On the front side of the horse racing track, people find bright, decadent sack hats, soft suits and $22 mint juleps.

On the back of the track, hundreds of workers, mainly immigrants, were found on soft, thicker tracks, muscle-breeding at 3 a.m.

"If we don't have an immigrant workforce on the back, I don't know how the horse race exists," said Dale Romans, a racing coach in Kentucky. "We can't send them home and ask them to come back. When they leave, no one can do the job."

Horse racing generated about $36 billion in 2023, the latest figure and supported nearly 500,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Horse Commission. It is considered one of the oldest movements in the United States. Apart from the track itself, getting a horse to race is a multi-million dollar effort, from training and groom to feed and farms.

This work relies mainly on H-2B visas to attract workers. But there are also many workers without visas or other legal status, industry experts say.

Immigration enforcement was largely unaffected during the first Trump administration. Industry leaders say this is because President Trump recognizes the significant impact of immigration labor and caters to his agricultural voting base, which is largely Republican.

There are no specific figures available for horse racing, but estimates suggest that about 42% of employed crop farm workers have no legal status. Estimates are higher in the labor force involving animals or livestock.

This time, industry observers are not sure if they will avoid a greater repression again.

"We are worried (immigration and customs enforcement) to get in and sweep people," the Romans said. "I have worked with immigrant workers all my life and I have never seen the stress I have experienced in the past six months."

Law enforcement in the second semester is even more difficult

Employers and industry representatives said they saw a difference between Trump’s immigration enforcement during his first term and the beginning of his second term.

During his first term, his administration focused on workplace law enforcement, possessing I-9 record checks, despite efforts that subsequently plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Immigration agents eventually suspended the racing season raid in Saratoga Springs, NY, and have since only conducted a workplace operation, which has led to the arrest of backward workers.

Now, industry leaders believe that with the goal of Trump administration officials taking office, the goal is to focus more on workplace law enforcement.

"The truth is, I'm a little worried - but I still have a part of the people who think of this president, his hotel, his business - he relies on the labor we do."

Trump's flagship hotels and golf courses use temporary seasonal labor.

But even with the discussion of several industries’ reliance on workers without legal status, the Trump administration has adopted a tough immigration approach.

During an interview Fox News Last month, Trump said he wanted to make it easier for workers to ensure that both work visas are used in the form of temporary work visas and have a considerable length of workers without legal status.

"We will be very soothing if farmers want to give advice to people," Trump said, but he added that ultimately he wants people to deceive themselves.

Trump also suggested employers like farmers might be able to write a letter that suggests that specific people return to the United States after being deported at an April cabinet meeting. But so far, there is obviously no specific plan to secure the entire workforce.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican, who represents central Washington, asked the Secretary of Homeland Security during a recent hearing on a new plan to protect workers in major businesses.

But Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said the government’s focus is to encourage people to leave the country.

"President Trump is very clear that people who are illegal here need to go home," Norm said. She said that people had the opportunity to "return to the United States the right way" even though it wasn't always clear how that would work.

The White House did not respond to any requests for comment regarding any possible plans to assist employers.

The government has cut other programs that have enabled people to work in the United States, including temporary protected identities, parole procedures for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguan and Venezuelans, and the ability to seek asylum and refugee status.

Horse Racing Staff Feeling Stress

Rooney, the association’s president, said some trainers reported that usually reliable workers were not at work – although business has not been stopped yet. Other workers remained within the orbit due to concerns about potential attacks.

Like other industries, racecourses are preparing workers and trainers for the event of encounters with immigration officials.

The California Horse Racing Commission issued a memorandum at the end of April to provide guidance to all employees.

"If a subpoena or warrant is provided, you and your supervisor must consult the department's legal office before taking further litigation," the memorandum states. "Do not access restricted areas or publish information until the legal counsel reviews the situation."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued more than 1,600 inspection notices to employers since February, which begins the process of checking employees to work legally in the United States; the agency individually reviews companies that violate regulations. At least 1,400 people were arrested during the workplace operation, according to an ICE spokesman.

Workplace investigations and arrests vary by industry, including construction, manufacturing and other businesses.

Employers say they need migrant workers

Trainers told NPR they will face a consistent labor shortage and have difficulty waking up before dawn to care for and train horses.

This is the demand for the labor force throughout the seasonal industry, including agriculture, hospitality, manufacturing and entertainment.

“The reason we brought all these people in is that it actually makes the American machine work,” Rooney said. “If you take that labor away, you really put the gears in that machine and that won’t work.”

Trump argued that voters elected his mission to combat illegal immigration and deport more people without legal status in the United States.

But in horse racing, many still believe that they may be alone due to the industry’s economic contribution and its dependence on immigrant workers.

"We may have a wrong sense of security," said Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, of his state's tracks. He said the New Mexico racing industry faces a labor shortage especially in the immigration workforce, as well as better working conditions can be found elsewhere.

"They live in the environment, dust, dirt, lack of climate control," Trejo said of workers in the industry. He described some housing on the tracks in New Mexico, which actually had the same stalls used by horses and made temporary floors from pallets.

Will Velie is an Oklahoma-based attorney who specializes in immigration law for horse racing.

He likes to walk around the track early in the morning and radiate a hat that says "grigración parapara caballerangos" - immigrants of the cavalry.

What is stuffed inside is the phone number; many workers raise questions about how to obtain a work visa, how to turn a visa into a green card or how to achieve any legal status. He also met with the kitchen workers on the back of the track.

“We went through all the problems, about 20 or 30 percent of the time, what can we do,” Velie said. “If not, we just said be careful – don’t drink and drive, don’t fight your spouse – and pray for the amnesty.”