cabrera, 28, who has been bellman at the Westin Bonaventure for about seven years and is a DACA recipient, said he’s constantly monitoring social media for reports on ICE whereabouts. Misinformation and false reports are rampant, he said.

“People are scared right now,” Cabrera said.

As an organizer for the union, Cabrera has been having conversations with his co-workers about their fears. He recently spoke to a woman who has about 100 days left on her work authorization and does not know what she will do after.

“Many people are in limbo. I feel for them,” he said.