Trump mass deportations generates fear about economic impact

• Businesses Warn About Economic Impact of Trump’s Deportations
• Deportations Include Essential Workers
• Urgent Call for Immigration Reform

Deportations ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump are causing fear in immigrant communities.

But also «anxiety and uncertainty» among business owners who need that workforce and who denounced this Monday that they are already seeing a decrease in production.

According to Rebeca Shi, executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition in Illinois, the deportations have also affected «essential workers».

Despite the government’s claim that they are focused on violent individuals and drug cartel members.

BUSINESS OWNERS ALERTED BY DONALD TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATIONS

Members of that coalition have already reported a 50% slowdown in their operations.

Because immigrants «paralyzed by fear,» do not show up for work and remain at home, the businessmen pointed out this Monday during a teleconference.

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«Trump promised mass deportations and he is fulfilling it,» said Shi about the operations.

Which last weekend left more than a thousand migrants expelled.

Impact of Trump’s Deportations on Production and the Economy

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE, in English) reported that the procedures were carried out in the cities of Atlanta, Austin, Chicago.

In addition to Denver, Los Angeles, and in Puerto Rico, but there were no further details on the people detained.

Business leaders such as Matt Teagarden, from the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, who said that immigrant labor is essential for his sector and agriculture in general, participated in the virtual press conference.

«Violent criminals should be deported, but there also need to be paths to legalize immigrants who obey the law and pay taxes,» he said.

Challenges in Critical Sectors

The executive called for immigration reform that addresses the underlying problem, because the country is facing a crossroads:

«We can import workers and continue producing our food in the United States, or import food, which is a matter of national security,» he said.

There are also other economic aspects that should be considered, the businessmen warned.

Shi said that immigrant workers are 25 to 50% of the essential industries in this country, and they contribute more than 80,000 million dollars in taxes every year.

An Urgent Call to an Immigration Reform

Their absence would worsen the current labor shortage, estimated at 1.7 million jobs in health, construction, and manufacturing, among others, and would also reduce Gross Domestic Product by 4.2%.

Another aspect to consider is who will replace the immigrants in sectors where Americans are not interested in working.

Tony DiMare, whose family has worked for 97 years in the production of fresh tomatoes in California and Florida, said that this industry depends on immigrants for manual harvesting.

Most come from the federal temporary workers program, because «natives don’t want to do that task,» and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find foreigners with proper papers.

At Risk, the Care of the Elderly

Immigrants are also essential in the care of the elderly and sick, a job where they are 80% of the workforce, due to the absence of American applicants.

Adam Lampert, CEO of a company that cares for sick people in their homes in Texas, said that deportations are going to cause inflation in the market.

Because it will be necessary to increase wages to attract applicants who are not foreigners.

He warned that this industry «grows rapidly» and a million nurses will be needed per year, «which we do not have domestically. We have to look beyond our borders,» he said.

Demanding Justice

The coalition led by Shi will launch the ‘Secure our borders, but also protect our workforce’ campaign, aimed at the White House and Congress.

They demand that there be «action now,» through immigration reform and balanced, bipartisan solutions, that uphold the leadership and global competitiveness of the United States.

In addition to implementing the deportations, on his first day in the White House last Monday, Trump signed numerous decrees.

With the intention of designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, declaring a national emergency on the border between the United States and Mexico, and ending birthright citizenship.

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