Deportation is the process by which the federal government sends an immigrant back to his or her country of origin. Immigrants can be removed for a variety of reasons, including crossing the border illegally or overstaying their visa. Those with criminal convictions, especially for aggravated felonies and crimes of moral turpitude, are also at risk of being deported.
Deportations can have profoundly negative consequences for families, communities, and the economy. Families suffer emotional and financial hardship from the loss of a loved one, children are torn apart from parents who have been deported, and local economies are disrupted by the removal of a critical source of labor.
Across America, millions of family members of undocumented immigrants would be impacted if the Trump administration were to carry out mass deportations. Such an effort would require close coordination and cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, requiring resources to shift away from addressing community threats, reducing crime, and responding to disasters to conduct immigration enforcement.
In addition, large-scale deportations would impose a tremendous financial burden on the federal government. Many of those deported would be sent back to their countries of origin, which have varying capacities to absorb and support them. In addition, deportations could have a ripple effect in their home nations, causing some to choose to go further underground to avoid arrest and the threat of being repatriated.
Immigrants are a vital part of our national fabric. Despite popular misconceptions, it is inaccurate to characterize immigrant workers as a substitute for U.S.-born workers. In fact, over the long-term, foreign-born and domestic-born workers contribute to economic growth by raising demand for goods and services, and they provide tax revenue that supports the financial health of federal, state, and local governments. A recent study found that over a 75-year period, each legal permanent resident contributes about $237,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits from the federal and state governments.
A massive deportation campaign would also impose costly costs at the state and local levels. At the most basic level, state and local governments spend on education, healthcare, and criminal justice — costs that vary greatly depending on how generous each jurisdiction is in their benefits offerings.
Deportations would also have a profoundly negative impact on the nation’s children. As of 2017, more than 16 million American children live with a parent who is undocumented or has been deported. Separating those families, even if for a short time, has severe psychological and developmental consequences for the children involved and is disruptive to the entire family. The current climate of deportation scares families into choosing not to pursue legal options for reunification, further limiting opportunities for millions of children to remain in the United States. In some cases, these children are being forced to leave the only country they have known as home. This is inhumane and unthinkable. The costs of deportation, both to our children and the national economy, are simply too high.