Trump's mass deportation plan would oust 8.3M people from US workforce: study
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about immigration and border security near Coronado National Memorial in Montezuma Pass, Arizona, August 22, 2024. (Photo by OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty Images)
Immigration is one of the top issues for voters heading into November’s election. Donald Trump has discussed his platform on the matter on the campaign trail, but a new study shows that the former president is proposing more extreme immigration restrictions, including removing migrants within the nation’s workforce.
In a report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Trump has talked about carrying out the "largest domestic deportation operation in American history," targeting what he says are 15 million to 20 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., approximately 8.3 million of whom are thought to be in the workforce.
Researchers in the study created a model to compare the effect Trump’s plan to deport 1.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers versus 8.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers would have on the nation’s economy.
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The study notes that the team assumes the deportations Trump is proposing may happen between 2025 and 2026, with the total number of deportations being enforced beginning in 2025.
According to the report, deporting 1.3 million unauthorized workers reduces the agricultural workforce by 2.5%. But the impact of deporting all 8.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers would be greater with reductions in the workforce specifically in the agriculture, mining, and manufacturing industries.
Trump in his plan has suggested using local law enforcement, the National Guard, and the standing army to implement this plan, "moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas" to the US-Mexico border and invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to permit the military to arrest unauthorized immigrants.
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According to the study, Trump wants to expedite deportations of unauthorized migrants by modifying ICE deportation policies, allowing ICE agents to perform workplace raids rather than arresting people individually.
Meanwhile, Trump wants to deny due process to unauthorized immigrants and suspected members of drug cartels and criminal gangs. To mitigate the burden placed on existing ICE detention facilities and plans to build massive detention facilities along the border to hold migrants while they await deportation.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics notes that Trump’s plan for mass deportation is inspired by "Operation Wetback"—a 1956 campaign under the Eisenhower administration that deported 1.3 million people. The campaign used "military-style tactics" to gather and remove Mexican immigrants from the U.S.