President-elect Donald Trump will begin to deport millions of undocumented immigrants on the first day of his term, campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
“The American people delivered a resounding victory for President Trump and it gives him a mandate to govern as he campaigned, to deliver on the promises that he made which includes, on day one, launching the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants,” Leavitt said on Fox & Friends.
According to the New York Times, Trump is on track to potentially win the popular vote—something no Republican candidate has done in 20 years—in part, due to inroads he made with Latinos despite this racist rhetoric targeting undocumented members of that community.
Experts warned that Trump’s mass deportation plan could severely hurt America’s economy.
There is estimated to be between 11 million to 13 million undocumented immigrants living and working in the country, although numbers may be higher. They disproportionately work in construction (13.7%), agriculture (12.7%) and hospitality (7.1%), areas that “essential” to the economy.
According to the American Immigration Council (AIC), a nonpartisan organization conducting immigration research, “mass deportation would remove 1.5 million workers from the construction workforce and 224,700 workers from the agriculture industry.”
AIC’s report added that about one million undocumented workers in the hospitality industry will be deported along with, “870,400 in the manufacturing industry; 500,800 in general services, which includes things like auto repair, barber shops, and dry cleaning services; and 460,500 in transportation and warehousing.”
The effects of mass deportation would likely be most acutely felt in Texas Florida—two traditionally red states— and California. Undocumented immigrants make up 6.4 percent of the total population in Texas, 5.5 percent in California, and five percent in Florida.
AIC estimates mass deportation could “lead to a loss of 4.2% to 6.8% of U.S. GDP.”
For reference, the US lost 4.3% of the national GDP during the Great Recession.
