4 ways Trump’s mass deportation plans could hurt your finances
CNN
President-elect Donald Trump has made tougher immigration enforcement a key campaign promise in each of his White House bids. If he follows through on his pledge for mass deportations and tighter immigration policies, it could create a financial burden for many Americans.
President-elect Donald Trump has made tougher immigration enforcement a key campaign promise in each of his White House bids. If he follows through on his pledge for mass deportations and tighter immigration policies, it could create a financial burden for many Americans. That’s because immigrants – including people who are in America illegally – support the job market, keep inflation in check and add to the federal coffers. That contributes to the overall US economy: If current immigration levels are sustained, the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) could increase by 0.2 percentage points each year over the next decade, leaving it 2% higher in 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s outlook report for the next decade. By contrast, that projected growth would take a hit if Trump were able to enact his mass deportation plans. An estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants reside in the United States, but Trump’s focus has mostly been on deporting immigrants with criminal records. Goldman Sachs reported in June that it estimates about 1.2 million unauthorized immigrants, or 8% of that population, have criminal convictions. Here’s the financial impact for Americans if Trump follows through on his mass deportation plan. Deporting millions of undocumented workers would mean that businesses will need to replace those laborers. With historically low unemployment, finding people willing to work for low pay could be difficult, and companies may need to advertise higher wages to attract workers to replace deported laborers. Consumers would foot the bill if companies’ productivity slows or paychecks increase in the agriculture, construction and services sectors, which have a large number of undocumented workers.