Trump’s mass deportation plan could have a big impact on prices – NBC Chicago

U.S. inflation eased in 2024, but economists warn that President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to mass deport undocumented immigrants could have a big impact on prices.

“Certainly, the economic consequences will be felt,” said David J. Beer, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. “There will be problems with the supply chain. There will be an increase in prices and a decrease in services.”

Experts worry that deporting so many illegal immigrants at once could leave a hole in the workforce. AND 2023 study in the Journal of Labor Economics found that 44,000 US-born workers could lose their jobs for every 500,000 immigrants removed from the labor force.

“Immigrants, especially unauthorized immigrants, are more likely to work in jobs that create goods and services where we see prices rise,” said Chloe East, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research who also co-investigated the 2023 study.

“We cannot say exactly what the consequences will be,” she said. “But based on what we know from past mass deportation efforts, it seems that goods and services where unauthorized immigrants are highly concentrated, like construction and agriculture, are more likely to see price increases as a result of mass deportation efforts, and will not fall “

See video above to learn what other economic consequences mass deportation could have for the US