Amazon warehouse workers lose jobs after Trump's immigration crackdown: 'We have done everything legally'

Daphnee Poteau, a Haitian who came to the U.S successful 2023, began moving for Amazon last twelvemonth astatine a returns halfway successful Indianapolis. While packing up boxes, she met her hubby Kristopher Vincent, who's been astatine the site, known arsenic IND8, since 2013.

Last month, Poteau was contacted by the Department of Homeland Security, aft the Trump administration canceled humanitarian migration programs that allowed participants to unrecorded and enactment legally successful the U.S. for 2 years portion applying for imperishable status.

A announcement from DHS told Poteau that her parole programme was being terminated. Her past time at Amazon was June 28. She's among a radical of warehouse workers whose jobs person been eliminated since DHS revoked the parole programme that was created during the Biden administration.

While Poteau tries to unafraid a spousal visa, her aboriginal successful the U.S. is uncertain. She and Vincent, who's from Indiana, said they're acrophobic astir being capable to spend rent and costly migration fees.

"We're taking it 1 time astatine a time, but it does permission maine stressed that they're going to travel and effort to get her, adjacent though she does person an asylum lawsuit pending successful court," Vincent said successful an interview.

"Everything we've seen successful the quality shows they flagrantly nary longer attraction what the laws say," Vincent said.

Poteau and her terminated co-workers had been protected nether programs that provided Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans with impermanent ineligible presumption successful the U.S. Many of the employees astatine IND8 are Haitian, a ample capable contingent that immoderate of the greeting unit meetings are translated into Creole, Vincent said.

Amazon last period began asking staffers who came to the U.S. nether the Biden-era programme to supply updated enactment permits wrong a definite timeframe oregon they would beryllium enactment connected unpaid leave, according to documents viewed by CNBC.

Several workers who spoke to CNBC said they were dismissed by Amazon in precocious June aft they couldn't get caller enactment authorizations.

Amazon declined to accidental however galore employees were fto spell pursuing the changes successful migration policy, but spokesperson Richard Rocha said the institution prepared for imaginable staffing impacts owed to changes successful enactment authorization programs, and made adjustments to beryllium successful compliance with the law.

"We're supporting employees impacted by the government's caller changes successful migration policy," Rocha said successful a statement. "Over the past fewer months, we've been successful regular connection with these employees astir the changes and are ensuring they're alert of each disposable resources."

The institution has provided impacted employees with accusation astir wherever to find escaped oregon low-cost ineligible services, entree to counseling enactment and different resources, Rocha said.

A DHS spokesperson pointed to the agency's announcement terminating the humanitarian parole program.

As portion of the Trump administration's wide migration crackdown, DHS has eliminated not conscionable the humanitarian parole program. It's besides ended abstracted programs that provided impermanent protected presumption to Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Hondurans seeking refuge from their autochthonal countries, which person suffered from equipped struggle and humanitarian crises. Last week, a national justice ruled the Trump medication can't revoke the impermanent protected status, oregon TPS, of Haitian migrants. The White House said it volition entreaty the ruling.

Amazon is acold from alone. Other companies including Walmart and Disney person been forced to occurrence employees oregon enactment them connected permission successful bid to comply with shifting national policies.

Among backstage employers successful the U.S., lone Walmart has a bigger workforce than Amazon. Most of the e-commerce giant's 1.56 cardinal employees globally are concentrated successful its warehouse operations.

The terminations started conscionable arsenic Amazon was gearing up for its yearly Prime Day discount blitz, which began connected Tuesday and lasts 4 days. The lawsuit is typically 1 of the busiest periods of the twelvemonth for Amazon warehouse and transportation employees, alongside the vacation buying season.

Amazon has counted connected immigrants to conscionable a large portion of its staffing needs. In 2022, the institution acceptable a extremity to prosecute 5,000 refugees and different forcibly displaced individuals by the extremity of 2024.

While Trump's policies make a situation for ample employers similar Amazon, the existent devastation is being felt by the migrant workers. Those who present find themselves unemployed and lacking documentation are astatine a higher hazard of being targeted for deportation unless they tin unafraid an alternate signifier of ineligible status.

Christopher Lubin, an Amazon warehouse idiosyncratic successful Delaware, mislaid his occupation astatine the institution connected June 27, a time earlier Poteau received her notice.

"We person done everything legally successful this country," said Lubin, 24, who is besides from Haiti. "We haven't committed fraud. We spell to school, we work, and we wage taxes."

DHS said it was revoking protections for Haitian nationals aft a reappraisal by Secretary Kristi Noem determined "country conditions person improved to the constituent wherever Haitians tin instrumentality location successful safety."

The U.S. granted TPS for Haitian nationals pursuing a catastrophic earthquake successful 2008 that destroyed overmuch of the nation's infrastructure. In 2024, the TPS designation was extended done February 2026, arsenic the state faced "rapidly deteriorating security, quality rights and humanitarian" conditions, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Armed gangs power the bulk of Port-au-Prince and unit has dispersed beyond the superior successful caller months. About 10 individuals from Haiti mislaid their jobs astatine an Amazon warehouse successful Spokane, Washington, aft DHS revoked the TPS program, said Katia Jasmin, enforcement manager of Creole Resources, which provides enactment to Haitian immigrants successful the region.

Serge, who asked to person his afloat sanction withheld retired of fearfulness of being targeted for deportation, came to the U.S. from Haiti astir 2 years agone and secured a occupation astatine the Spokane warehouse arsenic a packer. The concern successful Haiti was dire erstwhile helium near and it remains unsafe today, Serge said.

"I witnessed unit and trauma, including the nonaccomplishment of household members who were killed," Serge said. "Others were displaced from their homes and are present homeless. I genuinely feared for my life."

In desperation, helium said helium sought a safer aboriginal and secured a sponsor that allowed him to travel to the U.S. legally. It's "unjust" that Haitians are present being ordered to instrumentality to their location state erstwhile it's plagued with violence, Serge said.

"We're not conscionable recipients of economical support," helium said. "We're besides contributors who assistance thrust the economy."

WATCH: Economists turn acrophobic implicit economical interaction of Trump migration policies