Ice Raids and US Jobs

By Suha Abrahim

In 2024 Trump made combatting illegal immigration a large focus of his campaign. He has
stated, “Illegal immigrants have allowed crime rates to rise, and jobs have been taken from U.S.
citizens.” As immigration raids have continued to escalate, many migrants have been staying
home from work. This is affecting employers who rely on foreign born labor and causing both
legal and illegal immigrants to be scared and not show up for work. Ever since Trump took
office there has been an average of 822 arrests per day compared to an average 310 per day in
2024.

Arrests are expected to reach 25,000 just within Trump’s first month, this is more than any other
month within the last 11 years. The administration has stated that they are focusing on arresting
people mainly with criminal backgrounds, but any illegal persons are a target of these raids.
Most people arrested in the past have not had any criminal convictions. Statistics from October
2022 to November 2024 show that 78% of those arrested had either a misdemeanor conviction or
no conviction at all, while only 21% had a felony conviction.

President Bukele of El Salvador has offered to take in deported people from the US who have
entered the country illegally and house them in his mega prison opened in 2023. The prison, also
known as CECOT which translates to terrorism confinement center, would make the U.S pay El
Salvador to house its prisoners but only convicted criminals.

The crackdown on immigration is also impacting key industries that rely heavily on
undocumented labor. Undocumented immigrants make up 4.6% of the U.S. workforce,
approximately 7.5 million people. These immigrants make up 14% of construction workers, 13%
of agricultural workers, and 7% of hospitality workers. In 2024 alone, two thirds of nonfarm
payroll growth was due to undocumented immigrants. If deportations continue at this rate, legal
immigrants and native-born persons would need to fill these jobs, leading to higher wage
expectations and potentially contributing to inflation.