The administration’s deportation agenda could impact millions of jobs held by immigrant and U.S.-born workers, according to a new Economic Policy Institute report.
The Republican budget bill just signed into law will dramatically boost funding for immigration enforcement. If the Trump administration follows through on its stated goal of deporting 4 million people over four years, the analysis finds that:
- Nearly 6 million jobs will be impacted: There will be 3.3 million fewer employed immigrants and 2.6 million fewer employed U.S.-born workers. Those jobs could become available to citizens residing in the United States.
- The construction and child care sectors will be hardest hit: Almost half of the job disruptions will be in construction and child care—both sectors could shrink by more than 15% if the jobs aren’t filled.
- Jobs in every state will be impacted: California, Florida, New York, and Texas will have the highest number of job disruptions due to larger immigrant populations in these states.
Because jobs held by U.S.-born and immigrant workers are often complementary and economically linked, the shrinking supply of immigrant labor can adversely affect employer demand for jobs held by both groups of workers. Increased deportations and the threat of aggressive immigration enforcement also can reduce aggregate demand if the number of consumers and business owners decreases.
The analysis builds on recent economic research that found previous increases in immigration enforcement caused widespread job losses for both immigrant and U.S.-born workers. In addition to national estimates, the report also includes impacts of increased deportations by state for overall and construction-sector employment.
“Trump’s radical mass deportation agenda will destroy millions of jobs for immigrant and U.S.-born workers, particularly in construction and child care. While Trump and other conservatives claim that increased deportations will somehow magically create jobs for U.S.-born workers, the existing evidence shows that the opposite is true: they will cause immense harm to workers and families, shrink the economy, and weaken the labor market for everyone,” said Ben Zipperer, EPI senior economist.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
Tags: construction, immigration, job sector, Payroll, unemployment, workers
