President Trump has made it clear that he’s dead set on attacking our immigrant friends, families and neighbors—and that the only people he’ll protect are his loyalists and billionaires.
Since day one, Trump has launched a blatantly hateful agenda against immigrants. He’s issued executive orders that would unlawfully shut down asylum at the U.S. southern border, use the military to separate families and make it easier to detain and deport migrants—including detaining them at the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison.
Meanwhile, anti-immigrant lawmakers in Congress gave Trump a helping hand by passing a law punishing undocumented people, including minors, with deportation for minor offenses—even if they’re not convicted.
These attacks come at an enormous cost to the entire country. The American Immigration Council estimates that mass deportations will cost $88 billion per year over the course of a decade.
My colleagues and I calculated that this $88 billion could instead erase medical debt for 40 million Americans. Even just a fraction of it—$11 billion—could provide free lunch to all schoolchildren in the United States.
Nor are these the only costs. Undocumented people contributed $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022—just one tax year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That’s nearly $100 billion in lost revenue a year that everyone else would end up having to cover.
My fellow immigrants and I are also standing our ground. We’re stating the facts: Immigration is good for our country, our economy and our culture—something 68% of Americans agree with. And we’re here to stay.
Immigrants are essential to this country. Not only do we contribute as students and professionals, business owners and essential workers—we’re also human beings trying to live good and successful lives like anyone else. We’re a part of the American story.
Alliyah Lusuegro is the outreach coordinator for the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
