In response to his recent win in the presidential election, Donald Trump has started planning more seriously for his term in office. One of his most prominent campaign promises was that he would begin deporting more immigrants from the U.S., mentioning mass deportation. While many are happy with this plan, a large part of the nation is in opposition to it for a number of reasons.
Trump confirmed today that he would be focusing on these deportations, responding to a conservative activist who said that he heard this with the word “TRUE!”. Trump plans to start cracking down on immigration as soon as his first day in office. He will likely end the paroles put in place by the Biden administration, which were given to immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. He is also likely to undo policies that give more leeway to people that are not deemed to be dangerous to the public. One of the largest concerns with this plan of mass deportation is not the ethics (though still important) of the situation, but how much it will cost U.S. taxpayers.
The United States of America has an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, which Trump says he wants lower significantly. The problem is that conducting arrests, detaining, processing, and removing immigrants is projected to cost around $315 billion dollars. This substantial amount of money would also lead to inflation, making it far harder to afford anything in the coming years. Putting the costs aside, the U.S. deports an estimated 250,000 immigrants per year which Trump says that he wants to quadruple. ICE employs 7000 officers who conduct deportations, making this amount of people being made to left the country unfeasible. America currently just does not have the resources to accommodate the escalation of deportation that Donald Trump has suggested.
Immigration interest groups (much like the ones we have learned about in class) such as the American Immigration Council are also unhappy with the proposed mass deportations. This group supports the rights of immigrants, and talks more specifically about the moral concerns with mass deportation, citing that about “5.1 million U.S. citizen children live with an undocumented family member”. The amount of people that Trump wants to deport would undoubtedly lead to thousands of families becoming separated, causing people to lose loved ones and have extremely traumatic experiences. Despite this, Trump’s team is already thinking about ways to resist arguments from immigrant’s rights groups. With Trump appointing over two hundred federal judges including three in the Supreme Court, it will be much easier for him to avoid any legal issues, giving him more control over how deportations are carried out.
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14 comments:
I wish I could say I was surprised. I think the biggest issues with this as Miller mentioned are cost to American taxpayers and the separation of undocumented parents from children born in the US. Housing millions of children is expensive, in addition to the emotional toll it takes on children when they are forced to grow up without their parents. Also, the cost to the taxpayer. Immigrants make up the majority of the labor force and increase consumer demand. It’s estimated in 2022 that immigrants made over $2 trillion dollars for the economy. $315 billion dollars is absolutely an insane price to pay for seemingly no benefit other than less competition in the job market despite most immigrants being a part of the labor force. And especially in a time when the American economy is questioned by most, we need to reform the economy, not remove it. America is built on the ideas of freedom for all people, we should be allowing not just legal immigrants but refugees finding a home in America.
Living in California it's easy to take the diversity we have for granted. The foundation of American was built built by immigrants, they were the cornerstone of public infrastructure and jobs involving hard labor during the early ages of America, a trend that has continued to this day. The ancestors of the founding fathers themselves were immigrants, and it seems ironic to claim that immigration is a drain on the country when it made the country. Furthermore, with all of the economic policy decisions Trump has been promising, it makes me wonder where all the money is going to come from. With all the tax cuts he has been promising and now the wasteful deportation of a million immigrants a year, the deficit is going to sky rocket and produce unsustainable short-lived economic growth.
Part of the reason that America is so great is because of our foundation of immigration. Personally--living in San Mateo-- I get to experience so much diversity and really see its benefit, but its obvious that many people don't hold the same view, as revealed by this election. With the cost of such mass deportation, I find it hard to believe that such a policy will be implemented, especially because the same types of people who support mass deportation probably don't support the taxes that would come with it.
For many Americans, the issue of immigration is based much more on narrative than on the issue itself. Before this election, bringing Trump into office, the media has been flooded with horror stories of Haitians kidnapping and eating dogs, and Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment buildings in Colorado. The problem with immigration is that it scares American voters. Fear of being outcompeted for jobs and fear of overcrowding pushed many Americans to support deportation policies. Trump's border policies seem barbaric, but that's what the American voter chose. Trump's win for the Republicans serves as a lesson that immigration might be a bigger issue than Democrats thought it would be, and this might not be entirely true. Still, a soft stance on immigration may have cost Democrats the election.
It's been a minute since I've seen one of a president's ideas be so clearly and blatantly wrong. Often, you can find that when change happens, there can be both a good side and a bad side to it. From what I can tell, this process seems to have no good side involved. For starters, it's an ethical nightmare, as it's common knowledge already as to the conditions that deported individuals go through. Not just that, but your point about families being separated is a terrifying and almost evil thought. But the number one reason for deportation that most of its supporters cite is that it assists the economical wealth of US citizens. But how can that be so if people are paying more taxes to make it happen? It just makes no sense.
From Chapter 8 section 4 in our textbook, we know that presidents more often than not follow through on their promises from their campaigns - and that's exactly what Donald Trump is doing here. Republicans now control both the House and Senate now, and combined with Miller's point on having 3 judges elected by Trump, this won't end well for immigrants. Trump has been focused on loyalty when appointing government officials, and having 3 loyal supreme court justices will most likely make legislation much easier to pass for the Republicans. As long as these immigration policies don't affect the people who voted for Trump, no one will bat an eye, until they start seeing exactly what bridgette said: Immigrants made 2 trillion for the economy, and all of that money's going to be lost, added with the money to deport these individuals.
Fearmongering about immigration has been a major focus of Trump’s campaign, especially as the election drew to a close. This is one political stance I struggle to understand. The hypocrisy of wanting to turn away people seeking a better life for their families is shocking, especially when considering that America itself was built by immigrants centuries ago. It also raises questions about whether this issue is truly about immigration or if it’s influenced by race and the color of people’s skin. While much of the focus is on immigration from South America, why don’t we hear as much about deportations or restrictions on immigrants from Europe or Canada? Growing up in California, surrounded by people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, I’ve come to appreciate the value of diversity, and it’s disappointing to see it taken for granted or treated as a threat.
It is shocking to me that the president elect could be so committed to a plan so unfeasible and damaging to the country. It certainly reminds me of his first campaign and his whole "build the wall thing" but this is another level. I believe immigration is one of the pillars of what makes America so special, but I can at least understand the conservative desire for strong borders. However, mass deportation is a massive escalation. Most undocumented immigrants are hard working people who, frankly, contribute to the economy. The amount of commitment he has to removing these people that he is willing to take a massive hit on the economy, use the military, and spend countless billions the govenment does not have is beyond me.
There are two issues that are raised by this policy choice of Trump-its ethics and practicality. It's not very economically feasible to spend $15000 per deportee to force them back to countries they often do not want to return to. After all, these 11 million immigrants do contribute to the US GDP not only as workers and consumers--they're not all criminals or "invaders," as Trump calls them. Around 4.5 million are children to these illegal immigrants are US citizens by the 14th amendment, and expelling their parents from the US permanently is just unethical act. After all, most have been in the country for more than a decade and have established their roots in the country. There are implications on foreign diplomacy by this policy, are foreign governments willing to receive these deportees? Mass deportation is going to cost enormous governmental efforts and may also be messy on the legislative side. While deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records can lessen strain on American law enforcement and labour markets, there's ultimately a question of whether that applies to all illegal immigrants in this country and whether its worth the compromise of community/economic stability and humanitarian principles.
The ethical and practical concerns surrounding Trump’s proposed mass deportations leaves me confused and worried. Is this really worth it? The cost—both emotional and financial—is staggering, with $315 billion projected for deportations and millions of U.S.-born children facing family separations. Immigrants are vital to the economy, contributing over $2 trillion annually. Removing this (as Theon puts it) “keystone” from our economy puts the entire architecture of the economy at risk of collapse. To immigrant families, like mine, America means so much more than freedom, liberty and football. It represented a promising future, one where my parents' kids could be doctors, engineers, race car drivers, astronauts, even the president. They already experienced hate, discrimination and genuine pain. I just hope they don’t have to again.
Knowing all that is going on in the world, I feel extremely grateful to get to live so close to San Francisco, in such a diverse area. I am saddened to know that many of the hate that comes at minorities is due to fear and ignorance. The fact of the matter is that mass deportations are an unethical idea. This situation, like many we face today, is not black and white. Many immigrants living in America today have been living in America for decades--have raised families, built a life, and made a home here. Why send them to countries they barely know, tear families apart, and destroy the whole idea of the American dream. Why are we giving people a reason to stop believing in the American dream? Our nation was built from stolen land, better yet, it was built from immigrants. Why eliminate diversity, especially when many immigrants today are out doing jobs many wealthy businesspeople would never consider doing. And yet, they are jobs that need to get done. This systemic racism now permeating through politics is scary, and I hope we come to our senses soon.
It's extremely sad to know that disinformation and fearmongering has consistently been used to target the backbone of our country: immigrants. From the founding of this country, to present day, immigrants have been the foundation of this country, building it brick by brick, forced to work in industries no one has wanted to work in. Trumps extremely expensive plan also seems to solve nothing, what does deporting individuals do except disturb the economy? Moreover, why are we antagonizing individuals for wanting better opportunities in the United States, as the ability to gain better jobs, climb the social ladder and freely express oneself is the foundational principle that the United States is founded on? Immigrants shouldn't be antagonized for wanting better.
The really interesting thing is something I read in the New York Times where an illegal immigrant who was a Trump supporter said something along the lines of Trump only deporting the "bad eggs" that came to this country, and I think it's very interesting that even though the rhetoric is obviously very hateful and xenophobic against vulnerable members of our community and people just trying to live a better life, some Trump supporters still see themselves favorably among his ranks. For example, when Trump was asked by an immigrant about his policy through an interpreter as the immigrant only spoke Spanish, and in Trump's long rambly answer he still managed to accidentally insult the person asking the question, saying that people that spoke English would be taken care of or something along those lines. I'm worried about the mass deportation because it is obvious that this is not something that is read the same across party lines and while I do believe that people should come here legally and follow the process I also understand there are times when that is not necessarily the case and we should welcome people into the melting pot of America because the country is made great by the people that come here.
This is becoming even more prevalent with a recent message from Trump stating that he would deport the children of illegal immigrants along with the parents so he does not separate the families, meaning Trump is willing to deport legal citizens of the United States, increasing his deportation numbers. This brings a new fear to so many people in America, specifically immigrants. This will eventually come around to create an even bigger stigma around immigrants, legal or illegal. In places that already have a community that uses illegal immigrants and deportation as an excuse to be discriminative or racist, will only grow as Trump takes more action towards mass deportation. At the core of deportation, there is a racist undertone that unfortunately is not that subtle. With comments and actions to legal immigrants that are seen with the famous Trump wall, and comments that follow things such as the Covid-19 virus, it is no surprise that so many of Trump’s supporters are so willing to “send people back home”, in a country that is entirely made of immigrants, past and present.
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