Immigration Crackdown Puts Disney World’s Immigrant Workforce on Edge as Union Secures Rehire Safeguards

Overview

• Reporting describes heightened fear among Central Florida hospitality employees as federal enforcement tightens and efforts to revoke Temporary Protected Status advance.
• The administration’s move to end TPS for countries including Haiti threatens long‑time holders at EPCOT, with workers like Pericles Joseph and Evans Corvoisier describing daily risk of deportation.
• TRAC data cited show about 68,000 people in ICE detention in early February, nearly three‑quarters without criminal convictions.
• Unite Here’s Inhospitable report links the enforcement climate to a 98,000 drop in the hospitality workforce, fewer international trips and $1.2 billion in lost revenue, with Visit Orlando projecting a 4.5% decline in 2025 international visitors.
• Unite Here Local 737, representing roughly 18,000 Disney-area workers, has opened free legal clinics and won 1–2 year job‑reinstatement protections for members who later regain status, and a union representative reported racial profiling of a U.S. citizen.