Donald Trump’s vow to round up millions of immigrants and deport them in the largest deportation effort in U.S. history has industry groups that rely on immigrants spooked.
It’s no secret that such action — unrealistic as it may seem to some — poses a threat to the economy as we know it. Economic and labor experts warned about the destructive potential of Trump’s deportation obsession in the lead-up to Election Day. But now that his return to the White House is certain, the farm and construction industries in particular are sounding the alarm about the devastation their sectors could see if Trump follows through.
U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.
So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan.
Nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.
Reuters noted that some Republicans are hoping Trump spares undocumented farmworkers from deportation, as he vowed during his first presidency (though, for the record, he didn’t exactly leave farmworkers untouched). There seems to be palpable worry — even among MAGA faithful — that Trump is just as cravenly opposed to immigrants as he comports himself to be.
NPR published a similar story about the Texas construction industry, which reportedly is fretting over what Trump’s deportation promises could mean. According to NPR:
Clear signals President-elect Donald Trump plans to make good on his campaign pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants in his second term has sparked concerns among some in Texas’ business and economic sectors who say mass deportations could upend some of the state’s major industries that rely on undocumented labor, chief among them the booming construction industry.
NPR cites two CEOs who say the deportation plans are impractical and would stymie the building of schools and homes, along with highways and other crucial infrastructure. Coincidentally, Trump’s campaign was built around the notion that booting immigrants from the country would resolve housing supply issues and school overcrowding, while opening up jobs that could easily be taken by American workers.
With Trump’s return to the White House less than two months away, experts who know better are warning how flawed that logic truly is.