WASHINGTON —Today, House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released a second staff report detailing how the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign is draining the American labor force and destabilizing the core sectors that power Main Street.
The report, The Dying American Dream and the Trump Administration, Part II: Immigrant Workers, warns that the Trump administration’s campaign of mass deportations and warrantless raids is a moral and economic crisis, systematically stripping small businesses of the staff they need to function and grow.
“Immigrant workers are the backbone of our small business economy. When the Trump Administration targets them with state-sponsored chaos, they are threatening the livelihoods of entrepreneurs across the country,” said Velázquez. “This cruel, racist approach is bleeding our labor force dry and robbing citizens and immigrants of our collective economic future.”
For decades, the U.S. economy has relied on foreign-born workers to fill critical gaps. Immigrants currently make up sizable shares of the civilian labor force in farming, construction, food preparation, and transportation. However, the Administration’s management of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has resulted in high-profile raids and indiscriminate arrests that have, in some instances, resulted in the deaths of U.S.-born citizens.
Key Findings of the Report Include:
Exacerbated Labor Shortages: Small businesses in construction, agriculture, and logistics are disproportionately impacted by the loss of immigrant staff, leaving employers struggling to fill thousands of lost man-hours.
Slashed Worker Productivity: The physical and mental toll of abuse—and the constant fear of warrantless arrests—has severely degraded the productivity of the remaining workforce.
Destabilized Federal Safety Nets: By expelling immigrant workers, the administration is undermining the U.S. health care system. Immigrants frequently pay more into federal health care programs and private insurance than they receive in benefits, effectively subsidizing care for all Americans.
Stifled Macroeconomic Growth: The crackdown is preventing new commercial investment and slowing the overall growth of local economies by removing taxpayers and consumers from the marketplace.
Systemic Failures at ICE and CBP: The report highlights an "entrenchment of poor practices" and a culture of abuse within enforcement agencies, necessitating major structural reforms.
