THU AM News: Trump immigration policies straining employers and sowing confusion, panelists say; ATC challenging regional grid operator’s decision on transmission project

June 25, 2026

— The Trump administration’s moves to restrict and slow both illegal and legal immigration are putting a strain on employers and sowing confusion, panelists at a WisPolitics event agreed.

Speaking during yesterday’s WisPolitics-State Affairs D.C. breakfast panel discussion, Glenn Spencer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said there’s been a lack of clarity from the administration on a number of immigration issues including the H-1B work visa program.

Spencer, the senior vice president for the chamber’s employment policy division, pointed to the administration’s move to enact a $100,000 fee for these visas as a way to discourage immigration. While the fee was later struck down by a federal judge, initial messaging from the White House led to widespread uncertainty about who would be affected by the new policy and multiple lawsuits.

“We’re all just sort of wondering what this actually means, so it’s unfortunately been unclear,” he said.

He noted many immigrants coming to the United States run their own businesses and stimulate the economy, pointing to estimates that each H-1B skilled worker visa creates about five jobs domestically.

“When you turn that off, you turn off that number of jobs too,” he said.

Tara Watson, an author and director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Economic Security and Opportunity, noted the “dramatic slowdown” of migration to the U.S. under the Trump administration as well as more strict immigration enforcement.

“When big immigration enforcement surges happen in particular places, you see a decline in employment,” she said. “That isn’t always coming in the sectors you expect. You see it in things like construction and so on, but you also see it in more discretionary kinds of spending, and that speaks to the fact that immigrants are both consumers and producers.”

Meanwhile, Michael Best Strategies Principal Lucia Alonzo referenced the impacts on tourism, noting Las Vegas is experiencing a “mini-recession” as visitor numbers have fallen in the current climate. Spencer echoed this concern, noting the administration is “slow-walking” the process of vetting travel visas and putting a bottleneck on this sector.

Alonzo said hospitals also face a challenge with staffing amid the immigration crackdown, adding “the quality of life locally will just decline,” particularly in rural areas.

Despite the challenges associated with the Trump administration’s approach to immigration policy, Spencer argued the president “deserves some credit” for fortifying the southern border against illegal immigration. He noted Trump won in both 2016 and 2024 due in large part to his immigration platform.

He also said the federal response to the “surge” of illegal immigration in recent years has led to more attention being focused on illegal child labor occurring domestically, in both southern states and elsewhere. Spencer said that’s “at least one positive thing that we have seen come out of this,” as enforcement has largely shut down instances of child labor law violations.

Watson noted the U.S. economy has doubled in size since the country last had major immigration reform make it through Congress, meaning the legal limits for the number of immigrants allowed in haven’t changed much in decades. She argued “it’s definitely time for reform” on this issue.

But Spencer said “we don’t see anything coming out of the White House to suggest” a new federal immigration policy may be coming anytime soon.

— The utility responsible for power lines in much of eastern and central Wisconsin is asking federal regulators to void the regional grid operator’s decision to award a transmission project to a rival.

American Transmission Company, LLC, argued in a 393-page filing that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, made numerous errors in detailing and awarding a bid to build four new substations and four new extra high-voltage transmission lines.

MISO originally selected Viridon, a Chicago-based developer backed by private equity firm Blackstone, to build the substations and power lines in eastern Wisconsin after it submitted the lowest bid.

But the regional grid operator in March reassigned construction of three of those substations to ATC, because the Wisconsin utility notified MISO of its need to build three new substations by 2027 to serve the Port Washington data center campus – six years earlier than MISO had asked in its initial request for bids.

Now, ATC is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to throw out MISO’s decision to award the remaining substation and four transmission lines to Viridon and order the grid operator to either rebid the project or reevaluate the bids it received.

ATC argues that MISO failed to adjust its bid requirements accordingly when ATC first notified the grid operator of ATC’s local service needs – the data center’s pending power demand – in early 2025.

The grid operator did not notify developers of the abbreviated timeline for the three substations, ATC claims, instead issuing an addendum asking developers to note if they could complete any part of the project up to five years earlier.

“Stated differently, MISO’s actions produced a competitive developer selection process that failed to place developers on notice that the Ozaukee County Transmission Project Substations needed to be in service by 2027 and penalized Proposals which could deliver on the early in-service need, despite MISO knowing all along reconfiguration was necessary,” the utility said in its filing.

ATC also argues the grid operator overrated Viridon’s proposal, arguing that MISO did not conduct an apples-to-apples comparison of ATC and Viridon’s projected project costs and that MISO discounted the fact that Viridon had never built a transmission project in Wisconsin in its evaluation.

“Customers benefit when major transmission investments are evaluated using clear criteria that balance cost considerations with execution capability, timing and long-term reliability. Transparency in how those criteria are applied supports confidence in competitive transmission outcomes over time,” Ellen Nowak, ATC’s vice president of state and federal affairs, said in a statement.

ATC is also asking FERC to review how MISO conducted its evaluation, arguing the grid operator’s review of the bids was deficient.

MISO said in a statement that it would review ATC’s complaint and will file a response with FERC “in the coming weeks.”

Viridon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

— Brown County officials are touting a “strong increase” in cargo moving through the Port of Green Bay after extreme weather led to shipping disruptions earlier in the spring.

A total of 145,329 tons of cargo moved through the port last month, up from 123,794 tons in May 2025.

Top commodities including cement, limestone, liquid asphalt, salt, petroleum products and wood pulp and paper have all increased compared to March and April of this year, according to figures released yesterday by port officials. Petroleum products in particular have gotten a boost with year-to-date totals rising 321% over the same period of last year.

“Heavy rainfall resulting in temporary disruptions to vessel navigation and port operations kicked off a slower start to the shipping season during March and April,” Port Director Dean Haen said in a statement. “We are happy to see numbers beginning to rise and self-regulate despite challenges presented by the elevated flow conditions earlier this year.”

See the release.

Listen to a recent podcast with Haen on this spring’s shipping challenges.

— Wisconsin crop growth in mid-June was tracking just ahead of the five-year average, according to the USDA’s latest report.

The agency’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reports corn emergence in the state was 97% complete as of Sunday, compared to the average of 94%. And soybean emergence was 95% complete, above the average of 93%.

Meanwhile, oats were 51% headed — an indicator of plant development — ahead of the average of 47%. Winter wheat fields were 92% headed, up from the average of 90%.

Farmers were also 93% done with the first cutting of alfalfa hay, compared to the average of 90%. The second cutting was 11% complete, though the report doesn’t have a historical comparison for that figure.

See more in the report.

— UW Health and other members of the Dane County Traffic Safety Commission are sounding the alarm about a growing number of e-bike and e-scooter injuries among kids in the state.

The health system yesterday issued a release about the “looming crisis” posed by this issue, noting battery-powered e-bikes and e-scooters can go up to 28 miles per hour — twice as fast as a pedal bike.

That makes them more dangerous for young riders, especially those who aren’t wearing a helmet.

“There is a real concern in the medical community that this is going to get much worse if safety messages aren’t reaching families,” Dr. Nicholas Kuehnel with UW Health Kids said in the release.

Between 2022 and 2025, the number of reported crashes involving an e-bike and motor vehicle increased by 194% statewide while the number of related injuries rose by 171% For e-scooters, those percentages were 260% and 240%, respectively, based on figures from the state Department of Transportation.

Last year, riders who were 20 years old or younger made up 43% of all e-bike crashes, marking an increase from 12% in 2024. For e-scooters, those figures were 44% and 18%, respectively.

UW Health suggests the true numbers for all these incidents are likely higher, as the current records only include crashes involving motor vehicles.

Law enforcement officers also need to take the extra step of indicating an e-bike or e-scooter was involved in the collision for that to be reported, but that doesn’t always happen. That’s according to Lt. Chad O’Neil of the Stoughton Police Department, co-chair of the commission’s law enforcement subgroup.

“This is a looming crisis, as key stakeholders are all seeing the same dangerous trends,” he said.

See the release.

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