President Donald Trump's 2024 election-winning policy around immigration could come back to bite him and the Republican Party this November, with a new report showing rising economic pressures on American citizens as more immigrants are detained and deported. The report—from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)—comes just under two months out from an Election Day which is set to test the president's popularity amid rising grocery and gas costs and a slowdown in job creation. According to the report, roughly 6 million jobs could be lost as a result of the White House's widespread crackdown on illegal immigrants, with U.S. workers likely to be adversely affected.
Authors also suggested that price rises on products from lettuce to milk were, in part, linked to the loss of immigrant labor. "Researchers now know that mass deportation reduces native employment, raises the price of food, housing, and eldercare, and ICE raids slash economic activity overall, which eliminates jobs for U.S. natives," Michael A. Clemens, an economist with a focus on immigration at Johns Hopkins University, told Newsweek.
"These are not opinions but findings from quantitative analysis at high academic standards, with careful attention to distinguishing correlation and causation. "Few people will be driven to the polls by today’s strawberry prices. But they might be driven to the polls by the growing evidence that our economic future is being eroded by the numb policy of enforcement-without-reform." The report's authors called for new pathways to citizenship for immigrants who were contributing to the U.S. economy, arguing this would require Congress to act quickly.
Matt Wylie, a Republican strategist, told Newsweek Wednesday, that "Family budgets are being crushed by tariffs, reckless trade wars, and a war with Iran. The midterms will come down to who voters trust to lower grocery and gas prices. It seems that the ACLU and AFL-CIO are trying to hijack that anxiety for their own political agenda." Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, told Newsweek Wednesday afternoon that the surge in illegal immigration between 2020 and 2024 also placed higher costs on Americans.
"The surge in illegal immigration under President Biden threatened the long run fiscal health of the country, contributed to record high inflation, and suppressed the wages of American workers," she said. "There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump’s agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration’s commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws. President Trump will continue growing our economy and deliver rising wages for American workers.” While supporters of Trump's tougher immigration enforcement have suggested deporting millions of immigrants without legal status would mean American-born workers being able to access their jobs, the AFL-CIO and ACLU argue that the long-term impact may be the opposite.
The report says this could be the case because immigrants and U.S.-born workers often work in interconnected industries and supply chains, so when businesses lose workers due to a loss of work permits or deportation, employers may then reduce operations, delay projects, or scale back hiring. "Roughly one in five workers in our country is an immigrant, spanning all sectors of the economy," the report reads. "Targeting this large and vital segment of the workforce sharply reduces the supply of labor, threatening the ability of employers to generate revenue and cover business expenses, including the wages of any remaining workers." Authors of the report also point to other research which suggested that increased immigration enforcement was linked to declines in overall employment rates.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
