Undocumented immigrants in America have been exploited for decades, with employers taking advantage of their legal vulnerability by paying them below minimum wage, denying them workplace protections and making deportation threats. Recent changes have intensified these challenges as Donald Trump’s recent executive orders have enhanced the enforcement of U.S immigration laws.

In one of his first official actions after his 2024 re-election, Trump initiated an aggressive operation to deport undocumented immigrants and is taking drastic measures to oversee the process. He has already begun deporting individuals to the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he plans to detain up to 30,000 deportees.

What Trump and his supporters don’t realize is that, according to the Immigration Research Initiative, immigrants contribute to approximately 17% of the U.S gross domestic product, which amounts to over $3 trillion in economic activity. In addition to this, in the year 2022, immigrant households paid over half a trillion dollars in federal, state and local taxes, with undocumented households contributing to around $35 billion.

Many people still believe that immigrants are taking income away from legal citizens, however the IRS issues an individual taxpayer identification number to undocumented immigrants so that they can pay taxes, but not a Social Security number which enables tax filing and refunds along with several other tax benefits that benefit low-income individuals. So, rather than taking money from legal citizens, most immigrants actually help sustain social programs and the broader economy without fully benefiting from them.

Currently, states like California and Florida, where the agricultural sector of the economy relies heavily on undocumented labor, are especially vulnerable as they are more likely to experience labor shortages due to the fear of deportation. This will have devastating impacts for both immigrant and American households by reducing food supply and increasing prices for ordinary groceries.

Besides damaging the economy, it is inhumane to separate families and deport people who have lived here for more than half of their lives, paying taxes annually, and with no criminal record that makes them a considerable threat.