Immigration enforcement weakens labor markets, local economies, and growth
Within the first 50 days of President Donald Trump’s second term, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made 32,809 arrests. While most of these arrests were targeted towards illegal immigrants with criminal records, ICE has also turned its attention to arresting immigrants (some illegal, some not) who actively support economic growth and maintain a clean record for the time they’ve been in the U.S. Instead of scapegoating immigrants in this country, the government could focus the money being used to deport them on far more urgent causes.
America is a nation of immigrants—the country’s economy was built from the ground up by immigrants from other countries—and American cultural ideals are centered on inclusion. America has always claimed to be a bastion for freedom, but ICE raids infringe on the very freedom our Founding Fathers sought to create. Undocumented immigrants greatly help the economy, and these mass deportations could result in a 4.2%-6.8% GDP loss. Furthermore, this statistic does not take into account the sheer cost of deporting all undocumented immigrants, estimated to be about $315 billion. Instead of spending that money on deporting immigrants who contribute to the growth and stability of the U.S. economy, the Administration could build 40,450 elementary schools, construct over 2.9 million new homes, pay college tuition for 4.3 million students, and buy brand new vehicles for 20.4 million people. The current administration also gave ICE a $28.7 million budget, which is 3.2 billion more than NASA’s budget. The money the government is allocating to solve this comparatively trivial issue is obscene, and it could be spent to make changes to noticeably improve the lives of the average American citizen.
At least 71.5% of immigrant detainees have no criminal records. While some may say that entering this country illegally is inherently a crime, some undocumented immigrants have no choice but to cross the border. It can be a last resort to save themselves and their families from gangs or violence, and the U.S. government cannot offer asylum quickly enough. The Trump Administration projects the idea that undocumented immigrants take away jobs from natural-born citizens. This claim is false, as most undocumented immigrants work in different fields and produce different goods that we need as a society. The economy is not a zero-sum game; it is much more complex. Trump and his advisors portray undocumented immigrants as dangerous, when in reality, they are 60% less likely to commit crimes than natural-born citizens. Treating immigrants like ticking time bombs whose only goal is to commit crime and create anarchy is illogical. For example, many immigrants avoid driving out of concern that doing so could lead to deportation. If immigrants, who commit fewer crimes than our natural-born citizens, are being treated as vicious criminals, it paints a dark picture of the natural-born citizens, who treat undocumented immigrants as lower while committing more crimes.
ICE raids shrink the U.S. GDP, reallocate funds from key departments in the U.S government, defund cancer research—a sickness which affects 618,000 Americans yearly—stall space exploration, and have a negative impact on the job market. The U.S. economy is a delicate melting pot with many different factors and variables, and attempting to scramble one of those variables could have detrimental effects on American lives for the next couple of years.
