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Fresh Reminders: Mass Deportation Would Be an Economic and Fiscal Disaster for America

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Immigration crackdown would be economic and fiscal disasterA new Associated Press wire story by business writer Paul Wiseman, titled “Why deporting undocumented immigrants could slow US economy,” highlights the reasons why Trump’s mass deportation policies would be an economic and fiscal disaster.

If President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration leads to large-scale deportations, among those hurt could be the U.S. economy. That’s the view of many economists, who say the United States can’t afford to suddenly lose vast numbers of the immigrants who work illegally picking fruit and vegetables, building houses, busing tables, staffing meat-packing plants and cleaning hotel rooms … ‘The economic shock would cause widespread ramifications,’ says Ben Gitis, director of labor market policy at the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. (Read the full AP piece here).

Economic Contributions of Immigrants

Two new research studies and resources underscore the key takeaways from the AP piece by estimating why deportation would be an economic and fiscal disaster:

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has released an updated version of a report estimating the contributions of undocumented immigrants to state and local fiscal coffers. The ITEP report finds that undocumented immigrants annually pay $11.74 billion in state and local taxes. As ITEP’s press release accompanying the report highlights, their research findings “dispute the erroneous idea espoused during President Trump’s address to Congress that undocumented immigrants are a drain to taxpayers.

‘Good policy is informed policy,’ said Meg Wiehe, ITEP director of programs. ‘Just as the horrendous impact of breaking up families under a mass deportation policy should not be ignored, nor should policymakers overlook the significant contributions undocumented immigrants make to our state and local revenues and the economy.’” To view the full ITEP report and related state-specific data, see www.itep.org/immigration/.

Why Mass Deportation is Economic and Fiscal Disaster

Additionally, the new immigration data website created by New American Economy, MapTheImpact.org, includes an interactive map showing the economic power of immigrants in all 50 states, the 55 largest U.S. cities, and each of the 435 Congressional districts (spoiler alert: immigrants are really really good for the American economy).

As John Feinblatt, Chairman of New American Economy, said,“This data puts the economic power of America’s immigrants in stark relief,” said . “Across the map, and in every industry, immigrants strengthen the economies of big cities and small towns alike.”