Economists and Immigration Policy Experts Raise Alarm on the Catastrophic Long-Term Economic Consequences of Trump’s Mass Deportation and Immigration Plans

Today, America’s Voice hosted a press call outlining how mass deportations, coupled with proposed cuts to legal migration, will impact the American economy. This is the first in a series of calls focused on the consequences of Trump’s mass deportation plans.

Speakers shared data and economic analysis projecting how mass deportations, family separations, and cuts to visa and legal immigration avenues will impact every American. Of the potential consequences, they highlighted the likelihood of mass deportations spiking inflation, driving up deficits, cutting revenues, shrinking the workforce, and leading to a decline in GDP.

Here’s what economists and policy experts had to say on how President-elect Trump’s mass deportation and immigration plans will impact the U.S. economy:

Robert G. Lynch, Professor of Economics at Washington College, said: “Studies of past mass deportation episodes in the United States have shown that they caused the U.S. economy to contract. Jobs for American workers declined, American wages went down, and prices rose. The idea that mass deportation would help American citizens is an illusion. It has never worked in the past and it won’t work in the future.”

Resources from Robert G. Lynch:

• “Literature Review on the Economic Consequences of the Deportation of Unauthorized Immigrants,” by Robert G. Lynch (Washington College – Department of Economics) and Michael Ettlinger (University of New Hampshire) and
• “The Economic Impact on Citizens and Authorized Immigrants of Mass Deportation” by Robert G. Lynch (Washington College – Department of Economics) and Michael Ettlinger (University of New Hampshire)

Phillip Connor, Senior Demographer at FWD.us, said: "We must be clear: President-elect Trump's mass deportation plans are, in reality, mass family separation plans. These policies would impact more than 28 million individuals in mixed-status and undocumented families, including over 20 million Latinos—approximately one in three Latinos in the U.S. Eliminating critical protections like Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), combined with the deportation of millions of others, would devastate local economies and lead to significant job losses in essential industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, and agriculture. Our communities and economy thrive when immigrants with deep ties to the U.S. can live and work with security and stability. Now is the time to pursue real policy solutions that address our immigration challenges without compromising our economy or betraying our nation’s core values."

Resources from FWD.us:

• Mixed-status families: https://www.fwd.us/news/mixed-status-families-oct/
• Inflation impacts: https://www.fwd.us/news/immigration-inflation/
• Undocumented workforce: https://www.fwd.us/news/pathway-to-citizenship/#americas-workforce
• Coalition for the American Dream DACA report: https://www.coalitionfortheamericandream.us/daca-economics/

Stuart Anderson, Executive Director of National Foundation for American Policy, said: “The best way to predict a second Trump term on immigration is to look at the policies in the first term. The Trump administration reduced legal immigration by cutting refugee admissions and enacting various bans and restrictions, some of which were blocked, primarily on procedural grounds. One should expect similar policies in the second Trump administration. A recent report our organization released found that without immigrants and their children, there would have been no labor force growth in the U.S. economy over the past 5 years. The economic impact of reduced immigration could be significant, particularly over the medium and long term.”