Washington, DC —This afternoon, Donald Trump will hold a press conference at which we expect his usual heavy focus on divisive anti-immigrant lies and conspiracies, as well as a reiteration of his pledge for the “largest deportation operation in the history of our country.” Ahead of Trump’s press conference, below are three key questions we hope he will be asked, followed by additional context for each question. Unlike at the first presidential debate, when Trump refused to directly answer a question about mass deportation, he should answer and the American people should learn about the most consequential immigration and economic subject of the 2024 campaign.
- What are the specific details of Trump’s plan for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked here for decades? This includes his indiscriminate and unsparing focus and plans to deploy the military into U.S. cities to enact it?
- What are Trump’s plans for replacing the millions of workers in agriculture, construction, food services, childcare, and other key sectors of the economy should his mass deportation vision be enacted?
- Given Trump’s supposed rejection of Project 2025, does he not support its immigration provisions?
Question 1: What are the specific details of Trump’s plan for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked here for decades? This includes his indiscriminate and unsparing focus and plans to deploy the military into U.S. cities to enact it?
- Donald Trump’s pledged mass deportations – involving mass roundups, mass detention, and a mass purge of both long-settled immigrants and recent arrivals – is the single most consequential immigration and economic issue of the 2024 campaign.
- As America’s Voice has been highlighting, Trump and key allies have been making clear that his proposed “largest deportation operation in the history of our country” would be unsparing and indiscriminate in targeting immigrants – noting, “no one is off the table” and that those targeted would include, “a woman with two children, three children.“
- At the first presidential debate, CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked Trump to specify his mass deportation vision and plans, yet Trump refused to answer and pivoted to tell lies about immigrants. Trump needs to answer the question and the American people deserve to hear specifics about his destabilizing, radical plan.
Question 2: What are Trump’s plans for replacing the millions of workers in agriculture, construction, food services, childcare, and other key sectors of the economy should his mass deportation vision be enacted?
- If Trump’s mass deportations proceeded, vital American industries reliant on immigrant workers would be gutted with major ripple effects on all Americans, while millions of homeowners, entrepreneurs, essential workers, healthcare providers, and teachers would be uprooted from U.S. communities.
- As Rick Newman writes in his recent Yahoo Finance column, “The economic risk of Trump’s deportation plan,” states, “Deporting large numbers of migrant workers will shrink the workforce, drive up labor costs, and make food and many other products more expensive. Growth will suffer a little, tax revenues will drop a bit, and budget deficits will be higher. If you think that’s all worth it, then explain the cost-benefit analysis and what the offsetting gain will be.”
- Leading economists are consistent in detailing that mass deportations would devastate the economy and harm all Americans and that native workers aren’t going to come close to filling the void:
- George Mason University economist Michael A. Clemens argued that the promises being made to American workers of higher wages and available jobs if immigrants are removed are out of step with economic reality: “Their deportation will instead prompt U.S. business owners to cut back or start fewer new businesses, in some cases shifting their investments to less labor-intensive technologies and industries, while scaling back production to reflect the loss of consumers for their goods.”
- A video from the Peterson Institute for International Economics featuring economist Warwick J. McKibben concluded that mass deportations would reduce real GDP by 12 percent if 7.5 million workers were deported and by 2.1 percent if 1.3 million were deported. Both scenarios would “ignite serious inflation.”
- In a Washington Monthly column, “Trump’s Plans for Mass Deportation Would Be an Economic Disaster,” Robert Shapiro, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, detailed the “serious economic tremors” that would harm all Americans if Trump’s plan proceeded.
Question 3: Given Trump’s supposed rejection of Project 2025, does he not support its immigration provisions?
- Trump and his campaign’s supposed rejection and distancing from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 should refocus attention on whether Trump will embrace or reject many of the extreme policy ideas embedded in that document if asked.
- The array of radical and damaging ideas in Project 2025 are dizzying, on virtually every policy issue. This includes on immigration. Read the AV fact sheet, “10 Things You Need to Know About Project 2025 on Immigration,” and read the Niskanen Center’s assessment of Project 2025 and immigration for a detailed recap of what’s proposed – including proposals to block federal financial aid for “up to two-thirds of all American college students” if their state permits Dreamers to access in-state tuition, repealing TPS and terminating DACA status for Dreamers by “eliminating staff time for reviewing and processing renewal applications,” eviscerating legal immigration by suspending application intakes and putting in place personnel and operational plans to enact the mass deportation vision.
Additional Resources
- Univision op-ed published in English and Spanish by America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas: “The most consequential immigration – and economic – issue of the 2024 campaign.”
- America’s Voice memo on mass deportation and its consequences
- America’s Voice press release, “Trump: “A Woman with Two Children, Three Children” Will Be Among Those He Wants to Target and Deport”
