Donald Trump and his supporters base their anti-immigrant arguments on the assertion that immigrants have broken the law. Corporate media commentators reinforce this narrative, labeling undocumented immigrants as “illegal aliens” and “criminals”, while failing to mention that US immigration law can change, often quite dramatically, with each administration.
Generally, immigration law evolves to meet the capitalist system’s demand for low-paid labor. Immigration and citizenship policies are not fixed standards for every individual. They have double standards rooted in racism, and have always served as a tool of institutional discrimination.
Consequently, the anti-immigrant narrative stigmatizes specific populations as “socially undesirable,” as corporations rake in record profits from their labor. Meanwhile, undocumented workers face attacks by racist mobs and the police.
President Trump wasted no time in his second term to sign executive orders to deport migrants to countries across Latin America. In addition, Trump is pushing ICE to meet a quota of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day. As a result, communities are coming together to deny ICE agents access to apartment buildings and neighborhoods.
During Trump’s first presidential term, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country, immigrants became essential workers. Their labor in critical industries such as food services, agriculture, transit, retail, and the gig economy was a significant factor in keeping the economy running. Nevertheless, immigrants are paid less than citizens, and often do not have access to public healthcare programs.
While they don’t benefit from federal social programs, undocumented immigrants also pay taxes — nearly $100 billion per year. This crucial fact is often overlooked in policy and political debates about undocumented immigration.
Following the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants played a significant role in the recovery. Many never stopped working during the pandemic, and other immigrants were among the first to return to work.
The consequences of mass deportation in the United States would result in nationwide repercussions across all sectors of the economy, and could potentially cause a severe crisis.
Immigrants work essential jobs that keep US society running
The undocumented community in the US is often portrayed as an unknown group of 11 million people “living in the shadows.” However, they play a central role in the economy.
Immigrants are workers and consumers who buy household items and food daily to survive. In addition, landlords and banks profit from mortgages and rents that these workers pay.
In 2019, the American Community Survey (ACS) produced an analysis with data from the New American Economy that stated, “Immigrants (14 percent of the U.S. population) wield $1.3 trillion in spending power. In some of the largest state economies, the contributions of immigrants are substantial.”
Here’s a breakdown of four major state economies based on American Community Survey (ACS) data from the New American Economy:
- California: 27% immigrant population, and immigrant spending power is $318 billion
- New York: 22% immigrant population, and immigrant spending power is $130 billion
- Texas: 17% immigrant population, and immigrant spending power is $120 billion.
- Florida: 21% immigrant population, and immigrant spending power is $105 billion.
In 2020, 19.8 million foreign-born “essential” workers were employed across all sectors of the US economy, whether in “high-skill” or “low-skill” jobs.
The vast majority of immigrants, 69%, worked essential jobs, including 74% of undocumented immigrants. This was higher than native-born individuals, 65% of whom held 65 essential jobs during the pandemic.
Over one-fifth of the employees in the food supply chain were born outside of the US. These workers harvest fruits and vegetables, grow crops, process meat, engage in wholesale or retail sales, and transport products and materials.
They also represent more than 30% of physically demanding jobs, such as farm laborers, graders and sorters, meat processing workers, and those in commercial bakeries and crop production.
Undocumented immigrants pay nearly $100 billion in taxes per year
Undocumented immigrants not only drive the economy forward through their continuous work, but in 2022, they paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. Of that amount, $59.4 billion went to the federal government, while $37.3 billion went to state and local governments.
Additionally, their contributions to the tax system totaled $8,889 per person in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022. Thus, for every million undocumented immigrants living in the country, public services benefit from an extra $8.9 billion in tax revenue.
Despite their contributions to the economy and taxes, more than a third of their tax dollars are used to fund programs they cannot access, due to their legal status.
In 2022, undocumented workers contributed $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance, $25.7 billion in Social Security, and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, all of which they do not have access to.
Immigrants pay $20.6 billion in mortgages every year
In addition to their roles in the workforce, undocumented workers significantly contribute to the economy through rent and mortgage payments. They own 1.6 million homes, resulting in $20.6 billion in annual mortgage payments.
In comparison, renters contribute $49.1 billion in rental payments annually, according to the Center for American Progress.
Granting citizenship to undocumented workers would boost their earnings and productivity, ultimately leading to higher tax contributions and increased local spending.
An extensive deportation program can significantly impact household incomes. For example, mixed-status households would see their median household income decrease from $41,300 to $22,000, a 47% decrease. According to the Center for Migration Studies‘ research, this could push millions of families struggling to survive into poverty.
The nation’s housing market would be at risk, because 1.6 million mortgages could disappear.
Mass deportations could cause a significant recession. In a 2016 analysis, Ryan Edwards and Francesc Ortega concluded that a “policy of mass deportation would immediately reduce the nation’s GDP by 1.4 percent, and ultimately by 2.6 percent, and reduce cumulative GDP over 10 years by $4.7 trillion.”
For comparison, US GDP shrunk by 2.5% in 2008, during the financial crisis.
An immigrant rights protest in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025 (Photo credit: Abraham Márquez)
People are standing up for immigrants
Moving forward with a mass deportation plan would trigger a significant housing, labor, economic, and healthcare crisis nationwide — one that the country has never witnessed before.
As working-class communities across the country prepare for the possibility of increased ICE presence, people are organizing their neighborhoods to prevent their families from being kidnapped by state agents.
Lawmakers and politicians should consider the extensive consequences in both the short term and the long term.
The narrative labeling undocumented individuals as “criminals” enables the state to instill fear in communities and break apart families.
Despite these fearful tactics, the US is also seeing one of the largest immigrant rights movements in its history.
Over several days in February, high school students walked out of class across Los Angeles and organized large marches to protest Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
JonnyJames
2025-02-26 at 12:18
Wait til the moderately wealthy realize they can’t find cheap hired help to do everything for them.
Will fat, lazy ‘merkans go to work in the slaughterhouses, wash dishes, clean up hotel rooms, pick fruit and veg in the California central valley in 100+ degree heat?
They might have to or starve to death.
The DT2 regime will continue to impose Siege Warfare to starve Cuba, Venezuela and others into submission. So far it hasn’t worked, but the hardships being suffered in those countries is a nightmare. US foreign and financial policies have arguably contributed a huge proportion in the numbers of refugees and migrants.
Scapegoat the powerless and create the Internal Other to mobilize political support. “They” are gang members, rapists, drug dealers and all around evil people. “We” are virtuous, law abiding victims. Don’t look behind the curtain to see the Oligarchy fucking us under, it’s all the fault of the poor and the powerless.
That sounds awfully familiar, one of the oldest political tricks in the book.
Eric Arthur Blair
2025-02-26 at 14:32
The CIA have long been involved in drug running operations around the world eg opium in Afghanistan and cocaine in Colombia and Nicaragua, the latter exposed by reporter Gary Webb, who then died from two gunshots to his head which the CIA declared to be suicide.
The LEMSO* propaganda machine, without evidence, says that US drug problems are all due to Latin American criminal cartels or the Chinese peddling fentanyl. The opiod crisis has nothing to do with the Sackler family, oh no. Such big money, big pharma Jewish donors to US politicians must always be seen as pure as the driven snow.
USAID and NED sponsored terror against Latin American farmers has destroyed their livelihoods, forcing them to migrate to the USA to be exploited as near slave labor. Move or die.
Drumpf has declared those victims of US exploitation to be drug traffickers and rapists, to be deported back to Latin America in handcuffs and leg chains. If done en masse, this will faaaark the US economy, just like everything else Drumpf is doing.
Of course only a token number will be deported in grand media spectacle, good for the optics of Don the Con fulfilling his election promises to racist MAGA knuckledraggers. But the vast majority of “illegal” immigrants will remain in the US so that the exploitation can continue.
*Lying Establishment Media Sewer Outlets
elizabeth keenan
2025-02-28 at 14:42
In the rural farming area where I live, the crops are harvested by crews of Mexican workers on temporary work visas. They schedule a year ahead of time so they can rotate as the crops are ready. A few years back one corn farmer decided he should only hire locally. He offered way above the going rate and also offered health insurance, something they never do. He only got a few responses to his ad for workers, less than that showed up the first day. They all left at noon without saying anything, just didn’t come back, except for one man who stayed long enough to tell him the work was too hard. They were all young white men. The farmer lost his entire crop that year.
We’re going to see a lot more of this, since even those with legal work visas will be afraid to come here. trump has people so worked up they will assume all Hispanics are illegal, drug dealing, criminals. trump’s tariffs on food from Mexico will reduce the amount and increase the cost. Good luck eating everyone.
Even replacing trump next election will not help, the dems are no good either and we’re in such a deep hole that even a party that cared about the country would be unable to do enough.
Eric Arthur Blair
2025-04-01 at 15:50
“Good luck eating everyone.”
Yes, that can work. It is called Soylent Green.
Avoid the orange bits mixed with strands of yellow wig hair, very toxic.
Immigration Paths
2025-03-09 at 22:45
It’s refreshing to read a clear analysis that goes beyond the usual political rhetoric and dives directly into economic facts.
I appreciated how the article highlighted the real-world impacts of deportations—not just on families affected, but also on local economies, industries, and even national productivity. The points about labor shortages and reduced consumer spending were especially powerful. People often overlook how deeply integrated immigrants are into economic life, and your article makes it clear that deportations aren’t just a social or humanitarian issue, but a significant economic concern too.
The discussion about specific industries heavily reliant on immigrant labor, such as agriculture, hospitality, and construction, was eye-opening. It showed clearly that harsh immigration policies can have unintended negative economic consequences.
One aspect I’d suggest exploring further is the potential long-term impact of deportations on U.S. competitiveness globally, especially in sectors that rely heavily on immigrant innovation and entrepreneurship.