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What Would Trump’s Mass Deportation of Immigrants Cost?

Trump promises the largest deportation project in history. The crowd cheers. But what does it mean?

Data from Homeland Security via Statista download, chart by Mish

Missing Data Extrapolated

Data between 1990 and 1995, 1995 and 2000, and 2000 and 2005 are extrapolated linearly. 2021 is the average of 2020 and 2022.

The Center for Migration Studies estimates US Undocumented Population Increased to 11.7 Million in July 2023

The estimates are based on data collected by two Census Bureau surveys, the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS). The ACS is an annual survey covering approximately one percent of the total US population. The CPS is a much smaller monthly survey of about 60,000. The CPS collects detailed demographic data, but its main emphasis is on labor force data.

The total undocumented population increased to about 11.7 million in July 2023, an increase of about 800,000 compared to the previous July. The estimate for 2023 is below the peak of 12 million reached in 2008. After 2008, the population steadily declined, falling to 10 million in 2020. Population growth in 2022-2023 was about 200,000 less than the previous high of one million in 2000-2001.

Trump to Terminate Open Borders

“As soon as I take the oath of office, I will terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration and begin the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Link to Trump Video if Tweet does not display.

How Many, How Soon?

Link to Twitter Video if the above embed does not play.

“How are you going to take millions of these people and put them in cuffs and drag them out while people have their cell phones out recording this, or is that just Trump being Trump?”

It took Vance over two minutes to answer the question, sort of.

Essentially, his answer was to shut of immigration and do it in pieces starting with criminals.

What Does Trump Propose?

The largest deportation in history can mean 2 million or 15 million (factoring in an estimated 3 million immigrants for 2023-2024).

Vance suggests taxing immigrants’ ability to send money abroad and then 20 percent will leave voluntarily.

Assuming you accept that idea, what about the other 12 million immigrants?

Cost Per Deportation

It would take thousands of officers to hunt down migrants, many in uncooperative sanctuary cities, large holding facilities, and cooperation from other countries. There would also be huge legal challenges.

What would that cost per person? $10,000? $20,000? $30,000?

The American Immigration Council (AIC) estimates the total cost of deportation (not counting the knock on impacts) at $315 billion.

That’s about $21,000 per person. I suspect that answer is on the low side.

The AIC notes the total prison population is U.S. prison and jail population in 2022, comprising every person held in local, county, state, and federal prisons and jails, was 1.9 million people.

No one knows what Trump really has in mind, but let’s assume he means the max or something like 2/3 the max, ~10 million.

Devastating Consequences

In total, we find that the cost of a one-time mass deportation operation aimed at both those populations—an estimated total of is at least $315 billion. We wish to emphasize that this figure is a highly conservative estimate. It does not take into account the long-term costs of a sustained mass deportation operation or the incalculable additional costs necessary to acquire the institutional capacity to remove over 13 million people in a short period of time—incalculable because there is simply no reality in which such a singular operation is possible. 

Beyond the direct financial cost of mass deportation, we also estimated the impact on the U.S. economy. Due to the loss of workers across U.S. industries, we found that mass deportation would reduce the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.2 to 6.8 percent. It would also result in significant reduction in tax revenues for the U.S. government. In 2022 alone, undocumented immigrant households paid $46.8 billion in federal taxes and $29.3 billion in state and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants also contributed $22.6 billion to Social Security and $5.7 billion to Medicare.

Mass deportations would cause significant labor shocks across multiple key industries, with especially acute impacts on construction, agriculture, and the hospitality sector. We estimate that nearly 14 percent of people employed in the construction industry are undocumented. Removing that labor would disrupt all forms of construction across the nation, from homes to businesses to basic infrastructure. As industries suffer, hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born workers could lose their jobs.

These numbers do not even come close to capturing the human cost of mass deportation. About 5.1 million U.S. citizen children live with an undocumented family member. Separating family members would lead to tremendous emotional stress and could also cause economic hardship for many of these mixed-status families who might lose their breadwinners, jeopardizing their economic and social well-being.

Deporting undocumented workers would wreak havoc on industry, exacerbating labor shortages and triggering additional job losses for American workers. For example, if a shortage of construction workers prevents a house from getting built, the businesses that would be furnishing that house—from kitchen appliances to bedframes—lose business, too. Without field workers to pick crops, truckers have no goods to transport, and farmers have no need to buy new farm equipment.

Proponents of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants argue that it would raise wages for American workers. But past economic research suggests the opposite is true. In a literature review, economist Michael A. Clemens of George Mason University concludes that “the immigrants being targeted for removal are the lifeblood of several parts of the U.S. economy.”

One 2023 study looked at the economic effects of increased deportations under Secure Communities, a federal initiative that resulted in the deportation of an estimated 400,000 immigrants between 2008 and 2014, and found that when 500,000 undocumented immigrant workers were forced out of the country, 44,000 fewer jobs were held by U.S.-born workers.

Case Study: The Impact of Senate Bill 1718 on Florida

Florida recently implemented legislation targeting undocumented immigrants, with repercussions that surprised even the lawmakers who had supported it—and illustrate that, inevitably, hardline immigration enforcement measures will have negative economic impacts on U.S. citizens.

In May 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1718 into law. SB 1718 requires private businesses with 25 or more employees to use the federal E-Verify database to screen new workers; makes it a felony to transport an undocumented immigrant into the state or for an undocumented immigrant to use a false ID to obtain work; and prohibits undocumented immigrants from driving with an out-of-state license, among other provisions.

Even before the law went into effect that July, undocumented immigrants began moving out of state, afraid and unable to work. Within months, farmers, builders, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses in the state complained of worker shortages. Even people with legal work authorization moved, worried for their undocumented family members.

“They’re just picking up and leaving to a state where they’re more friendly towards migrants, where they don’t have to be looking over their shoulder every 10 seconds and saying, ‘Look, I’m going … to be deported,’” Greg Batista, owner of G. Batista Engineering & Construction, told the Tampa Bay Times.

Construction projects stalled, fruit rotted in the fields, hotels and restaurants fired staff and put up “Help Wanted” signs. Rental units were left empty, and businesses lost customers. Walt Disney World had trouble finding cast members. State representatives who had themselves supported the legislation publicly appealed to immigrants not to leave.

Florida’s experience provides a small peek into how a national mass deportation of undocumented immigrants would have more significant impact across states and economic sectors in the U.S. economy. While Florida is home to a higher share of undocumented immigrants than most states—five percent compared with the national average of 3.3 percent—its outsized reliance on undocumented immigrant workers is not atypical.

The negative impact of targeting undocumented immigrants with anti-immigration policies in Florida should not have come as a surprise. When Georgia enacted similar legislation in 2011, the ensuing labor shortage resulted in an estimated $140 million in crop losses that year alone.

In Arizona, legislators stopped short of expanding its law targeting undocumented immigrants in 2010 after opposition from business leaders. Economists estimated an exodus of the undocumented population would shrink Arizona’s economy by $48.8 billion annually, cost the state 10.1 percent of its tax revenues, and lead to the loss of 581,000 jobs, affecting all Arizonans.

Mass Deportation Isn’t Just Cruel

Bloomberg has an article on immigration for those with an open mind.

Please consider Mass Deportation Isn’t Just Cruel, It’s Expensive

Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have made clear their intention to rid the nation of undocumented immigrants, sometimes using explicitly Nazi rhetoric about “vermin” who are “poisoning the blood of our country” to drive the point home. Trump has publicly promised the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

At the vice presidential debate, Vance was also asked if the MAGA regime would deport immigrant parents of US-citizen children. He responded with falsehoods and never answered the question. Which is another way of saying that the correct answer is almost certainly “yes.”

The cost of destroying families and communities is not factored into the American Immigration Council report, but it’s sure to be significant. Most undocumented immigrants in the US have been in the nation for more than a decade. They are not newcomers; they have roots. And as the debate moderator’s question implied, some of those roots are attached to American children.

About 5 million US citizen children live with an undocumented family member. According to the Migration Policy Institute, about 1.6 million unauthorized immigrants were married to US citizens, and another 675,000 were married to lawful permanent residents as of 2018. Shattering those families and disrupting the businesses where they work and the neighborhoods and churches to which they belong wouldn’t be a modest undertaking.

The Middle Ground

We need sensible immigration policy. Mass deportation of 10 to 15 million immigrants (or even 6 million) is not sensible.

Those who believe US citizens will pick crops, clean hotel rooms, and provide construction labor in the hot sun at a reasonable (if any) cost are crazy.

The US has an aging labor force and tens of millions of retirements are coming up.

It’s a dirty, not-so-secret, fact that red state and blue state alike depend on migrant labor for crops and construction projects.

However, an open border is not the answer either. We can do without the crime and shelter costs that uncontrolled immigration bring. Flying Haitians (or anyone else) here is beyond ridiculous and begging for problems.

I suggest we deport criminals, have a reasonable amnesty program for hard working immigrants who have been here for years, and mostly close the border using the military if necessary.

Future immigration should be based on our genuine needs.

Those needs may be more or less than people think. Regardless, the key is to have a controlled, enforceable, and timely process that everyone understands.

I suspect this post won’t go over well. So be it. People have no vision of who will fill the needed jobs, and at what cost, if we deport 10 million workers, even if done over a few years.

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Mish

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172 Comments
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TandJ
TandJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

1) Jailing people at what cost?

WADR, maybe you should have read it more carefully. The threat alone sends the undocumented immigrants back of their own accord. The amount of people that would be jailed would be infinitesimally small.

2) Fining people who have no money?

Regarding people that have “no money” — I’d say ~$65 billion dollars is a pretty fair sized amount of money.

3) Cost of rounding them up?

As mentioned, my brother in law (an actual immigration attorney in Austin Texas) was taken aback at the success of SB4. The numbers of undocumented apparently found the money to suddenly decide they needed to be US citizens — because the heat was on — and his business has exploded.

Nobody wants to jail anybody. They will leave on their own dime.

4) Who will do the vacated jobs?

I’ve lived in California my entire life. I have pretty firm grasp (decent at least) of the farm/contractor workforce. I’m currently doing the DD on a farm technology startup with an established farm in Winters CA and a partnership with UC Davis. The objective being increased yield per acre while decreasing manpower, fuel cost, water usage and without artificial chemicals. We as a society must pursue this because we need to feed more people with less. The days of putting 100 workers out in the field are over. They have been for several years now. Besides, the 100 we no longer put in the field, we now have another 1,000 recent immigrants that will never be out in the fields because they’re not needed.

Take a look at home automation. The domain of immigrant housekeepers.

How much is the robot vacuum market worth?

Market size value in 2022 USD $5.65 billion

Revenue forecast in 2030 USD $29.82 billion

This is only the beginning. As we automate things at “semiconductor speed” which can be a rough analog to Moore’s law, what are these people going to do?

5) Another idiot wanted to deport 45 million immigrants where there are not that many.

I have no idea what this means. I never mentioned anything of the sort.

The Latino culture and immigrants in California and America is to be respected and to be acknowledged for the value that they add to society. That being said, they should become citizens through a slow and thorough vetting process. Furthermore, the quick jump to “you’re all racists” whenever someone says “they need to go back” is broken and childish. We need to go back to first principle thinking which has a bedrock pragmatism and common sense.

What I proposed was a threat — with teeth. It’s not racist. It will work as verified by the successful legislation presented by both Florida and Texas. They worked as advertised, unfortunately they offended the “immigrant first at all cost” side as witnessed by their hair-on-fire-Tourette policy ideas.

Mypillow
Mypillow
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

It is highly offensive when you call these people immigrants when they crossed the bordered and crapped all over our country. Immigrants follow our laws and do things the right way. Illegals cheat our tax laws and abuse ALL of our social services, and many are bad people. Our prisons are brimming with these folks. My mother in-law is an immigrant. She should not be likened to cheaters, frauds, and lowlifes. An immigrant is a respectable person, illegals not so much.

Bayleaf
Bayleaf
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

Too much construction going on and housing prices still too high largely because we have to house 45 million illegals. Both problems solved with deportation.

TandJ
TandJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

I like your site. I’ve been reading/lurking for years. I appreciate your points even though I still disagree with some on condition. One thing for sure, emotions on this are everywhere. Therein lies the problem. We as a society have moved away from fact and logic due to this new and extremely dangerous concept that “feelings are more important than facts”.

A ships captain should never yank the wheel and say:

“hey look at that island over there! Let’s go!” next thing you know, the ship hit the reef and is sinking. This is our nation/society now.

“That’s an interesting looking island, maybe we should explore. Bring the ship to stopped in the water. Let’s consult the charts and what is the GPS saying?” This is obviously the proper way for the captain to operate. Then, the captain navigates the ship professionally into the island for exploration. This is not how we operate as a nation/society now.

Anyhow, I appreciate your input and response.

LT*
LT*
1 year ago

Not sure where else to input this comment but does the author believe that this stops just because illegals are made legal by legislation? Just be another ripoff of the taxpayer when they are defined as “amnesty recipient in transition”. Cheaper to keep her says the author. Curious to see cost of keeping the millions on the govt dole is. The new ones aren’t on the Republican side. The ones that are here on the govt. dole can see declining share upcoming.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doge-team-finds-fema-sent-59-million-last-week-luxury-nyc-hotels-illegals

Slug
Slug
1 year ago

Best to contract the Mexican cartels as bounty hunters

1000 per illegal plus a bonus cybertruck for each 20k lot removed

Ken
Ken
1 year ago

Deputize and create a special class of Bounty Hunters (whatever bail bounds man use) and turn them loose. Locate several detention centers strategically throughout US have them delivered. Fly them home!

Might even get a reality TV show and sign agreements that half of proceeds go to cover expenses of illegal activities.

Andy
Andy
1 year ago

Mish, you’re the smartest idiot I know. You give the same tired line of, who will clean our houses/hotels, pick our crops, and perform construction? Maybe instead of sending kids to college who don’t belong there, our kids? What about the illegal immigrants who are staying in our hotels for free, going to our schools for free, and using up our healthcare system which makes it worse for us? My kids classes in the town I live in are already crowded, and have been made even more crowded bordering crisis by the Illegal migration forced upon my community. Not to mention, many of these kids have issues undoubtedly from their awful situation and act out in schools, they don’t speak English, which disrupts my kids learning experience. I do feel bad for these kids, but I also care about my kids more. Plus I pay taxes and their parents don’t. Did you factor in that type of cost? How much is illegal immigration costing us?

What’s wrong with deporting the 400-650k criminal immigrants, starting with the 30k+ murderers in the first year. In parallel, end all free programs for these illegals. Those living off of our dime will leave or find work. If you can show you’ve been filing taxes for the last 5 years (whether you pay or don’t owe a thing), I think most people would support hard working illegal immigrants citizenship. But, make it part of a deal to finish a border wall, and make it so anyone caught illegally immigrating to this country moving forward automatically loses the ability to ever receive citizenship (I believe Australia has this rule, it’s a good one). One and done.

TandJ
TandJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Andy

My brother in law is a immigration lawyer in Austin Texas. He has been getting this type of client that’s driving him crazy. It goes like this.

1) Client initiates and agrees to starts the process to gain citizenship/green card etc.

2) Initial round of paperwork and first payment.

Months go on. no word from the client

3) A concerted effort to reach out (often find) the client to tell them they need to move to the next step in paperwork and make payment to do so.

4) Client comes in and does paperwork / makes payment.

Months go on. no word from the client

This now drags on and on exceeding a year or more. Meanwhile, my brother in law is paying his staff to track these people down and get them in to continue their application. He now has over 100 of these type of “foot dragging” clients. One day, another client tells him what is going on.

“Organizations (American NGOs) are telling us to “just get in the system”. If you’re in the system — they won’t deport you. Make it take as long as possible.”

Bingo!

Hes’ absorbing all these admin costs and stretching out his payment funnel because American NGOs are telling immigrants to game the system. He’s extremely nonplussed.

In Texas, lawyers are required — by law — to tell a client whether they have a reasonable chance of winning their case for them. He realizes many of these clients will never be allowed to be residents (one guy had a DUI and domestic abuse. He can never be a citizen with that background) He told the guy “There is no way I can win your case for you” The guy said “That’s OK put me in the system anyways” My brother in law realized the guy probably can’t be deported for ~ 5 yrs because, again, “he’s in the system”. This is also why the big push to have Dems in White House. Immigrants with criminal records are hoping for law changes or “magic wand” legal status.

Curtis
Curtis
1 year ago

I have an engineer friend who lived in Saudi Arabia when they decided all non-Saudi’s had to leave the country. They focused their attention on Saudi citizens who were threatened with fines and jail for employing or assisting anyone who is not a citizen of Saudi Arabia. When the citizens were too afraid to help non-Saudi’s, most left. Another harsh approach but obviously effective.

lorbarr
lorbarr
1 year ago
Reply to  Curtis

Isn’t it documented that Trump’s businesses employ illegal aliens? I think he will focus on deporting criminals. Violent crimes, theft, vandalism, burglary, for sure. Driving without insurance? You might also limit government benefits. Maybe give people a transitional period, but then be strict about removing them from the welfare system, other than emergency health care.

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  lorbarr

It is but him being a hypocrite is totally acceptable to his supporters.

Heaven forbid he is elected but if so, you can be assured he will focus on what is best for him.

MelvinRich
MelvinRich
1 year ago
Reply to  Curtis

Why not refuse any benefits to illegals and punish employers who hire them. The illegals will leave or starve. That’s the cheap effective way.

Jdog
Jdog
1 year ago

Every person who illegally immigrated, is a criminal. We have 1.5 million homeless most of whom were displaced because of illegal immigration.

Bill Meyer
Bill Meyer
1 year ago

One question for a “sensible amnesty” is would the amnesty be a green card and making them legal foreign nationals? Putting them on a pathway to easy citizenship is yet another pathway to (generally speaking) total left wing electoral control.

Ted
Ted
1 year ago

Mish, you are asking the wrong question. You should have asked how much will american citizens save per year if all illegals were deported and how many americans were victims of illegal alien crime during the Biden/Harris years? The answers are at least $150 billion per year and increasing and I haven’t been able to find the answer yet to the second question, but 1 murder, rape or robbery of an american citizen by an illegal is 1 too many and could have been prevented. I put american citizens first. I don’t think you do. https://www.fairus.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/NL-06-June-2024.pdf

PapaDave
PapaDave
1 year ago

Bravo Mish. 👏
Standing ovation!

Yes. It will bring out all the racists, bigots, and dumb as sh*t white supremacists .

Nice to see who they are.

It almost makes we want to vote.

But I’m sure I will come to my senses and realize it’s still a waste of my time.

Ted
Ted
1 year ago
Reply to  PapaDave

You probably had a big smile on your face when you found out Laken Riley was sexually assaulted and murdered by an illegal alien. You care nothing about the american citizens that are having their lives destroyed forever because of insane woke lunatic politicians and their disregard of our borders. You only care about bringing them in then giving them the right to vote as 99% will vote for democrats which will turn the USA into a one party communist/racist/anti semitic/anti christian state.

PapaDave
PapaDave
1 year ago
Reply to  Ted

Look. There’s one now!

Bayleaf
Bayleaf
1 year ago
Reply to  PapaDave

Dumb as sh*t people of all kinds apparently

Rob
Rob
1 year ago

“No one knows what Trump has in mind.”

Does that not worry you, Mish? He is chaos incarnate, stream of uneducated consciousness, grasping for approval in the moment. Is this really who we want as the president of the United States of America?

Stu
Stu
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

“Partially” unknown, as He was a past President and with a past record. We can and did see Him lead, and also bizarrely interfered with as well.

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

Given Trump’s own SecDef and others around him have stated he’s unfit for office and a threat to the Republic, I’ll go with the other option.

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

In voting for Trump, you are betting the system will contain him, will prevent him from, in his own words, using the military to deal with the left. You are betting the system will contain his fascist tendencies, according to the former CJCS.

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  Rob

Please help me understand the downvotes on this comment here. Does this really not concern people?

Anon1970
Anon1970
1 year ago
Reply to  Rob

I really don’t think Trump would be successful in deporting large numbers of illegals. The legal system would throw too many road blocks in his way. I would be happy if he could just make the border more secure and fix the legal immigration system.

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  Anon1970

What I hear you say there is that you’re OK with the rhetoric and authoritarian tendencies because you think the system will contain him?

I know this is also a strategy people like Bannon employ. I remember him stating one of his tactics is to stake out the most extreme possible solution and then compromise right of center. Or rather the ultimate action ends up being right of center,

Flingel Bunt
Flingel Bunt
1 year ago

First, this really is about economic migration; however, it is called
‘political asylum’ so the citizens of the host country accept it as morally justified.

There is a simple rule concerning economic migration:

A person from country A will relocate until the host-country living standard no longer exceeds that of Country A.

DPST8
DPST8
1 year ago

Stayed in many budget or mid cost motels. Housekeepers were black or white women. Don’t tell me Americans won’t do the work. Know many self employed contractors forced out of business by companies hiring illegals and undercutting prices by paying way less than going wage.

The number of illegals who will be deported is very low because most have gotten parole or amnesty applications pending and can’t be deported until after their court date years from now. They even have the right to work.

Costs of deportation of illegals here who are deportable will be minimal in comparison to the costs to society.

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  DPST8

Would you pay the increased costs of those hotel rooms?

Avery2
Avery2
1 year ago
Reply to  Rob

What part of “stayed in many …housekeepers were white or black women” did you not understand?

Rob
Rob
1 year ago
Reply to  Avery2

What part of 1950s wages do you not understand? Those wages would not work today.

Bill Meyer
Bill Meyer
1 year ago
Reply to  DPST8

You are correct in your observations…it’s not all just Hispanics, Hispanics and MORE Hispanics in such jobs.

JeffD
JeffD
1 year ago

“I suggest we deport criminals, have a reasonable amnesty program for hard working immigrants who have been here for years, and mostly close the border using the military if necessary.”

And this is pretty much what Vance said.

JayW
JayW
1 year ago
Reply to  JeffD

Vance has not said anything about amnesty. He has said they leave and then come back in through legal means. That’s not amnesty. That’s common sense.

Stu
Stu
1 year ago

– The American Immigration Council (AIC) estimates the total cost of deportation (not counting the knock on impacts) at $315 billion.

> Let’s simply start with the “Border Wall” and get that “Sealed Up Tight” I would then implement Vance’s idea of taxing money being sent abroad. It’s money getting sucked out of our economy, by people here illegally. Why wouldn’t we? So say that causes 20% or so to depart, well that’s a start, and most will not be coming back. Once that’s accomplished, set up the “Stay in Mexico Plan” and start controlling things better. Of course a deportation system will have to be set up, or all of it would be pointless. It doesn’t have to be too draconian however, as some belong here, deserve to be here Etc. But many do have to go, and come back the right way imo.

>> While all of this is being done, start setting up a “Legal Port of Entry” program to assist those that qualify, get access to apply to enter and stay in America. Immediately Stop the born here, citizen here, as that continues to cause havoc best case, on a lot of this and other issues relating to migrants. It actually gets in the way of a plan being put in place imo.

So we would have a start at least, to something, which is more than we have now or have had on this topic. This is not that hard, if you remove the Egos, and My Way crowd out of the mix! Something has to be done!!!

Flingel Bunt
Flingel Bunt
1 year ago
Reply to  Stu

Stopping the outflow of $$$ is next to impossible. Crypto makes enforcement impossible. The only feasible way to to sell ‘work permits,’ and confiscate belongings for unpaid taxes when there is no work permit. The goal is to remove incentives–like free housing, schooling, SNAP cards etc

The legal Port of Entry is a bad idea. It rewards already bad behavior and encourages more to come. The process of applying in the home country, or next country traversed is crucial. Otherwise, you set up a system that eliminates true legal migration. A lot of people apply and wait for years for their visas.

Stu
Stu
1 year ago
Reply to  Flingel Bunt

– Stopping the outflow of $$$ is next to impossible. > No, it’s not at all.

– Crypto makes enforcement impossible. > Who cares about that? Not the problem.

– The only feasible way to to sell ‘work permits,’ > Legal Entry.

– confiscate belongings for unpaid taxes. > Like that will work.

– The goal is to remove incentives. > I agree, but let’s start with those here Legally first.

– The legal Port of Entry is a bad idea. > A Legal Entrance with Proper Work ID is worse than illegally entering and all that encompasses, and why again do we want to force that upon our Country?

>> You have to allow the ones here, with a right to fight to be here, a way to earn money until the hearings are called and things are settled. Otherwise it’s all a waste of time.

– It rewards already bad behavior and encourages more to come. > No, it encourages doing it the right way, or get sent home, and with a securely closed border, your not coming back. If you do, you’re marked/labeled in the data base. With massive fines for those that hire, you have no chance.

Bill Meyer
Bill Meyer
1 year ago

Mike, what’s your take on the H2B visa type situations, where tech gods want Bangalore transplanted to the U.S. under the guise of these software and engineering gigs are “Jobs Americans Won’t DO” but really means “Jobs Americans will do…but not at the price tech gods wish”? Kind of concerned that American kids have been sold a load of B.S. regarding this. Thanks!

Stuki Moi
Stuki Moi
1 year ago

“No one knows what Trump really has in mind,”

Of course they do. Everyone knows. Trump has nothing in mind. He just says sh^t. It’s just sounds. Emanating from a hole in an empty, orange resonance box.

Kamala is the same. Only difference being, the sounds she makes, are mostly shriller. And much less entertaining to listen to.

Hence: Advantage Trump. Trump was, after all, a TV star. Millions voluntarily tuned in to watch him, even back when none of what he said or did had any real consequence. People simply liked the sounds, and other spectacle, he made. Seems like many still do.

Whereas: If one actually enjoys listening to Kamala shriek, one should seriously consider getting ones hearing checked….

Flingel Bunt
Flingel Bunt
1 year ago
Reply to  Stuki Moi

Trump was, and still is, an entrepreneur. He learned the hard way that existing forces–mostly government employees have their own plans. I suspect this time around, he’s says very little, but has a lot planned–like reducing the political bias of certain Federal Government agencies

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Flingel Bunt

he inherited hundreds of millions in his early twenties. good lord. it is a cult. charlie manson is jealous.

Stuki Moi
Stuki Moi
1 year ago
Reply to  Flingel Bunt

In what alternaverse does Trump, of all things, “say little?” All he ever does, is do everything in his power to stay in the limelight! If two minutes go by without him being the center of all news, he will ALWAYS throw another crazy tantrum in order to “correct” the lack of attention paid to him.

Heck, one has to give him credit: He does have usual talent for acting that way, without too obviously appearing nothing more than an overexposed attention seeking bore. For all his ills, he is unusually gifted at simply seeking and being in the limelight. He’s “good at getting away with it”, to put it that way.

As for having a “plan”…. Seriously: Do you really think he could keep quiet about anything? Teenage girl “secrets” are kept more reliably, than whatever random connections may happen to misfire and spark underneath that orange mop of his,

Woodsie Guy
Woodsie Guy
1 year ago

Emotions are clearly running the show when it comes to the comments on this post. Mish put forth a very reasonable solution and many commentors are so blinded by thier emotions they can’t see the forest for the trees.

Look, the America of 50-60 years ago is long gone, accept it. Who ever promised it would stay that way to begin with? Things change over time demographically, economically, and culturally. That’s just how it is….pretty much everywhere.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

woodsie is correct. hat tip mish. it’s about the money.

JayW
JayW
1 year ago
Reply to  Woodsie Guy

Look, the America of 50-60 years ago is long gone, accept it.”

Why is it gone forever? Please explain in detail why there’s absolutely not turning back to America manufacturing strategic goods? Even Mish says this should be the goal of modern manufacturing.

Why can’t American’s build homes? I’m a HS math teacher and we have tons of young men & women who could fill these jobs and do a great jobs, if:

POLICIES ARE PUT IN PLACE THAT INCARCERATES OWNERS WHO KNOWINGLY HIRE ILLEGAL ALIENS.

And, to be clear, I’m primarily talking about construction jobs. I’m not talking about picking fruit or packing meat. In 10 years’ time, the amount of automation picking fruit will significantly reduce the number of hardworking, low-skilled legal immigrants needed in the fields.

Why in the hell would we grant amnesty to say a half a million illegals working in the fields, when we know the day is coming that robotics will eliminate most of these human-based jobs? It’s asinine.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Woodsie Guy

true

Abert
Abert
1 year ago

He was president for 4 years, and the immigrants were still here at the end.

Trump tells whatever lies the crowd of xenophobic morons wants to hear. There will be no deportations.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Abert

exactly. amerikans are morons. D and R

Charles Croker
Charles Croker
1 year ago

Much much more if they stay is the real answer. How many of these people who have broken the law (we always seem to give folks a pass on that and just refer to it as immigration when it is ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION) and entered illegally are males without families? We give them a pass and amnesty, barring the obvious fact that it sets a very bad precedent, and all of their families are going to follow. Here is a simple solution though. Make it such that if you enter the country illegally that you can NEVER get citizenship including through marriage to an American. You will never be allowed to bring your family here. You cannot wire money out of the country. You cannot have a bank account, nor a drivers license. Make it draconian enough and they will magically self deport. Or we should just forget about our laws, rip down the border and accept the resulting mayhem.

Jan
Jan
1 year ago

Don’t worry, he promised also a 75% cut of the Federal Budget… If he were to deliver on this promise, it would be impossible, there would be no money for this, there would be no people left to organize and execute this.
Trump makes lot of conlicting promises.
When elected, he will act randomly, an old man following his gigantic ego. He will not remember most of his promises. He will simply follow his mood of the day.
But then, why to worry? Four year as a president, many visits at the golf club, then a golden retirement.
But it is a good thing if he wins, so that MAGA delusions will hit the unbreakable wall of reality.

Abert
Abert
1 year ago
Reply to  Jan

All you hear from Trump are the desperate ramblings of a dementia sufferer who vaguely understand they going to jail, if that.

At the last town hall of his, he just stood there swaying for the last 40 minutes while Noem tried to distract the crowd.

Pathetic man with pathetic simps. All of them belong in a memory care ward.

Jesse
Jesse
1 year ago
Reply to  Jan

The Number 1 Reason is that this man is the MOST LIER politician leader that United States ever had!! (We never had any leader,like him,not even Richard Nixon!) Let’s BE Clearly HONEST, and Sincere of Heart, And don’t give any of yourself to More lying, BUT Speak the TRUTH, Always, No wonder how Corrupt has become all the American society and System.

JayW
JayW
1 year ago

Trump promises the largest deportation project in history. The crowd cheers. But what does it mean?”

Simply put, it would mean that America puts itself first and then demands policies & companies to fall in line & to do the same.

It would mean a massive retraining effort and providing assistance to people / families to move to where the jobs are.

It would require us to rethink the welfare state.

It would mean some level of new inflation, but if done right the overall benefits to society would vastly outweigh the costs.

It would mean less crime & drugs.

It would mean that America would be a titan again in terms of producing strategic goods.

It would mean that more people would have greater economic prosperity.

It would mean fewer students go off to college & are burden with debt.

And most importantly, it would mean we have secure borders as a sovereign nation, pull together as a nation, be less politically divided & stand a chance at turning back the growing Chinese hegemony.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  JayW

what is the color of the sky in your fantasy world?

JayW
JayW
1 year ago
Reply to  bmcc

Mish asked the question. I answered it, and he didn’t ask us to give a % probability. These days almost nothing meaningful is going to get done outside of EO due to the UniParty’s power.

onetwothree
onetwothree
1 year ago

It would cost negative one United States.

Richard F
Richard F
1 year ago

If a Nation says it wants to stop feudalism and abhors Slavery then why does that same Nation encourage mass illegal immigration which creates an underclass what gets exploited.?

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Richard F

they lie. it’s all about the money.

Michael Engel
Michael Engel
1 year ago

During Trump 4Y between 2016 and 2020 the illegal fell from 12M to 10.5M. If Trump shot 5/12 he could have stopped the Biden’s invasion. Durin the Biden era, between 2020/24 the illegal grew from 10.5M to 15M/20M. During the Obama era between 2008 and 2016, the illegal grew from 10.5M to 12M. Since 1990 only Trump dented the flow, but it was a thud !
During covid 2Y, when 2M/3M people died within a week, the 2022/2023 population grew only by 200K. If 5K boomers die every day that’s ==> 1.8M/Y.
Trump doesn’t have to evict 15M illegal. He can dump 50K “criminals” in impaired cruise ships, as the British did 250 years ago. If the criminal gangs want them back pay ransom. The rest will scared 5B gen alpha and zoomers who want to sleep with our daughters, change our culture and religion.

Last edited 1 year ago by Michael Engel
Cobwebsoup
Cobwebsoup
1 year ago

They could dump 30 Billion into the Economic Free Zones across Latin America, this would be a win win, People/Labor would self deport and you are bettering communities on all sides of the borders.
These free zones have a proven track record of success.

Richard
Richard
1 year ago

I think Trump should tone down all this heavy handed deportation crap. Reduce or stop current immigration and try to process those already here if there is no evidence of criminal pasts, etc. If criminality is the issue, kick em out. If I could, I would guarantee the democrats take control again in 2028, if Trump and Republicans get too nasty with all this. Oh well.

I wish Republicans would think along the lines of political domination instead of just what they want. Moderation is the key to domination, I think. What you want only is the key to four divisive years and then delusional democrats again. We are not going to stop global warming or balance the budget either way. Moderation, wisdom, justice. Allow qualifications matter again. Allow common sense to matter again. Lighten up on the delusions of Republican and conservative grandeur, though.

Oh well, just my worthless suggestion.

The Window Cleaner
The Window Cleaner
1 year ago

Nice exegesis of the actual facts. The solution to illegal immigration is Mexico and Latin America adopting the policies of the new monetary paradigm, specifically the $1000/mo.equivalent universal dividend and the 50% Discount/Rebate at retail sale.

Alex
Alex
1 year ago

It’s silly season here in the US where the rubes are to decide which buffoon will head the “Ship of State” as it careens towards financial and moral bankruptcy. No matter which clown gets elected, we can be sure that AIPAC money and our venal, corrupt politicians will see to it that Israel can violate any norm moral norm with impunity. The following article points to what is happening “over there” in your name.

https://scheerpost.com/2024/10/13/patrick-lawrence-truths-that-come-out-like-the-sun/

Last edited 1 year ago by Alex
Alex
Alex
1 year ago

If done right, it would pay for itself. Any company that hires illegals would need to pay a stiff fine. Stop all aid to the illegals (what is that costing?) As with everything economics, one must consider the seen and the unseen. How much of healthcare expenses are due to illegals, how of the expense in education and law enforcement. There is a whole plethora of ills caused by this invasion at our Southern border. Not the least of which is the destruction of our social cohesion and social trust.

Last edited 1 year ago by Alex
Whatever
Whatever
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

Or we would finally pay a decent wage to inner city folks to do the job, just a thought.

Alex
Alex
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

No job is beneath American workers. These job are filled by immigrants because they’ll work for less money. Stupid government meddling in the labor force including welfare and “government make work” distorts the market and lowers the living standard. Enough with all the stupid government cost shifting so a few wealthy people can get rich by hiring cheap labor. The market will figure it out and some margins may get squeezed.

Albert
Albert
1 year ago
Reply to  Alex

The person that is destroying our social cohesion and trust is Trump.

Flavia
Flavia
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert

Correct.

max
max
1 year ago

So the immigrants will start buying bitcoin to send money home? Yet, Trump has a pro-bitcoin platform? I suppose bitcoin will be a quick and easy alternative for money transfers out of the country, no? Stopping the transfer of money out of the country for immigrants is not a real solution given Trump’s pro bitcoin stance.
\

Last edited 1 year ago by max
vboring
vboring
1 year ago

There are legal visas for migrant seasonal agriculture labor. They can be expanded.

Some other jobs would be automated or not get done.

Economies adapt to disruptive forces in unexpected and creative ways. The impacts are likely overestimated.

There are also economic benefits from not housing prisoners, reduced policing, reduced emergency room medical care.

The cost of deportations probably is extremely high. Obama promised to close Guantanamo on his first day in office. It’s still open. Courts are effective at slowing executive efforts and raising costs.

Whatever
Whatever
1 year ago

Lee than it would cost to keep them?

Veenerschnitzel
Veenerschnitzel
1 year ago

It must be done regardless of the cost. To some families it cost the life of their loved ones. And you cannot put a price on that.

Sentient
Sentient
1 year ago

Thanks for a sensible comment.

VeldesX
VeldesX
1 year ago

Free to bring them in, $315,000,000,000 to bring them out? Huh. Since EVERYthing is short-term economics, I guess they stay!

RonJ
RonJ
1 year ago

It’s been expensive taking care of all these illegal aliens that Biden/Harris have imported. What are the numbers for NYC alone? What will be the impact of Democrats allowing illegal immigrants gaining citizenship and creating a permanent Democrat majority? What is the cost of that? Should leftist California be forced on every state in the country?

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  RonJ

You want to know what’s expensive Ron? social security and medicare for senior citizens. You’re talking real money there and it ain’t stopping, it’s only growing worse.

Midnight
Midnight
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

That’s for real citizens not illegals. You know, what taxes are supposed to go for

Patrick
Patrick
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

Eat the old people?

dtj
dtj
1 year ago
Reply to  Patrick

Soylent Grey?

Don C..
Don C..
1 year ago
Reply to  Patrick

Can’t possibly eat those folks. Do you know how many federal regulations would be broken by doing so? The EPA would rake in so much money from the fines they impose. And the downside – vegans wouldn’t even pay a fine.

Kevin
Kevin
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

How are the illegals working under the table working out for Medicare? Are they helping the European retirement programs? And remember, once they are made “legal”, they can chain migrate their elderly parents into the US.

joedidee
joedidee
1 year ago

not much considering I would make employers like Tyson, etc. pay for entire repatriation

Ockham's Razor
Ockham’s Razor
1 year ago

We can send them to the ukranian front. The first to enter Moscow will get the green card.

Last edited 1 year ago by Ockham's Razor
Bill
Bill
1 year ago

The post reminds me of the same argument used when shutting down the government. We’re running massive deficits via wasteful, unnecessary and inefficient spending while the government is running but, once it shuts down the argument is made that it’s costing us a fortune to shut it down. The answer is that both cannot be true. It may be costing us some, in other ways, to shut it down but left to be completely shut down we would be saving money with it shut down.

The unvetted immigrants have been given taxpayer benefits, sent to schools that are unfunded to handle it, police forces, hospitals and ER’s. Hell Mish you posted this in numerous posts about the impacts to ERs, which I’ve seen. The direct costs by immigration can more easily be quanitified but what municipalities and taxpayers are bearing elsewhere is uncontrolled, uncountable and spread out, making it difficult to quantify–but it IS still there.

There will be deportation, the question is of degrees. As I’ve typed numerous times–saying we need jobs x, y and z filled and expecting that to come from a random set of folks including women, children, aged, criminals as well as those that might qualify is silly. I might as well show up with my family of 6 in, say, Toronto and just declare “I’m here, I’ll do job x (maybe) and will welcome the benies of handling my excess personnel of 5”. Sure I may handle job x and maybe job x isn’t being fulfilled by a Canadian but what about the cost of handling the influx of 6 now for the job, which instead of being borne by the employer is born by the unsuspecting Canadian taxpayer. If this uncontrolled process works then go pull all your posts about Europe, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the UK. It doesn’t work in this way and never has. It must work in a controlled fashion.

So there MUST be a gleaning. If you remove a million questionable characters that will make a start. Can there be more? Yes. Will it be costly? Sure. But who’s to blame for that after-the-fact cost? The Democrats that allowed it to occur. Reminds me of the bank bailouts where the only 2 players that didn’t actually bear the cost were the borrower and the lender…why should Bugtussel, WI have to pay for the sudden arrival of 12 new folks, a 30% increase in students because we couldn’t get past the pesky details of their removal?

This was their plan all along knowing that once in the door you and others would write about the plight of having to do the heavy lifting of sending them back. But it’s been done before and can be done again.

You can’t on one hand complain about inflation, the price of housing, the price of health care, the price of…and ignore the demand-side pressure of those folks on the taxpayer. It would be okay for houses to drop 40% and we’d only be back to 2022 prices. It would be okay for stocks to drop 40% and we’d be back to 2022 levels. And there are many jobs that could be filled by the youth who may be unwilling to take those jobs but they are available. More importantly, if we determine we cannot, we can take controlled measures to then address it responsibly.

Your posts are becoming play-both-sides. You know Biden’s policies are all bad but you defend them while still saying he and his comrade must go. You despise Trump. The Libertariran in you will vote for that candidate. But in America you only have 2 choices, you must pick. To not pick is to allow your neighbor to pick. So you gonna allow unvetted millions to spill into SW Utah or in my case Northern Wisconsin, as they have, complete with the costs of human beings just being human beings or are your gonna back the other side knowing there will be sticky details to work out to NOT have the former persist or to simply grandfather in the illegality of the 4 year invasion?

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  Bill

You left out the part where Trump was already president, didn’t build a wall, didn’t drain the swamp (that enables illegal immigration), didn’t tax Mexico to pay for the wall or deport anyone. But this time, he will get it done…….lol.

The “lol” part is you believe the clown. There’s a sucker born every minute.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

Remind me who blocked the money for the wall so it couldn’t get built?

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

The same ones that will block whatever trump tries to get done?

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

The dynamic has changed now. Let them try and we will see how far they get this time around.

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

Lol….this time it’s different. Lol!

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

Sometimes it is but pessimists are not the type of people who make it happen because they give up too easily.

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

Agreed, so many defeated people here hoping for a savior. I focus on profits which frees me from it all. Maybe I’ll see ya in France.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

oh save me donald from queens, with your opera makeup and wig and fat ass. he’ll be worshipped for centuries as a martyr.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

the dynamic has changed. they are dumber in 2024 than 2016

Avery2
Avery2
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

Eddie Munster (WI) and Speaker Johnson have more than that in common.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

these are idiots. they love being had.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

It was a poisoned deal made to be refused. In the small print it was written that all contested deportations would have to be tried in a DC court which would guarantee that there would never be any deportations. Trump couldn’t agree to that. The Democrats knew it so they proposed the “deal” because it was win for them if Trump agrees and still a win if he refuses. It wasn’t a deal. It was a trap.

Last edited 1 year ago by Doug78
Sentient
Sentient
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

Thanks for a sensible comment

Cobwebsoup
Cobwebsoup
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

Thank You for bringing FACTS to the discussion.

Kevin
Kevin
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

Do you really believe this? When have the democrats kept their word on anything?

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

the cult are morons. they love to be scammed. pt barnum knew this about many people.

Joseph Zadeh
Joseph Zadeh
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

I am just amazed at how often Trump and has “useful hyperbole” still works. He starts at an outrageous position like saying we are going to send all the illegals home and people scramble and thinks he is crazy and calculate the costs, and that is what he wants. He wants the other party to think he is a little crazy when you negotiate because that is how he gets a better deal.

If you are a Democrat and you want to believe his crazy, you hear this and tune out. If you pay attention, time and again, Trump will use this tactic and get better deals for the American citizens because right now the American citizen is getting screwed. Biden opened the border to get all these illegals in to vote Democrat, and he created a mess, and Trump is going to have to clean it up, and there are a ton of tough issues like what kind of civil rights do these people have, when do they get to vote, how much should they pay for citizenship ETC.

Trump married a foreign woman. He knows these issues, and I trust he will take care of it. A Democrat might not but I do.

Bill
Bill
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Shedlock

I’ve read you every day for 20 years, I read your post. I respect your column and ideas and am glad you let us post our bullshit in the comments. I’m not a hypocrite, I just have to realize there are only 2 parties that can win here. Until we have a charistmatic, already-popular, well-funded, moderate there is unfortunately no other alternative than to select one of the 2. Your comment on a recent post I read demonstrated your pragmatism on which of the 2 were the better choice, but I’m glad you choose you. I choose you every single day and have been my first news source every day. I hope you can appreciate that I appreciate you even when we disagree, even if that wasn’t evident in my latest comment.

Closing the border that was intentionally opened is job 1. But to other commenters, identifying the “criminals” (when all of them technically were when they crossed, although in their shoes I would do the same so the blame is not upon them) will be difficult when they were never vetted originally.

I read. Every day. Your post first. And I would pay to do so if you charged for it. And I would have enjoyed going to the few times you had outings back when you gave folks that opportunity years ago in Chi Town. I come from the era of being able to tell friends and people with whom we disagree what we think. Keep doing so!

Not Artificially Intelligent
Not Artificially Intelligent
1 year ago

That which is seen, and that which is unseen…. It’s not a matter of what will it cost in $$ to do X.

It’s a matter of what are All the costs of action or inaction compared to the all the alternatives.

Restoration of the rule of law alone, and the elimination of criminal impunity, would be priceless.

Patrick
Patrick
1 year ago

Bill Clinton says as long as immigrants are well vetted, implying that they are legalized, then they can take the jobs that Americans, who are not having enough children, cannot fill themselves. So, the Feds push the LGBTQ infowar, one point in common among the letters being that no children are born, while bringing in illegals in waves, unskilled, unvetted, to raise the population to drive the economy. Ha ha ha. No, its not replacement. Whose economy?

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago

It’s a reasonable proposal and reminds me of Reagan’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The period before 1920 in the US we had a huge bulge of immigration that caused a blowback resulting in the highly restrictive immigration law of 1921. A Princeton study showed it accelerated automation in agriculture and pushed urban labor markets toward higher-skilled manufacturing. Wages didn’t take off as expected for the labor-intensive work because automation in the farming sector squeezed rural people out of jobs so they moved to the cities keeping wages down. It did help the assimilation of formerly immigrant groups into mainstream American culture which was one of the main aims of the 1921 law.

This time around it might be the same except that the rural areas have less people to squeeze out so maybe wages can actually rise.

el Tedo
el Tedo
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

Reagan’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was a catastrophe that we’ve never recovered from. Eisenhower had a better plan.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  el Tedo

Explain why.

Sentient
Sentient
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

Simpson-Mazzoli was what got passed in 1986. The deal was “we seal the border in exchange for letting the ‘3 million’ illegals stay.”
We got the amnesty but the border was left wide open. Dems played Lucy holding the football, and republicans played Charlie Brown.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  Sentient

Well it did create a precedent in introducing amnesty for the first time. That I will grant you.

KGB
KGB
1 year ago

Won’t cost anything. They self deport after you bunk the first ones in prison with Tyrone and LeRoy.

David Heartland
David Heartland
1 year ago

OK, I have a BETTER PLAN, but it would COST LESS THAN 1% of HIS plans: OFFER EVERY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: 1) Fast Track service to Citizenship. 2) If Criminal, they wait…and they would ANYWAY! 3) Offer $1_____IN EBT cards per person, for the first 5 Million … Cost savings is enormous.

I KNOW: I sound like a NINNY LIBERAL. There HAS to be a better way and Trump’s plan is unworkable because EVERYTHING HE HAS done in the past have proven to be lies because he is a blow hard.

OH, I do not vote, so ignore me after all. We are leaving the USA SOON anyway, for GOOD!

Last edited 1 year ago by David Heartland
hmk
hmk
1 year ago

It seems to be common sense to firs secure the border. Then only allow people to come in who will work and pay taxes without ANY govt freebees. Allow an easy pathway for citizenship instead of the current system which is FUBB. Why this can’t be accomplished is puzzling.

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  hmk

It’s not puzzling at all. A legal citizen will be required to be paid a legal wages and the employer will need to pay FICA, unemployment, benefits, etc.

An illegal one can get paid cash and no one pays tax. That’s been America’s dirty secret since the slave days. The “illegal” is today’s modern version of “slave” and there are enough people that like the system this way that it never changes.

That’s all there is to it, not a vast conspiracy, just pure and simple greed. If it seems like a vast conspiracy it’s just because you can’t believe the level of greed in human society.

HMK
HMK
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

I believe it but I also believe someone should fix the problem.

ajc1970
ajc1970
1 year ago

I think it would be fair to mention that some subset of those illegal immigrants are already costing taxpayers more than $21,000 each, in free hotel rooms, prepaid debit cards, phones, court appearances, etc

Cutting off aid and offering the hopefully-starving immigrant a ticket home would take care of a few more at a less awful price. If the Catholic Church thinks it can help them hold out with its hand outs, perhaps a nice side benefit would be driving them out of business too.

Albert
Albert
1 year ago

Trump needs to have his head examined. The kind of nonsense he is spewing on a daily basis should frighten any voter with a minimal economic education. And voters really need to see his medical records.

RonJ
RonJ
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert

Democrats weren’t demanding Biden’s medical records. It’s just a political ploy to demand Trump’s. Trump is keeping a busy schedule, indicating his health is quite good. It’s Kamala that is really scary, with her nonsensical economic Marxist word salads.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  RonJ

Hey, Biden is sharp as a tack.

Albert
Albert
1 year ago
Reply to  RonJ

Biden would have published his medical records before the election. Trump looks pretty unhealthy to me, and he rambles like somebody who is missing a few mental connections. Do we really want a 79-83 old with mental issues as president?

Sentient
Sentient
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert

Wow. You guys are really desperate. You’re down to “his medical records, his medical records!” His diet is KFC and Diet Coke. He is strong like bull. If he croaks, 40 year old Vance takes over and names Thomas Massie as VP. It’s all good.

Albert
Albert
1 year ago
Reply to  Sentient

Vance is much more intelligent and crafty than Trump, and Vance and his tech bros will retire an old, sick Trump in no time. Note that Vance is actually contradicting Trump openly on the feasible pace of deportations.

Flavia
Flavia
1 year ago
Reply to  Albert

Yeah, he’s looking more intelligent than his boss.

Richard F
Richard F
1 year ago

Farm crops are discussed yet not addressed.
Modern farming techniques are steadily moving towards more and more mechanization.
For instance modern apple farms use hedgerows much like grape vineyards.
Whole crops are planted on 4 ft centers using dwarf root stock and various pruning techniques. Modern apple orchards are row crops not 40 ft. on center full size trees.

California is busily mechanizing its’ wine industry as consequence of State Government labor mandates.

This is only one example in what is touted as an industry that can not operate without illegal labor.

How much money is wasted as hidden subsidies for illegals? Health care is not denied,
Housing is not denied ( yes it is of low quality but so is everyone’s housing opportunity denigrated by what is occurring).

To do nothing about illegal invasion is not an answer.

Richard F
Richard F
1 year ago
Reply to  Richard F

add: Not even illegals want to work outdoors in Florida summer of heat and humidity.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  Richard F

People work outside in summer in Florida.

Richard F
Richard F
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

I have a son who lives in the panhandle. Dickens to raise for him to get one of his children to mow the lawn in summer.
He told me he measured 115 degrees in his pickup cab.
Am not so convinced anyone would want to work outdoors in Summer in Florida. Unless they start just before sunrise and knock off by noon at latest.

Doug78
Doug78
1 year ago
Reply to  Richard F

Florida in summer is nothing against Ohio in August.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  Doug78

had a small crew of mexican men work construction outside, 365 days. in AZ. no complaints. treated them wonderfully. they did NOT want any days off. even thanksgiving and christmas they worked in day and knocked off mid afternoon. especailly the young bucks.

Blurtman
Blurtman
1 year ago
Reply to  Richard F

Education costs, medical costs, DISI (yes, just claim refugee status), immigrant service provider jobs, crime, etc.

Kevin
Kevin
1 year ago

An American businessman will go to the ends of the earth for his employees. So he can pay them $5 an hour. And a libertarian will cheer him on.

Avery2
Avery2
1 year ago
Reply to  Kevin

Next Mish will move to Logansport, Indiana and Springfield, Ohio next to prove his Libertarian chops!

Gary L
Gary L
1 year ago

Cut off aid to undocumented immigrants, that would save billions to start. Enforce hiring prohibition against illegal residents. Deport all felons. That should cut into the costs, bringing it down to, say $120B? Now we are talking a trade-off with our idiotic foreign aid allocations, or at least some of it. No, not a perfect solution, but a start.

Neal
Neal
1 year ago

Let them self deport with the only government cost a free one way bus/plane ticket and $750 cash. $750 being equal to the aid offered to recent storm victims. They will self deport as soon as they lose their jobs when the government starts enforcing all the laws currently on the books requiring employers to verify the status of new hires under penalty of hefty fines and prison time for dodgy employers
As for labour shortages I thought that mass unemployment was coming with AI and robotics? For any labour gaps use vetted reliable employment brokers to source vetted term contract workers from overseas and all done at a proper wage to avoid undercutting Americans who do want jobs as farm hands, janitors, construction workers etc.

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago

Excellent post but the answer is clear. Trump won’t do anything except put on a circus show. I envision a few meat packing plant raids that show everyone Trump is “tough” on illegal immigration. Maybe throw some kids in cages to add more “toughness” but then nothing much will change.

If only the border had been closed in 1492 we all wouldn’t be in this mess. The borders will remain open, immigration will continue to happen just as it has for the past 12,000 years and the meek shall inherit the earth.

Ironically, many countries around the world are trying to attract immigrants but everyone wants the high end professional that is wealthy and well educated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odPy8c8yjrY

The future is bidding wars for skilled labor state by state and country by country.  The clock is ticking and the bidder with the highest offer will win. Go where you are treated best.

Avery2
Avery2
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

Bill Clinton will show them how to practice safe sex for r- with his cigar.

David Heartland
David Heartland
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

You are getting down-voted because no one REALLY wants to read what the truth is about Trump. I am happy to up-vote you WHEN you make sense. I am an independent NON-VOTER and not embarrassed to say that Voting for Special K or MR T is a waste of time. NOTHING HAS, or EVER WILL CHANGE IN AMERICA. I have given up HOPE and that is all we ever had anyway.

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago

Agreed, most commenters here don’t want to hear the truth, they want to live in a fantasy bubble created in their own minds. For Trumpers the biggest fantasy they have is that he is a savior or messiah. He won’t save anyone but himself.

I was not going to vote myself but there are bond proposals that will increase property taxes in my county so I will show up to vote AGAINST all of them.

And I always make sense, if you don’t think I’m making sense you need to check your position carefully. The only correct path is profits & prosperity, everything else is noise.

Neal
Neal
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

I think for many it isn’t about voting for Trump but against Kameltoes. Trump is a narcissist who promises much but delivers little. But if the cumguzzler gets 4 years she will make things far worse and make the US into a failed nation run by DEI twats that will censor everything, subsidise the stupid and regulate against anything. No guns, no fracking, no free speech, no future.

MPO45v2
MPO45v2
1 year ago
Reply to  Neal

Don’t worry, neither candidate will accomplish anything but you will be miserable because you’re not focused on profits.

bmcc
bmcc
1 year ago
Reply to  MPO45v2

borders are meaningless. always ignored. see russia, zion, and on and on for thousands of years……….

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