Statement on How Mass Deportations Will Separate Families, Harm our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy

Statement of the Center for Migration Studies of New York
Hearing on “How Mass Deportations Will Separate Families, Harm our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy”
Senate Judiciary Committee
December 10, 2024

The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) is an educational institute dedicated to the study of international migration from a human rights perspective. We have serious concerns about the prospect of mass deportations, as such a policy would harm the United States economically, fiscally, and socially.

First, mass deportation would harm the United States economically, as immigrant workers would be lost in a variety of important industries. Undocumented workers compose 5 percent of the workforce, working in industries such as agriculture, construction, service, entertainment, and health care. Without their labor, the US economy would experience a labor shortage which could not be replenished easily, and the costs of goods and services would rise. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could be reduced by as much as 6.8 percent if the 8.1 million undocumented workers were deported.

Second, undocumented workers pay into the federal, state, and local tax system. Their removal, according to CMS estimates, would amount to a loss of $96.7 billion per year to federal, state, and local governments. They also pay $22.6 billion per year into the Social Security system, helping to keep it solvent, and $5.7 billion into the Medicare system—systems that undocumented immigrants are unable to access and receive benefits.

Third, mass deportation would break up as many as 5 million families nationwide, weakening the social fabric of local communities. Mass deportation would push nearly 10 million US citizens into economic hardship, as median household income for mixed-status households would drop from $75,500 to $39,000—a drop of over 48 percent. US-citizen children would be harmed as well, with 5.5 million US-born children living in households with one undocumented parent and 1.8 million living in households with two undocumented parents.

The monetary cost of paying to complete the upbringing of these US-born children in the event of mass deportation is estimated to be at least $116.5 billion. This does not include costs associated with the abandonment of children, including mental health services and educational costs.

Finally, the cost of deporting nearly 11-12 million people—the goal of mass deportations—would be significant, even in the context of a multi-trillion dollar federal budget. According to the American Immigration Council, such a plan could cost $88 billion per year, or $967.9 billion over a decade.

Instead of mass deportations, CMS believes that a legalization program of immigrants who have resided in the United States for a certain period would benefit the country economically. According to estimates, GDP would increase by $1.5 trillion over ten years.

CMS believes that a mass deportation policy is not in the best interest of the United States, as it would damage the economy by increasing inflation and lowering productivity. It also would place a fiscal strain on governmental budgets by costing billions to implement the plan and removing billions of dollars in taxes from federal, state, and local budgets. Moreover, mass deportation would exact a moral and social cost on the nation, with US families being separated on a large scale. We strongly urge Congress to reject this plan and to return to bipartisan negotiations on comprehensive immigration reform.