by Parth Patel
Trump’s Deportation Plan and Some of its Possible Effects
Immigration has been a hot topic in the USA for quite some time now. President Donald Trump is signaling that he plans to follow through on his platform of deporting millions of immigrants when in office. A primary goal is to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants starting on day one. According to Forbes, a mass deportation event like this could have major unintended and detrimental consequences for “construction, agriculture, hospitality, and other industries”.
Expert Analysis on Mass Deportation
Expert analysis from Shantanu Khanna at Northeastern Global News, finds that immigrants are in jobs that are less likely to be filled by “native-born Americans.” This covers industries such as child care, hospitality, restaurants, landscaping, construction, and other service-based industries. Undocumented immigrants fill many, if not most of these jobs. If they are deported, some experts believe these services could simply disappear. The immediate deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants will effectively remove copious amounts of money from local economies when it comes to sales taxes collected, consumers at various businesses, available employees for many businesses, and many other ways. There will be less revenue overall as the immigrants will not be partaking in transactions and a hole in the service industry will likely appear.
Impacts to Florida from Mass Deportation
Florida in particular will be impacted in its agricultural and construction sector. The amount of undocumented immigrants living in Florida has increased by 400,000 in 2019 to 1.2 million in 2022 (Pew Research Center). A lot of these undocumented immigrants work in the construction and agricultural industry in Florida specifically.
Deportation Effects on the Florida Agriculture Industry
If Trump does complete his plan of mass deportations, it could mean increased grocery and restaurant prices. Many of the workers who work in this agricultural industry are paid well below the minimum wage. They are often the only ones willing to work under these conditions. With their deportation, new legal workers will likely demand minimum wage or even higher. Due to this increase in wages, grocery and restaurant prices will be affected. Concerns have been raised by farm groups who have urged “Trump to spare their workers from his promised mass deportations, arguing their removal would upend the U.S. food supply chain” (Reuters).
Deportation Effects on the Florida Construction Industry
Florida has a serious housing affordability problem due to an insufficient supply of available housing combined with a recent influx of people moving to the state. The construction industry currently simply can’t build housing fast enough to keep pace with the influx of new residents. A majority of construction in the state is done by undocumented immigrants and those with temporary status. If Trump’s mass deportation were to actually take place, construction would stall, losing construction companies serious money, and further exacerbating the state’s housing affordability crisis.
First Steps of Mass Deportation
The Trump administration has already conducted immigration raids across the country. It is the start of Trump’s goal to execute the biggest deportation operation the country has ever seen. To increase manpower President Trump’s “team also plans to reassign other federal agents and deputize local police officers and members of the National Guard…”(NYT). That being said, to carry out an operation of their planned size, will still require overcoming numerous problems from finances, logistics, and legal hurdles. Initially, those with criminal records are to be sought after first for deportation. With Trump’s it will be an interesting time to see how his administration’s plan rolls out.
Conclusion
It is best to work with a qualified and experienced immigration attorney to ensure that every factor is properly considered and taken care of. If you have any questions or need any help with your road to citizenship, do not hesitate to contact the Law Firm of Gian-Franco Melendez, LLC to speak with an experienced immigration attorney about your options. https://attorneymelendez.com/contact/
