Trump says goodbye to more than 200,000 immigrants
Immigrants play a significant role in our economy. In fact, about 17% or 27 million of the 160 million people in the American labor force is made up of immigrants from all over the world. However, what if I told you that more than 200,000 people are going to be taken out of that labor force. That is exactly what happened recently when president Trump abolished the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 200,000 immigrants alone from El Salvador and still many more from other countries. Now the real question is if this is the right move to make on an economic standpoint. Although Trump may believe that this was a good decision to make, the abolishment of the TPS for Salvadorans was an extremely poor choice for the economy.
The Temporary Protected Status was a program that temporarily protected immigrants from Central American countries and some Middle Eastern countries from deportation. However, immigrants from El Salvador benefited from this the most since they have a significant amount of immigrants come into the U.S. due to a substantial earthquake there in 2001. As you can see from the graph, immigrants from El Salvador makes up more than 50% of people benefiting from the TPS. A majority of those immigrants are currently living in Los Angeles, Houston, and New York, which are the most populated cities in America. Unfortunately, now that this luxury for Salvadorans was destroyed, they only have one year to leave the U.S. unless they find a legal way to stay.
The main reason why terminating the TPS was a poor choice is that the labor force will take a large toll which will greatly impact our economy. As I mentioned earlier, immigrants make up a huge part in our labor force so if a large amount of them were to leave, then the economy as well as GDP could see a tremendous decrease. Since most immigrants work in manufacturing or construction, the labor force will see a large decrease in the amount of people working in those fields. This would extremely affect our economy since our largest exports are industry and manufacturing so if we were to lose a large amount of employees in those areas, then you would expect to see a decrease in GDP. Additionally, the economy would go into a recession if there was a high unemployment rate, specifically in industry and manufacturing areas. This would cause the economy to be more expansionary to try and prevent high unemployment. This would force them to decrease reserves, decreases interest rates, and purchase more bonds into order to increase the money supply.
In sum, the abolishment of the TPS will not benefit the U.S. economy whatsoever. In the end, our GDP will most likely decrease which may lead to a recession in our economy. So why would Trump do this? Is it because he doesn’t know the possible long term effects? Or maybe he just doesn’t care, but that is just one problem we need to deal with since he is the president and the boss of this country. All in all, I wish the best the Salvadorans and other nation affected by the extermination of the TPS.
Works Cited
“Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States.” Migrationpolicy.org, 6 Apr. 2017, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states.
“White House Says 200,000 Salvadoreans Must Leave the US.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-42613178.
When I have traveled to bigger cities such as San Diego and Miami I have noticed that there is a lot of diversity (people from different cultures), so it makes sense that most immigrants to the US reside in LA, Houston, and NY. I see both sides to the immigrant debates, but I agree it will take a toll on the economy. Many people are going to be left unemployed and unable to take care of their families.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the program itself was meant to be temporary, not allowing the immigrants from those countries to stay would do so much harm, than anything. Plus El Salvador’s economy would be incredibly impacted if 200,000 citizens were forced to come back into their country when a portion of the nation's economy actually comes from payments sent from Salvadorans in the US back to El Salvador and their families. So not only is the abolishment of the TPS going to affect the US economy, it will also affect the El Salvadoran economy.
ReplyDeleteI try to follow the news and this is something I had never heard of. It sounds kind of reminiscent of his rescinding of DACA. It is technically one of the things he ran on, but it is still kind of stunning that Trump is willing to kick out hundreds of thousands of workers. Kicking out 200,000 people that came here after an earthquake ravaged their home is heartless, its not like they do nothing for the country.
ReplyDeleteHi Connor, this was inspiring coming from a student and although we cannot do anything against this act, it is an honor to know that we are being informed of this topic. The acts that Donald Trump are making are abusing our country from a social, political, and emotional aspect. I wonder if this was just a personal attack or if he generally had a reason with evidence and support of how this will better our country. Thank you for sharing, I wish the best of luck to the people of our country who will be majorly affected by this act.
ReplyDeleteTrump doesn't see the bigger picture. This whole country is made up of immigrants from all over the world. He doesn't see that and immigrants taken out of this country will have a great downfall. I 100% agree to get rid of all immigrants that do bad and are felons. In this case Trump took 100's of thousands of immigrants out of the armed forces which really set this country back.
ReplyDeleteOverall you did a good job relating immigration to economics. As you said, immigration plays a large role in the American economy and losing a large population of immigrants could be detrimental to the economic status. While it is known that kicking out immigrants would have an affect on society, it was interesting to read a bit more about the actions the government would have to take in order to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the economic standpoint and how poorly we will be affected from this missive loss of employment, but what upsets me most is how the president addressed this situation. He called countries like Haiti and Africa "shithole countries" and how we should "have more people coming in from places like Norway." He's a racist, childish, unstable, immoral human being who is so bluntly racist and immature. He didn't think about the economic downfalls because all he could think about is our "white" America.
ReplyDeleteOur country was built on immigration yes, but we have laws and have had those laws for a long time. They are here illegally. When TPS was made it was temporary. 17 years ago is when this earthquake happened and we still have 200,000 people here. There are a lot of Americans that are looking for jobs or better jobs than what they have now and jobs now a days are not easy to find. They can be a strain on the economy because we do pay taxes on their schooling, housing and medical while low income americans struggle. If we do need those workers for jobs then we should have a good set working visa plan. They can come here and work but just to sit around here and get the same benefits as hard working americans is not fair. With not being a citizen they are not allowed to vote either.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting article to read and very maturely articulated as it expressed an opinion backed firmly with facts. Personally, I was unaware of the TPS arrangement and am pleased to know that in 2001 America stepped up to provide a home for the people impacted by the earthquake. With Trumps decision to end TPS I too wonder if he, or any politicians who hold the power to contradict his choices, have thought through the economic implications as you described. Regarding your point about the labor force being hit, I am aware that many Americans are unemployed; however, there seems to be a stigma surrounding these 'lower class' jobs, and if immigrants are willing to work these jobs, and provide the necessary goods to America as well as make a better life for themselves, then I agree there is no reason to end the TPS arrangement for both economic and ethically reasons.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this article in a very interesting way. I have not been informed of the TPS being abolished before now. I agree that it will make a huge difference in our economy, due to the fact that there are many foreigners in the US workforce. Similar to what Emily said, if there are Americans unemployed, yet immigrants are willing to work the low paying jobs to try and make a better life for themselves, there is no reason to abolish the TPS.
ReplyDeleteEven though the immigrants lost there of their jobs and is probably going to do more bad than good. More american's will be able to get jobs that in the labor force now. Which will help our unemployment rate a little bit. But if we cannot find people to take those empty job spots. then I agree that that was a terrible decision. But also if there are that many people losing their job. The crime rate is going to go up. And if they can't get money from working. they will have to get money some how.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that over 50% of the people benefiting from the TPS were from El Salvador. And I agree that taking 200,000 people from the labor force will have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. I can see were trump is coming from, he wants to give more jobs to U.S. citizens, but We don't need those jobs. Abolishing the TPS was a bad move.
ReplyDeleteBen Noll
This seems like a pretty one-sided affair, as the economic down-sides of mass deportation are clear; therefore, I completely agree with what you've stated. Immigrants are generally very driven people who want to make a difference in their lives and they do make up a significant portion of our population. In fact, the birth-rate in America is actually below replacement levels and the only reason why our population continues to increase is because of the people immigrating to America. The economic impact of immigrants in America is undeniable.
ReplyDeleteWith Trump dismissing 200,000 workers because they were immigrants is a huge error on his part. Besides why did he deport them for working to hard, for helping the economy grow. I can't say that I will ever understand what Trump does or why. He is a business owner and as much he know that he needs employs that are willing to do the dirty jobs that no one else will. If he wants to get rid of 27million hard workers that the only thing that they want is to work to be able to give their family's have a better life.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the TPS should not be deported from the US, because with this we are affecting our biggest exporting sector. The industrial and Construction sector plays a huge roll for the US exports, so if we are to cut hundreds of thousands of people out of the industry, The sector will decrease in exports potentially harming the US economy. Countries could go to other counties looking for the same supplies since prices will rise with less workers. Overall this will lower the GDP, raise the unemployment rate, and potentially cause a recession due to the huge change in the economy.
ReplyDeleteThe movement of immigrant employees will not greatly affect the labor force for a long period of time. The change will only be a slight bump in the road. The labor force would be replaced with a more domestic labor soon after the the immigrant force moves out.
ReplyDeleteAllowing the TPS was a very poor choice, I agree. Immigrants are important to the production forces. It's unnecessary to be rid of them when they help our economy. Also, America use to be a symbol of freedom and aid, but now it's more thought of as selfish and reckless more so than ever. It's important to ignore the irrelevant problems like banishing immigrants and focus on how we can actually better the country with skilled economic knowledge. It would benefit more people to understand how the world works and how to negotiate. The work force that employed all those immigrants. After losing so many workers they are most likely to be in trouble.
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