Inflation has fallen in the United States in 2024, but economists warn that President-elect Donald Trump's plan to mass deport illegal immigrants could significantly impact prices.
“There will certainly be economic impacts,” said David J. Bier, director of immigration research at the Cato Institute. “There will be problems in the supply chain. There will be an increase in prices and a decrease in services.”
Experts fear that deporting such a large number of illegal immigrants at once could create a hole in the labor force. AND 2023 study in the Journal of Labor Economics found that for every 500,000 immigrants removed from the labor market, 44,000 U.S.-born workers could lose their jobs.
“Immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, are much more likely to work in jobs that produce goods and services where we see price increases,” said Chloe East, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research who was also one of the researchers behind the study. 2023
“We can't say for sure what the impact will be,” she said. “However, from what we know from past mass deportation efforts, it appears that goods and services where unauthorized immigrants are highly concentrated, such as construction and agriculture, are likely to see prices rise, not fall, as a result of mass deportations. “
Watch video above to learn what other economic impacts mass deportations could have in the US