Trump's mass deportation vow has some in the farm and construction industries spooked
By: Ja'han Jones (MSNBC. com)
So, why have food prices been increasing at an ungodly rate? Why has housing become less affordable and harder to find?
The Biden administration allowed millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the United State. Illegal immigration has captured attention in the news cycle since Joe Biden's inauguration on a chilly January day in 2021. Illegal immigrants have flooded the labor markets for food harvesting and processing. Illegal immigrants have flooded the labor markets for construction. Who is benefiting from all this cheap labor? It's certainly not the consumer. It's certainly not the renter and homebuyer.
Illegal immigration hasn't lowered poverty. Illegal immigration hasn't decreased the stress on public resources. Illegal immigration hasn't given local, state, and Federal governments tax surpluses. Illegal immigration has not resulted in increased wages. Illegal immigration has not even lowered prices for consumers.
The American people don't seem to be getting any benefit from illegal immigration so what are they supposed to be afraid of losing?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Nov. 25, 2024 -- Donald Trump's vow to round up millions of immigrants and deport them in the largest deportation effort in U.S. history has industry groups that rely on immigrants spooked.
It's no secret that such action — unrealistic as it may seem to some — poses a threat to the economy as we know it. Economic and labor experts warned about the destructive potential of Trump's deportation obsession in the lead-up to Election Day. But now that his return to the White House is certain, the farm and construction industries in particular are sounding the alarm about the devastation their sectors could see if Trump follows through.
According to Reuters:
U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.
So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan.
Nearly half of the nation's approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.
Reuters noted that some Republicans are hoping Trump spares undocumented farmworkers from deportation, as he vowed during his first presidency (though, for the record, he didn't exactly leave farmworkers untouched). There seems to be palpable worry — even among MAGA faithful — that Trump is just as cravenly opposed to immigrants as he comports himself to be.
NPR published a similar story about the Texas construction industry, which reportedly is fretting over what Trump's deportation promises could mean. According to NPR:
Clear signals President-elect Donald Trump plans to make good on his campaign pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants in his second term has sparked concerns among some in Texas' business and economic sectors who say mass deportations could upend some of the state's major industries that rely on undocumented labor, chief among them the booming construction industry.
NPR cites two CEOs who say the deportation plans are impractical and would stymie the building of schools and homes, along with highways and other crucial infrastructure. Coincidentally, Trump's campaign was built around the notion that booting immigrants from the country would resolve housing supply issues and school overcrowding, while opening up jobs that could easily be taken by American workers.
With Trump's return to the White House less than two months away, experts who know better are warning how flawed that logic truly is.
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Who are we supposed to believe? Liberal minded academic experts? Or our own bank accounts and wallets?
It's not crazy to recognize that living in the US is becoming more unaffordable as the numbers of illegal immigrants have increased. Inflation is not a conspiracy theory.
People who work for lower wages and spend less are driving inflation?? Really?
Or is that more because the government has spent money like drunken sailors on their first shore leave after 10 years at sea?
Well, prices certainly aren't falling. Allowing more illegal immigrants into the country certainly hasn't made food and housing cheaper or more abundant. Why wouldn't increased competition by illegal immigrants for lower priced food and housing drive inflation?
Local, state, and Federal tax revenue is estimated to be over 40 pct of GDP. And governments at all levels still deficit spend by over $2.5 trillion.
Right now local, state, and Federal governments are spending close to 50 pct of our GDP. Doesn't that make the United States a half-assed socialist country? Who benefits from all the spending? The rich are getting richer at warp speed while most of the country has difficulty affording food and housing.
The rich complaining about taxes only appeals to idiots. We're being lied to. Reagan Republicans have been economic terrorists who deliberately destroyed the American middle class -- just to make themselves richer.
Trump was elected to remove Reagan from the Republican Party. That's the only way the middle class has any chance of survival.
This is like telling your granddaughter to be quiet at a Taylor Swift concert because it's too loud.
Yes. And one of those governments specifically can create additional money out of thin air. What do you thing that does to the value of your existing money?
Demand doesn't drive inflation? Maybe that explains why our economy is so broken. Maybe that explains why monetary policy has been ineffective in bringing down inflation.
Local, state, and Federal governments are not allowed to just print money. Government at all levels must sell bonds to cover deficits. If the Federal government could just create money out of thin air then there wouldn't be $36 trillion in Federal debt.
Deficit spending is another way for government to redistribute money within the economy (just like taxes). The money to buy bonds is taken out of the economy and transferred to the Federal government. Our national debt means $36 trillion has been taken out of the economy and redistributed by the Federal government.
Only privately owned banks are allowed to create money out of thin air using fractional lending. The private sector is responsible for devaluing our dollar; not the Federal government.
It's a function of both supply and demand. When the supply of dollars explodes, it takes more of them to buy things.
Monetary policy can control inflation. It directly and indirectly controls the supply of money. The Fed has been cautious because they would rather have inflation come down gradually than send us into a recession. Shit increasing in price by more than your wages is uncomfortable, but it's better than having no wages.
That's what the Federal Reserve does.
Yes. Bonds are debt instruments. Creation of a debt instrument increases the supply of money. .
The largest single holder of US debt is the Federal Reserve, even after a period of quantitative tightening.
Supply can only contribute to inflation when supply cannot meet demand.
A government that relies on Milton Friedman's economic teachings for guidance is a state sponsor of economic terrorism. Milton Friedman was a fucking cheat, a shyster, a con artist, a bamboozler. The only people who follow the teachings of Milton Friedman aspire to be unproductive criminals. Quoting Milton Friedman is proof of economic ignorance.
Yes, bonds are debt instruments but sale of bonds do not create new money. Bonds must be bought with existing money. Bonds are a hold over from the gold reserve. Under the gold reserve, banks could not create gold (or money backed by gold) out of thin air.
If the government cannot sell a bond then the government cannot spend the money.
Which means what? The Federal Reserve is a quasi-private bank. Congress (and the government) gave authority over the money supply to the private sector based on the advise of Milton Friedman economists.
I'm not sure how we're confused about the mechanics of currency devaluation.
You're right, get rid of all those immigrants who have been here for years and then you and your friends can enjoy working 12 hours a day every day of the week doing these things....
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We have programs in place to allow temporary foreign workers to legally work in the US. In 2022 the US issued 766,000 temporary visas for foreign workers to legally work in the US. These foreign workers are not immigrants seeking permanent residence.
The Mexican government provides some resources to assist US employers recruit temporary workers in Mexico.
It is even possible to hire remote workers in Mexico (and other countries) that doesn't require entering the US.
The US doesn't need immigrants to harvest food or pound nails. We have legal mechanisms in place to hire temporary foreign workers who are not immigrants. We can get rid of illegal immigrants and the work can still be done by foreign workers.
You've been getting your information from an unreliable source.
Okay, I'll wait and see what happens.
The lefts flawed mindset that mass deportations will cause prices to rise. They set their hair on fire when asked, that with MILLIONS of illegals allowed in by the Biden administration, why haven't the prices plummeted.
In their unfounded hysteria about the mass deportations they either ignore or willfully omit a lot of what was actually said. The deportations are reportedly to focus, initially, on the criminal element of the illegals. Those that are wanted for violent crimes in the US and abroad. Lets make the country safer and get them out then shift focus.
The Denver mayor says he is willing to go to jail to protect immigrants, Tom Holman says he is willing to put him there. I would love to see how much time the Denver mayor is willing to spend in federal lockup for his firmly held beliefs, 4 years seem about right?
You're assuming you can find enough Americans who can build a house. We've spent the last 50 years telling every kid in every school it was better to write computer code than learn plumbing code. It's not like there is a long que of electricians at the unemployment office.
Do you want to live on the fourth floor of an apartment complex built by a converted graphic artist?
That's where rural America steps in. Plenty of youngsters out here in trades that learned them from their Dads, who more than likely learned them from Grandpa...
We can, of course, allow as many legal immigrants as we need. For instance we can adjust the numbers of H-2A temp visas as necessary for farming work.