If you liked supply chain disruptions, product shortages and rising prices during the pandemic, you’ll love the chaos of Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Trump’s plan would dramatically disrupt local communities and sow fear among millions. The vast majority of undocumented people in the country are working, paying taxes and contributing in economic and non-economic ways to their communities. The human costs for families would be substantial if the primary “bread winner” were deported.

Former Trump administration officials say a “whole government” approach costing billions would be needed for the “largest deportation effort in American history.” In 2023, 142,580 migrants were deported at a cost of $420 million.

Fifty percent of undocumented people living in the U.S. are people who have simply overstayed their visas, or are “Dreamers” (brought here as very young children who have known no other home), or workers with “temporary status” or those working their way through the asylum system.

Undocumented immigrants are employed in large numbers in construction, in harvesting and processing our food, and in the hospitality industry. “The immigrants being targeted … are the lifeblood of several parts of the U.S. economy,” (Peterson Institute).

Mass deportations of half a million people during the Bush and Obama years, called “Secure Communities,” substantially harmed U.S. workers, reducing employment and wages.

Seems it’s a lot easier to wave a sign reading “Deport Millions Now” at a convention than it is to actually deport millions.

Maryann Larson

Bangor