As of Dec. 15, 2024, the population of the United States was 346,270,409 according to data collected by the United Nations. The United States has a voting age population of 262,083,034. Seven percent of that population is non-citizens, leaving approximately 244 million eligible voters. Of those, 76.9 million voted for Donald Trump and 74.7 million voted for Kamala Harris; 88 million did not vote.
Trump received 31.5% of the vote given that more than 88 million eligible voters chose not to vote at all and 74.7 million voted for Harris. The mainstream media and the Republicans spread the entirely false narrative of a so-called mandate for Trump and his disastrous proposals. It is “minority rule” with a cruel agenda.
One such proposal, to deport more than 11 million undocumented workers, is part of the cruel agenda. It is cruel, because, if implemented, it will cause unfathomable suffering and harm.
More than 3.4 million undocumented immigrants have a U.S.-born minor child. Indiscriminate mass deportation would separate families. Mass deportation would send people that fled their countries because of violence and threats back to their deaths.
It would send people back to their countries of origin devastated by years of U.S. foreign policy, such as the sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela, as well as the U.S. role in supporting dictatorships in Central America and elsewhere.
Trump’s deportation plans will also create an economic disaster. The U.S. workforce includes 7.6 million undocumented workers, representing 23% of the total immigrant workforce. Immigrants play a crucial role in the U.S. workforce, filling jobs not otherwise covered by U.S. born workers despite often-hazardous conditions and ineligibility for employment-related social services.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in May 2024 there were 8.5 million job openings (as reported by employers) in the United States, with 6.5 million unemployed people available to fill said openings. Even with current levels of immigration, there are 2 million jobs that need to be filled. Some states with large immigrant populations (including New York, California and Texas) have relatively fewer labor vacancies, but they still have more vacancies than available workers.
According to a report in the September/October 2024 issue of Mother Jones magazine, more than half of all farmworkers in the United States are undocumented. Food prices would increase dramatically with a projected 21% increase in handpicked crops if these essential workers are deported. Milk prices are expected to double.
Twenty-five percent of workers who process meat, fish and poultry lack legal status, and if deported their loss will increase prices and inflation. Some farmers are even saying that they will be unable to grow enough food.
An estimated 350,000 undocumented immigrants work in healthcare, of which 142,000 are childcare workers, personal care aides and home health aides. More than 160,000 are employed as cleaners and housekeepers. These are essential workers that many disabled and elderly Americans depend on.
Elderly and disabled Americans will suffer from a lack of care and even die if Trump deports thousands of healthcare workers.
One in five undocumented workers, 1.5 million people, is employed in construction, more than 10% of the construction labor force and 32% of the roofer labor force. The construction industry is already facing a labor shortage of 500,000 workers, and if Trump is able to carry out his deportation plans, the construction of new housing will be severely impacted, exacerbating the housing shortage crisis and increasing the costs of housing.
Other economic impacts will be the loss of Social Security funding and tax revenue. It is estimated that undocumented workers pay more than $13 billion a year into the system through payroll tax deductions. There will be a loss of federal, state and local tax revenues.
In 2022, undocumented households paid $35.1 billion in taxes, $21.5 billion in federal taxes and $13.6 billion in local taxes. Loss of Social Security funding and tax revenues will negatively impact all Americans.
However, everything is not negative for everyone, especially those who will profit from the immense suffering caused by Trump’s plans. Private prison company operators (and their shareholders), such as CoreCivic and the GEO Group, will continue to operate detention centers and reap immense profits.
In 2022, these two companies received a combined $1.5 billion in deals with ICE. Surveillance BI Inc., a Geo Group subsidiary, signed a five-year deal in 2020 to provide ankle monitors and tracking phone apps to track immigrants. There are also consulting firms and charter flight operators that currently reap large profits in the “deportation industry” and will continue to do so.
The Trump administration plans include invoking the Alien Enemies Act, deputizing all law enforcement agencies, building massive detention camps and deploying the military and national guard to enforce deportation policies. Legal challenges are expected at every step.
It is our challenge to beat back the false narrative, support those who are under threat of deportation in every way we can and to educate friends and neighbors on the valuable contribution undocumented workers make to our society. We must stand for truth and justice in the face of ignorance and hatred.
We must “be the love to stop the hate” if we expect to have food in our grocery stores, adequate healthcare, adequate housing and a society that will not collapse because an authoritarian leader has scapegoated essential workers and their families.
