U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations can create a landscape of fear. Increased ICE activity led to significant declines in employment among immigrant women at childcare centers, who are more likely than native-born peers to hold advanced certifications, and not being replaced.
https://www.uvm.edu/uvmnews/news/new-economics-study-finds-ice-activity-upended-us-childcare-workforce
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**New Economics Study Finds ICE Activity Upended the U.S. Childcare Workforce**
Research finds immigration enforcement reshaped the size and structure of the childcare workforce—with implications for families, workers, and the economy
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations come to town it can create a landscape of fear, chilling commerce and school attendance, and now, new research shows it affects childcare workers.
A team from the University of Vermont, Yale University, Arizona State University, and American University examined how changes in ICE tactics between 2023 and 2025 have influenced the childcare workforce—a vital sector of the economy that [employs nearly one million workers across the country and generates $7.2 billion](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2024/article/childcare-employment-before-during-and-after-the-covid-19-pandemic.htm) in quarterly wages and is comprised of roughly 20% immigrant labor. The [study](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2602686123) will be published in the *Proceedings of the National Academy* on May 22.
“When ICE enforcement intensified, the formal childcare sector lost capacity: centers reduced enrollment, closed classrooms, and in some cases shut down entirely,” says lead author Erkmen Aslim, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Vermont. “That has real consequences for American families, particularly working mothers, who rely on stable, affordable childcare to hold down jobs.”
The study finds that increased ICE activity led to significant declines in employment among immigrant women, particularly those working in more regulated and publicly visible settings, such as childcare centers. This population is more likely than their native-born peers to hold advanced certifications, and the researchers found limited evidence that immigrant workers are being broadly replaced by native-born workers.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2602686123
Prior to 1938, the group that became known as Einsatzgruppen were used to seize political and governmental documents, identify, arrest, and interrogate political opponents, establish intelligence networks, and secure state institutions. At that point they were were security and repression units, not yet killing squads