An Axios poll taken in the spring shows 51% of voters support the idea of mass deportation. But the cost of deporting an estimated 11 million people is astronomical. More significantly, experts say it would hurt the economy.
Dr. Pia Orrenius is a Labor Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Migration “boosts economic growth with little effect on inflation,” Orrenius said. Instead, a better solution is overhauling the work visa process.
“That can also be addressed with more high-skilled immigration which has a very large positive fiscal impact. Even low-skilled immigrants have a positive impact at the Federal level,” explained Orrenius.
Orrenius said low-skilled immigrants are a short-term burden at the local level but also fill jobs Americans shun, such as custodial work, groundskeeping, and dangerous jobs.
One way to overhaul the system is to re-prioritize the work visa system by focusing more on job skills rather than on granting one visa per family, which she said ultimately prevents some people from being able to work.
“So you have these high-skilled immigrants who come in,” Orrenius said. “They give a visa typically to the man. And the wife is also a high-skilled professional and she’s not able to work.”
Western cities which have seen significant immigrant booms include Denver and Las Vegas.
A recent study by the Taxation and Economic Policy think tank estimates undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. And, it estimates they would contribute over $40 billion more a year if there was a more effective and streamlined work authorization process.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
