Hit to NV economy from Trump immigration policies could top $400 million by year-end, report says

The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda could lead to roughly 15,000 people in Nevada losing legal protections and cost the state’s economy an estimated $441 million by the end of this year, according to a recent Fwd.us analysis   

The report released by the immigrant advocacy organization earlier this month found that about 7,000 people in Nevada have government-authorized work permits. Construction and hospitality sectors make up the top industries, and each could lose roughly 2,000 workers.

The analysis warned the volume of people losing their immigration status won’t only destabilize Nevada’s economy but also harm mixed-status families, threatening the stability of households accounting with as many as 4,000 children in Nevada who are U.S. citizens.

Nevada, like most states, has seen a drastic spike in deportation and immigration enforcement since Trump took office in January 2025.

In addition to a surge in deportations as part of his campaign promise, the administration has made rapid changes to who is eligible for temporary protected status, stripping protections away from individuals from Haiti, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and Cuba. 

Around 80,000 immigrants in Nevada have some form of protected status, including DACA, TPS, asylum or U-Visas, which applies to survivors of violent crimes. 

Of that, about 52,000 people rely on work permits and “contribute an estimated $1.8 billion to the state’s economy each year,” according to the analysis.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services notified Salvadorans –  6,000 of whom live in Nevada – that their temporary protected status would expire Sept. 9. It was the latest group of people to learn TPS would end. 

Immigration experts say federal law requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to decide whether a country still qualifies for a TPS designation at least 60 days before it expires. TPS protections for Salvadorans remain intact until DHS makes an official decision.

Nationally, roughly a million people have lost temporary protected status as of August 2026, according to FWD.us. Roughly 3.5 million immigrants are projected to lose status by the end of 2028.

By the end of Trump’s first year back in office, an estimated 2,000 people in Nevada lost their immigration status. Half of them had been in the state with work permits.  

The state could lose about $40 million in annual state and local taxes this year as well as $48 million in federal and payroll taxes under current projections from the 15,000 people losing immigration status. 

On the current trajectory, roughly 34,000 people in Nevada could lose immigration status by the end of 2028. 

Of that, about 21,000 people could lose work authorization with the top industries impacted being construction with 7,000 jobs and hospitality with 5,000. Health care and education make up another 2,000.

“In Nevada, total losses are projected to reach 21,000 workers, an $849 million loss in annual economic contributions and an annual loss of $220 million in combined taxes,” the report found.