Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan Will Depress The US Economy
Immigration has been a huge issue in America for centuries, with the population of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. steadily increasing. Despite the efforts of past administrations, there has been no major success in limiting illegal immigration. The President-Elect, Donald J. Trump, has vowed to follow through with a mass deportation plan no matter the costs. However, a plan of this stature will impose major consequences on the U.S. economy. If Trump’s administration follows through with this plan, it will not only impose a mass of expenses, but also deduct the millions of economic contributions of undocumented immigrants.
Immigration was a crucial factor in this year’s election. Because of Trump’s vocal stance on immigration during his campaign, many voted for him in confidence that he would solve our country’s immigration problem. However, people do not understand the full magnitude and cost of this. There are currently about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and deporting just 1 million of them would cost roughly $88 billion annually. Beyond the economic burden, this plan raises significant moral concerns. The Trump-Vance administration has said they plan to enlist the military, impose work area raids, and keep them in holding facilities. While many people believe the ends justify the means, the economic and moral consequences would be extremely harmful.
Deportation is extremely expensive and the strategies Trump’s administration plans to use would only increase the cost. Mobilizing the resources to arrest, detain, and process the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country would cost just under $1 trillion. A mass deportation this large would also cause taxes for US citizens to dramatically increase to compensate for the cost of deportation. These expenses are already damaging without considering the loss of the economic contributions of undocumented immigrants. The money our country would lose with the absence of immigrants is an extreme risk factor. Undocumented immigrants currently make up about 5% of the labor force and 40% of the agricultural labor force. Undocumented immigrants are also a major consumer force in the US, and they contribute a significant amount of tax money to our country’s GDP, even though they do not qualify for federal benefits. The economic losses the US would face with the deportation of 11 million immigrants would have incredibly damaging effects on our economy.
Some people believe that all the jobs immigrants currently occupy will be available for US citizens to take, but that is simply a fantasy. The reality is that current US citizens would not want to occupy low-paying high-labor jobs. In the long run, this would only cause taxes and inflation to rise as compensation of the economic losses.
The removal of such a sizable labor force would come with major consequences, as it would reduce economic growth, depress our economy with fewer workers, and increase the US budget deficit. On a smaller scale, the agricultural sector alone would feel the brunt of this. With almost half their workers being undocumented immigrants, the loss would extremely stunt agricultural productivity. This would have a ripple effect, as our country and many others rely on our agricultural sector. With a decrease in agricultural capital, it would also result in a serious inflation of agricultural products within the US.
All things considered, the cost of a mass deportation would have extreme consequences which would reverberate throughout our entire economy. However, the issue of undocumented immigrants still needs to be addressed. There isn’t a perfect solution but the solution Trump’s administration has presented would ultimately do more harm than good. It is important to scrutinize all aspects of this issue before action is taken but Trump’s plan is not the solution.
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