The GOP candidate, Donald Trump, has been promoting his future plans to address the undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States.
This would entail federalizing the National Guard in red states along with authorizing local police to detain, house and deport the estimated 11 million immigrants.
This plan. I’m convinced, is a very compelling policy statement welcomed by his targeted voters.
However, beyond the direct costs to implement and operate this program, there are other impacts that would have an even greater impact to the country which need to be considered.
I have found that many people of both political parties are unaware of the financial contributions undocumented workers are making. By using fake or borrowed Social Security numbers or legally obtained Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITIN), these workers contribute as much as $6 billion in income taxes and as much as $12 billion in annual contributions to the Social Security system.
Beyond the financial contributions, the undocumented workers are the people mowing our lawns, building housing, staffing restaurants, cleaning motel rooms or nursing homes, and collecting our trash.
This all contributes to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). When first proposed in 2016, the estimated impact on GDP was 2.6%, or $5 trillion over 10 years.
However, if the workers were legalized, GDP could increase by as much as $1.5 trillion. The loss of these workers could not be easily overcome and would have an inflationary impact on the costs of goods and services.
Finally, with the focus of law enforcement on targeting and detaining immigrants, what impact on our security could that create?
So, while his plan may seem to be an attractive proposition to some, it may become less so once all the facts are known.
Chris Gluchoski
West Milford