Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, America’s Voice convened lawmakers, an economist, and a home health care worker to sound the alarm on how the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda is raising prices, costing jobs, and hollowing out local economies across the Southwest, with a particular focus on the toll on the nation’s home health care workforce. Speakers detailed findings from America’s Voice’s “End the ICE Tax” report and called on Congress to end the mass deportation agenda that’s driving up costs for American families.
“Trump ran on a promise to bring costs down for working families. Instead, he’s pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into masked agents raiding workplaces and tearing families and communities apart,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice. “The disruption to the American economy from mass deportation works like a hidden tax on goods and services – not a bill anyone can point to or vote on, but a cost our families have to pay anyway. This is the ICE tax: the extra price American families pay when their government chooses mass deportation over their values and their wallets.”
“This report shines a light on how ICE’s latest wave of violent, untargeted, taxpayer-funded activities are sweeping our nation, leading to the detention and deportation of hundreds of thousands of people in this country with no criminal records. These actions are disrupting our labor markets and driving up the cost of nearly everything – from food to housing to landscaping to child and elder care,” said U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM). “That’s why I recently introduced the Careworker Visa Act in Congress. America needs more caregivers to meet demand and bring down rising costs, and our immigration system should reflect that.”
“We’re calling it the ICE tax, but it’s also known as the fear tax,” said State Representative Alma Hernandez (D-AZ).“We’ve seen videos of construction sites being raided. People are scared, and this isn’t just impacting immigrant communities, it’s impacting everyone. These individuals are afraid to go to our stores and local businesses, and now we’re all paying more for everything. It all traces back to anti-immigrant policies that are hurting all of us.”
“The economy is about people interacting with each other, and it fundamentally runs on trust. When that trust breaks down because of fear, the economy suffers and people’s wallets really suffer. Main Street suffers,” said Professor Zeke Hernandez, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. “If we were talking about a 7 percent decline in spending, we’d be throwing around the word recession. But this would not be a recession caused by anything other than a policy choice. This is what an economy of fear looks like, and an economy of fear is bad for everyone, not just some people.”
English:
“In my daily life, the caregiver shortage means I work long hours because there’s not always someone available to cover shifts. My client’s family depends on me to show up and stay with her,” said Blanca Sánchez, care worker and member of the New Mexico Caregivers Coalition. “If I can’t make it, it’s hard to quickly find a replacement who knows her needs. This work demands tremendous responsibility, patience, and commitment, yet the pay remains low. Working 60 hours a week at $12 an hour is exhausting, and even then, I struggle to cover my own expenses. We need more caregivers, better wages, and working conditions that make it possible for people to stay in this field.”
Español:
“En mi vida diaria, la escasez de cuidadoras significa que trabajo muchas horas porque no siempre hay otra persona disponible para cubrir los turnos. La familia de mi clienta depende de que yo llegue y me quede con ella,” dijo Blanca Sánchez, cuidadora y miembro de la New Mexico Caregivers Coalition. “Si no puedo asistir, es difícil encontrar rápidamente a alguien que me reemplace y que conozca sus necesidades. Este trabajo requiere mucha responsabilidad, paciencia y compromiso, pero el pago sigue siendo bajo. Trabajar 60 horas por semana por 12 dólares la hora es agotador y aun así me cuesta cubrir mis propios gastos. Necesitamos más cuidadoras, mejores salarios y condiciones de trabajo que permitan que las personas se mantengan en este campo.”
Watch the full press call here.
Read the full report here.
