South Korea ‘concerned’ after ICE arrests 450 illegal workers at major US site
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced the arrest of 475 illegal migrants during a major immigration enforcement raid on Thursday at a Hyundai electric car battery factory in Georgia.
HSI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Steven Schrank noted that while the raid was at a Hyundai facility, not all the migrants worked for the parent company. Some worked for subcontractors at the site.
“We are sending a clear and unequivocal message that those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy and violate federal laws will be held accountable,” Schrank said during a news conference on Friday.
Several other agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), took part in the raid at the Hyundai–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site in Ellabell, which is located about 20 miles outside Savannah.
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The raid was the largest single site operation HSI has carried out and follows major raids at other workplaces over the last few months under the Trump administration.
The facility, a $4.3 billion to $7.6 billion Hyundai–LGES joint venture, is slated to supply batteries to Hyundai’s nearby Savannah EV plant and stands as the largest single industrial investment in Georgia’s history.
Construction at the site, which stretches over 3,000 acres, has been suspended, but there was no interruption at the adjacent EV manufacturing facility.
The South Korean foreign ministry expressed “concern and regret” over the raid and sent a counselor and embassy officials to the location.
“Our companies’ economic activities and our people’s rights should not be infringed unfairly in the US legal enforcement process,” Lee Jae-woong, a spokesperson for South Korea’s foreign ministry, said on Friday, according to the Financial Times.
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Georgia State Patrol troopers blocked roads to the Hyundai site. The Georgia Department of Public Safety confirmed to the Associated Press that they were dispatched to assist federal authorities.
The raid comes after South Korea agreed to $350 billion worth of investments in the U.S. as part of a trade deal struck in July.
The battery plant under construction is scheduled to begin operations at the end of this year, LGES told the Financial Times.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant details,” LGES told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.”
Hyundai also said it is aware of the raid and believes that none of its workers were detained.
“As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company,” Hyundai told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site and comply with all laws and regulations wherever we operate.”
The Department of Homeland Security said that ICE Homeland Security Investigations and other law enforcement offices “executed a judicial search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes.”
“This operation underscores our commitment to protecting jobs for Georgians, ensuring a level playing field for businesses that comply with the law, safeguarding the integrity of our economy, and protecting workers from exploitation,” DHS told Fox News Digital. “This investigation is focused on ensuring accountability for those who violate the law and upholding the rule of law. Complex cases like this require strong collaboration and extensive investigative efforts, and we extend our gratitude to the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, FBI, DEA, Customs and Border Protection, ATF, IRS, and the Georgia State Patrol for their invaluable support.”
“Each agency contributed specialized expertise that was critical to the success of this lengthy investigation,” the department said.
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Video posted to social media Thursday showed workers in yellow safety vests lined up as a man – wearing a face mask and a tactical vest with the letters HSI – tells them: “We’re Homeland Security. We have a search warrant for the whole site.”
“We need construction to cease immediately,” the man says. “We need all work to end on the site right now.”
Trump report claims Biden admin ‘weaponized’ federal power against Christians
EXCLUSIVE: The Biden administration “weaponized the full weight of the federal government against Christians,” according to Trump leadership, laying out in a new report the “numerous instances” of past anti-Christian bias and recommendations to protect faith in America.
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the report published by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, created by President Donald Trump and chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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The task force had a clear mandate to ensure that “any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”
The task force was directed to deliver an initial assessment, which Fox News Digital exclusively obtained Friday. The report provides an overview of “the damage that can be done when religious liberty is not protected and preserved for all Americans.”
“The Task Force makes this commitment: the federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith,” the report states. “Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, in partnership with all members of this Task Force, the rule of law will be enforced with vigor, and every religion will be treated with equality in both policy and action.”
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The report added: “The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over. Faith is not a liability in America—it is a liberty.”
After a preliminary review of federal agencies and departments, the task force uncovered “numerous instances of anti-Christian bias during the Biden administration.”
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“Joe Biden weaponized the full weight of the federal government against Christians and trampled on their fundamental First Amendment rights,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump is protecting Christians, not punishing them.”
The Task Force found that the Department of Defense, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor all “deprioritized, mishandled, or denied requests for religious exemptions to the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mandate.”
The Task Force also found that at the Department of Education the Biden administration “attempted to impose record-breaking fines on some of the nation’s largest Christian universities, including Liberty University ($14 million) and Grand Canyon University ($37.7 million).”
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At the Department of Homeland Security, the task force found that Customs and Border Protection omitted Christian perspectives from a directive for detainees but deliberately noted accommodations for Islam, Rastafarianism and sects of Judaism.
At the Justice Department, the task force found that the Biden administration lacked an effort to “address and prosecute violations of the law where anti-Christian bias was demonstrated by the persecutors.”
“Instead, during that time, the DOJ pursued novel theories of prosecution against those speaking or demonstrating based upon their Christian faith,” the report states.
The task force also found that the Department of Justice, under the Biden administration, arrested and convicted approximately two dozen individuals under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities.
“Yet, the same DOJ refused to apply the FACE Act to protect places of worship and crisis pregnancy centers,” the report states.
At the FBI, the task force pointed to the bureau’s memo asserting that “radical-traditionalist” Catholics were “domestic terrorism threats.”
At the Treasury Department, the task force pointed to the many “pro-Christian groups” that have been “debanked.”
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The task force found that, under the Biden administration, the Department of State provided “limited humanitarian relief to Christians relative to other populations and offered muted responses to attacks on Christians compared to other groups.”
Also at the State Department, the task force said it discovered evidence that “preferential employment practices were afforded” for those of non-Christian religions, while Christian employees “were disfavored.”
“It was particularly concerning that employees were less likely to be permitted leave for observation of certain Christian holidays as opposed to non-Christian ones.”
Officials also said the State Department imposed “radical LGBTQ gender ideology on foreign governments and State employees, including the forced usage of preferred pronouns and rainbow flags, violating the sincerely held religious beliefs of many Christians and other Americans of faith.”
The task force also found that the Department of Labor dismantled its office of faith-based initiatives and replaced it with a diversity, equity and inclusion office.
INSIDE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S WHITE HOUSE FAITH OFFICE
The task force also said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development “discriminated against Christian perspectives in its marketing, treating social media posts celebrating Christian holidays, such as Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, differently than posts celebrating other religious or interest group holidays, including Pride Month, Ramadan, and Diwali.”
Officials said Housing and Urban Development took down the Christian posts and left up the others.
The task force held its first meeting in April. Prior to the meeting, members of the task force conducted initial reviews of their respective agencies to identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices or agency conduct during the Biden administration.
Officials said that the task force is not finished with its inquiry, but merely just beginning, and will continue its work to investigate the full scope of anti-Christian bias that “pervaded the federal government during the Biden administration.”
A final report is expected by February 2026.
Trump also signed an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office in February.
The office empowers faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship “to better serve families and communities,” according to the White House.
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The office is housed under the Domestic Policy Council and consults with experts in the faith community on policy changes to “better align with American values.”
A former Biden White House official did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
‘Strange noises’ lead Oregon condo residents to unnerving crawl space discovery
Authorities in Oregon said they arrested a man who was found secretly living in the crawl space of a condominium complex after its owner reported hearing “strange noises” coming from the area.
The space allegedly occupied by Beniamin Bucur, 40, near Happy Valley included a “bed, lights, chargers, TVs, and other electronics plugged into the power of the house,” according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
“He had taken significant steps to improve the conditions of the crawl space and was obviously living inside,” police said following Bucur’s arrest late Wednesday. “Deputies estimate he had been living there for an extended period of time. A pipe with white residue that tested positive for methamphetamine was also found.”
Police said they uncovered the secret living area after a “witness reported seeing a man who was not known to live in the complex parking his car and walking to the back of one of the buildings.”
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“The witness also noticed the door to the crawl space was open and light was coming from inside. The door then closed,” the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said.
“When deputies arrived, they noticed the door to the crawl space was damaged and now locked. An extension cord was seen running through a vent. After contacting the owner, deputies were told that nobody was supposed to be down there and that there shouldn’t be any lights on inside,” the sheriff’s office also said. “The owner also reported that they had heard strange noises coming from the crawl space before.”
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“The owner gave keys to the deputies to open the crawl space, but they did not work. Deputies breached the door and located a man, identified as 40-year-old Beniamin Bucur,” according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
One photo released by investigators showed a flat-screen television tied to a beam inside the crawl space.
Another showed string lights crisscrossing the ceiling of the crawl space, illuminating the area.
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Bucur was charged with first-degree burglary and unlawful possession of methamphetamine, with his bail set at $75,000, police said.
Florida congressman sounds alarm after Michigan police unveil patch with Arabic text
The Dearborn Heights Police Department in Michigan has announced an “optional patch” that includes text in both Arabic and English.
The patch includes the words “DEARBORN HEIGHTS” and “POLICE” written in both English and Arabic.
“The Dearborn Heights Police Department is proud to share a new optional patch that our officers may wear as part of their uniform,” the department noted in a Facebook post.
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“This patch was created by Officer Emily Murdoch, who designed it to reflect and honor the diversity of our community – especially the many residents of Arabic descent who call Dearborn Heights home. By incorporating Arabic script alongside English, this patch represents unity, respect, and our shared commitment to service. We are proud of Officer Murdoch’s creativity and dedication in helping our department better represent the people we serve,” the post noted.
“Our officers proudly serve all members of our community, and this new design is another way we continue to celebrate the rich cultures that make our city unique,” it added.
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Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida responded to a post on X about the patch, though the post he was reacting to did not explain that the new patch is optional for officers.
“They said their goal was to bring sharia law to America. You should’ve believed them. Pray for Michigan,” Fine declared.
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Fine won a special election and began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.
Dierks Bentley admits marriage has ‘moved beyond’ traditional sleeping arrangements
Dierks Bentley is getting real about what goes on in his bedroom.
The sleep-troubled country star opened up this week about the precise conditions he needs to fall asleep, and how it has affected the sleeping arrangement with his wife of 20 years, Cassidy Bentley.
“My wife will be like ‘How’d you sleep last night?’ and we don’t even sleep in the same room right now anymore,” the 49-year-old told Bobby Bones on his “BobbyCast” podcast on Tuesday. “We’ve moved beyond that.”
He said while his wife falls asleep almost immediately, he needs three pillows “that have to be positioned exactly the correct way” and if she moves “the tiniest bit” in her sleep, “I’ll feel it.”
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“So years ago, I decided to separate Church and State and I got rid of our bed and I got two platform beds and two box springs and two mattresses,” he explained.
The “Drunk on a Plane” singer said they each have their own duvet and “there is a clear line you can see the floor between her bed and mine.”
He compared the situation to the advantages of having independent suspension on each side of a truck.
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But he said lately, because he’s “such an animal,” struggling to fall asleep, Cassidy has taken to sleeping on the couch or in an extra bedroom.
He said the night before the podcast they decided, “We’ve got to get this back on track, when I get back off the road, we’ve got to get back in the same room.”
“So, we’re going to try and move her back in this year, it’s a big plan,” he joked.
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But his sleeping problems don’t end at home. He said when he’s on the road performing, he often gets “zero point zero” hours of sleep because he can’t turn his brain off.
He said he’s tried everything for his sleeping issues, but nothing works. “Sometimes it makes for a better show in a weird way. You’re more raw, more emotional. I find myself crying, talking about my dad.” He said his voice is “extra gravelly ’cause I’m so tired. It actually makes for a better show for the audience, but it’s a hard way to live.”
When he comes home after being on the road, he said getting sleep is his “number one priority.”
Bentley met his wife in middle school, and they were off and on for years until they married in December 2005.
“We met in eighth grade, back in Arizona. It’s a pretty crazy story of just going back and forth with the right time or the wrong time, or right place, wrong time, all that stuff,” he told The Boot in 2016. “Finally, I was playing a show in Las Vegas, and opening for George Strait, and she walked on the bus. I kind of knew that that was the moment.”
He told radio show Country Countdown USA that they’re planning something “big” for their 20th anniversary, according to Wide Open Country.
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“We thought about hiking Kilimanjaro,” he revealed. “Whether it’ll happen, I don’t know. When we got married, we just eloped to Mexico. But the older I get, the more you got to celebrate the wins.”
The couple share three children together: Evalyn, 16; Jordan, 14; and Knox, 12.
Mom gives birth in McDonald’s parking lot, and people are lovin’ the baby’s nickname
A Michigan couple received an unexpected delivery in the parking lot of a McDonald’s last month. Their baby girl was born a week early, earning a unique nickname — and people are “lovin’ it.”
Alyce Rotunda, 32, was expecting her fourth child in late August and had already been sent home from the hospital once, on Aug. 8, with what doctors called a “false alarm.” But three days later, on her birthday, contractions returned and didn’t stop.
Late that night, Rotunda called her mother to watch her three children – Genesis, 7, Kevin III, 4, and Boone, 2. She and her husband, Kevin, then took off for the hospital in Kalamazoo, a 45-minute drive from their home in Centreville.
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“If I had to have the baby in the car, then that’s what I was going to do,” Rotunda told Fox News Digital.
When they realized they wouldn’t make it to the hospital, they told a 911 dispatcher they would be at a gas station.
But even though it was nearly 3 a.m., the gas station was lit up and busy, so her husband made the decision to travel a bit farther to a closed McDonald’s in Schoolcraft.
“The pain makes you focused on what’s happening and I only had a slight moment of thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, can I do this?’ as we were pulling into McDonald’s,” Rotunda recalled.
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“You just do what you have to do,” she continued. “There’s no sense in fighting anything.”
Even her husband, who is typically queasy, rose to the occasion and caught the baby himself, she said.
“Anyone who knows my husband knows that, if you talk about a nosebleed for too long, he gets nauseous. Any blood, anything like that, you see him go white,” Rotunda said.
“So for him to go from that, to catching his own child — I am so thankful.”
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Rotunda said she sighed a huge breath of relief once she heard Matilda let out a cry and saw that she was alert and breathing.
Then, the attention shifted to Rotunda, who has Type 1 diabetes, a history of hemorrhaging and whose four pregnancies were all high-risk. The new baby was initially scheduled for an induction the following week, just as Rotunda’s other three children had been.
Paramedics arrived about 10 minutes after the delivery and took the family to the hospital for evaluation.
“I am just so incredibly thankful and blessed that there were no complications for the baby or for me, and the whole experience is wild, but I’m just very thankful,” she said. “I wanted her on my birthday, but she decided to wait three hours, and she gave me a story regardless.”
Matilda’s memorable entrance quickly earned her a nickname.
Matilda’s memorable entrance quickly earned her a nickname. It was her brother-in-law who coined “McTilly,” a twist on Tilly, the baby’s given nickname.
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“He was talking to my husband, and they were talking about nicknames, and he came up with McTilly, and he just thought it was the best thing ever,” Rotunda said. “Everyone gets a kick out of it.”
Even the local McDonald’s embraced the story, sharing a post on Facebook to celebrate the new arrival.
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“Alyce and Kevin Rotunda got more than they ordered in the parking lot at the Schoolcraft McDonald’s,” it said. “During the early morning hours of Aug. 11, they welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Matilda, under the Golden Arches!”
The post added, “Alyce and Kevin, we’re glad to know you’ll have a story to tell for years to come. And as for baby Matilda? She’s already part of the McFamily!”
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Fox News Digital reached out to McDonald’s for further comment.
Pro Bowl defender breaks silence on controversial ejection in Eagles win
Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter spoke to reporters hours after he was ejected from the team’s first game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.
Carter was disqualified from the game after he spat toward Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott before the first play from scrimmage.
He told reporters he was “calm” in the moment but didn’t go too much into detail about what led to him spitting at Prescott. The NBC broadcast showed Prescott spitting toward the ground before Carter spat on him.
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“I was calm,” Carter said. “I walked off the field calmly. I was not mad. I really couldn’t do nothing else. The ref’s decision is the ref’s decision in this situation.”
He said at the time he hadn’t spoken with head coach Nick Sirianni and if a suspension came down, he would handle the situation when it happened.
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He was asked what it was like watching the Eagles’ 24-20 win over the Cowboys.
“It was intense for me,” he said. “I wanted to be out there with the guys so bad. Just to support and help, even just standing on the sidelines, but things went how they went. We just got to move on. I made a promise to them boys, it won’t happen again.”
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Carter was a Pro Bowler for the first time in 2024. He had 42 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2024.
Local DC magazine warns Trump to avoid capital eateries or risk ‘political maelstrom’
President Donald Trump should avoid dining at Washington, D.C., restaurants to prevent a “political maelstrom” of controversy, a local D.C. magazine warned Thursday.
Washingtonian food editor Jessica Sidman reported that Trump suggested Wednesday he might dine at a D.C. restaurant to demonstarte how safe the nation’s capital has become following his crime crackdown.
“I think it’s something we could consider doing. Love to do it. I love the White House food, but after a while, I could see going to a nice restaurant. It’s safe,” Trump told reporters.
“The problem?” Sidman wrote. “Pretty much any D.C. restaurant that the president might visit would immediately find itself in a losing situation.”
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She argued that “since the political temperature is now hotter than a pizza oven,” a restaurant could face boycotts or threats—regardless of whether Trump was welcomed or turned away by the owners.
“In deep-blue DC, there is no shortage of restaurateurs who privately (and not-so-privately!) would not want to host Trump. Turning the President away, however, would ignite a firestorm of online hate, irate phone calls, Yelp-bombing, and death threats,” she wrote, citing the backlash against Virginia’s Red Hen restaurant after its owner kicked out then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2018.
Sidman added, “Trump, though, isn’t likely to go somewhere he’d be turned away, especially given the advance work required by Secret Service. And most restaurants would serve him because that’s just what restaurants do. Still, they would undoubtedly face boycott threats from locals and an onslaught of online and real-life rage.”
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She pointed to the backlash against D.C. pizzeria Menomale Pizza after its owner congratulated Trump on winning a second term in 2024 as an example.
Martin’s Tavern owner Billy Martin, whose Georgetown restaurant has hosted presidents since the Truman administration, told the Washingtonian he was cautious about a Trump visit. Though Martin described “working the backchannels” to try and secure a visit from President Joe Biden, he was less enthusiastic about a Trump dinner.
“We’re not actively seeking him to come,” Martin said. “It is very precarious in the political state that our country’s in. It’s not easy. I don’t need him dining and leaving, and then people coming by later throwing rocks through the window going, ‘You hosted the president!’ Or people just barraging our social media going, ‘You’re a s—y place.'”
However, Martin added that Trump would not be turned away if he came and that his restaurant has served Trump administration officials such as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
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In December, Sidman reported on Washington bartenders and other food servers vowing to either shun certain Trump officials or employ other small acts of resistance if they visited their establishments.
Americans fight back against growing ‘guilt tipping’ pressure at digital checkout screens
Consumers are spending 38% less on excessive or “guilt tipping” in 2025 compared to a year earlier, as rising living costs force them to scale back, new research shows.
The term “guilt tipping” was coined to refer to the social pressure or discomfort a customer feels when they are asked to leave a tip, often through digital point-of-sale (POS) systems. Rather than using tipping purely as a voluntary reward for good service, people have felt compelled to do so out of guilt or fear of judgment.
In fact, the average person reluctantly tips $24 per month more than they feel is fair due to the pressure or awkwardness of not doing so, according to findings from Talker Research’s yearly study.
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The research shows that the cost of guilt tipping adds up to $283 over the course of a year, according to the study, which explored 2,000 people’s approaches to tipping.
Still, that figure is significantly lower than a year ago when American consumers spent over $450 on guilt tips, suggesting that the public is resisting pressure to excessively tip. Respondents admitted in the latest study that they tipped out of guilt 4.2 times per month on average, versus the 6.3 times reported a year earlier in Talker Research’s 2024 findings.
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About 20% of those people say they always or often tip higher because they feel pressured or guilty, though 29% say they never or rarely feel this way.
Additionally, 37% of those surveyed noticed that tipping options are higher than they used to be. Nearly half of the respondents already noticed this trend last year.
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Nearly half of the respondents agreed that higher living expenses had caused them to pull back on tipping. Over a fifth say they now tip less across the board and a majority believe that businesses should pay employees more over relying on tips.
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About only 11% admitted that their tipping increased. Of those tipping more, nearly half say it’s due to the desire to support workers.
However, the results come right after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law on July 4, allowing eligible tipped workers to deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their taxable income. This will take effect from 2025 through 2028, unless extended, and will apply to over 60 jobs, organized into eight categories.
Among those jobs are bartenders, wait staff, dishwashers, food servers in non-restaurant settings, cafeteria attendants, cooks, bakers, food preparation workers and hosts — positions that often rely heavily on tips.