In the United States, there are many voters who said that they voted for Donald Trump because of his stances on immigration. There was the idea that the Trump administration would close borders, get the most violent criminal offenders out of America, and save the American economy by restoring American jobs. Months into his administration, we are seeing that his promises were lies, and that the boogeyman immigrant image is backfiring terribly. It is also important to note that the immigration plan, or the deportation plan to be more accurate, only targets immigrant groups that are not White. This is having a devastating effect on the employment market and economy overall. A deeper dive is necessary to understand just how deep this problem is.
- “We will only get rid of violent, criminal, illegal aliens.”
This rhetoric resonated across so many communities. The notion that every undocumented person (I will never call a human being “illegal” or an “alien”) was a violent criminal such as the man who murdered 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student Lincoln Reilly in 2024, resonated with the vast majority (82%) of Americans who believe violent undocumented criminals should be deported. The problem is that there was never Trump’s plan.
Across the country, we see that the Trump administration started deportations with many people who were indeed undocumented, but were gainfully employed. As one worker in New York named Carlos told the BBC: “It’s scary. I’ve been avoiding being out on the street more than I need to…I don’t have a problem with criminals being arrested. But we keep hearing that other people – workers – are also being taken away.” “Other people” would include Jersey Kabob restaurant owners Emine and Celal Emanet. Their son Muhammed had to close the restaurant and layoff workers because he could not keep up with the demand of customers. No American citizens came to replace those jobs and that community lost an important community space.
- What did the children do to deserve this?
Another consequence we are seeing from Trump’s plan is that many undocumented people are staying home and keeping their children and themselves away from schools, churches, hospitals, and other community spaces because of fear of being picked up by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). These are therefore people not contributing to the economy, and students who are missing out on education that would help prepare them for the workforce. People cannot work under constant fear of deportation. They cannot work safely when Acting ICE Director Tom Homan’s philosophy is to deport entire families, which has also happened. Who can work with the fear that they could be picked up at any point by ICE?
- Trump’s deportation plan is racist so it is destroying select
This cannot be ignored. Trump’s immigration plan is indeed ripping communities apart but not every community. according to CNN, there are around 50,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in America but “they’re spared the glances. The ‘go back to your country’ slurs facing so many undocumented migrants in the US.” Though it is obvious that any undocumented community may live in fear, White immigrants generally can continue to gain from and contribute to America’s economy with little fear of arrest and deportation. While this administration in many instances kidnaps non-White people and shackles humans and deports them with their families (many of whom actually did not have criminal records) from Iran, Mexico, Cameroon, and other places, White undocumented communities comparatively get to roam freely. How does this help the American economy? Furthermore, the removal of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and the challenge to birthright citizenship is creating entire new categories of undocumented people.
At the end of the day, Trump’s immigration plan is destroying the American economy for people who are not part of the wealthier part of our society. Being undocumented in this country, up until now, has always been a civil offense, but now Trump is making that a criminal offense as well. He is increasing the criminal pool, however, no attention is directed at the fact that no employers of these undocumented workers are being arrested. No American citizen business owners have been arrested for hiring undocumented workers and then firing them right before payday and then bringing in a new group. Trump has also never suffered any consequences for hiring undocumented people.
Trump has made it clear that he wants to recreate a deportation plan larger than any other time in American history, including the racist named “Operation Wetback” of the 1950s designed to deport Mexicans (although some Americans were caught in the crosshairs of this mass deportation of over 1,000,000 people as well). With his actions, some of America’s hardest workers are putting together plans for what their children should do if they come home and their parents are gone. They are getting sicker because they are afraid of going to the hospital, which will tax our already struggling health system. They’re losing income because they are afraid to go to work, even to the businesses that they own. American citizens also suffer as they deal with the lack of availability of nurses, security personnel and others who put their best foot forward every day in servicing this country and America will be worse off for it. If Trump really wants to improve the American economy and the labor market, he could start by engaging in a humane policy of fixing the border issues in America, which starts in Congress and not on the streets of America.
