Trump has nominated a cabinet much in his own image, a motley crew of loyalists committed to executing his agenda. Among them is Tom Homan, who is charged with implementing Trump’s draconian border policy. The “border tsar” told Fox News he will remove “the handcuffs” on ICE to carry out the promise of mass deportations. Talk of deporting all of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants has been dampened since Trump’s victory, with a focus on “criminals” more specifically, as they understand it is impossible and contrary to the ruling class’s interests to deport this vast source of cheap labor.
False explanations for real problems
By blaming undocumented immigrants for the very real cost-of-living crisis, Trump provides an explanation—though blatantly false—for something the Democrats chose to ignore altogether.
The bourgeois media plays a fundamental role in whipping up xenophobic sentiments among workers. We’re told immigrants are a drain on public spending because asylum seekers and detained migrants are housed with public dollars as they await their day in court. But this hypocritical assessment is never applied to the eye-watering $820 billion spent on the military, money that could instead be invested in infrastructure, health care, and public works programs, providing good-paying jobs for all.
The truth is undocumented immigrants pay almost $100 billion in federal, state, and city taxes every year. That money then goes to help fund US imperialism, the root cause of mass immigration to the US in the first place. Despite the clamor to cut government spending, the cost of mass deportation could cost upwards of $300 billion.
By blaming undocumented immigrants for the very real cost-of-living crisis, Trump provides an explanation—though blatantly false—for something the Democrats chose to ignore altogether. / Image: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
How would mass deportations affect the economy?
The arch-reactionary economist Milton Friedman said “illegal Mexican immigration is a good thing . . . but it’s only good so long as it’s illegal.” Cheap labor helps keep prices lower and profits high. For many capitalists, especially smaller ones, hiring migrant farm workers through the H-2A work visa program requires them to pay a minimum wage and provide housing benefits, which is too costly a hit on their profits.
Undocumented immigrants are thoroughly integrated into the American economy. They make up 19.4% of landscapers, 13.4% of construction workers, and 10% of taxi drivers. Abrupt labor shortages would cause panic among the capitalists who depend on these workers, and they would likely respond with higher prices and lower investment.
The food industry, in particular, would see major disruptions. About 42% of agricultural workers are undocumented. Always under the threat of deportation, these workers are forced to accept extremely low wages and excruciating working conditions. Losing access to these workers would compel the capitalists to raise prices to maintain their rates of profit.
With Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on Mexican imports, not only would more food need to be produced domestically, but imported food prices would also rise. As always, the working class would foot the bill. In other words, Trump’s promise to kick out undocumented immigrants contradicts his promise to bring down the cost of living by reducing inflation.
According to Bloomberg, industrial farming profits would be much better protected from the loss of undocumented labor but “small family farms—which make up 88% of all US farms—will get hit hard, potentially being forced to close.”
As we’ve noted since the emergence of the “MAGA movement,” its base of support spans across class lines. When the rubber meets the road, this base will fragment as the different classes supporting Trump realize he can’t be all things to all people. Ultimately, he will have to fall back on the billionaire class of which he is a part and whose system he defends.
About 42% of agricultural workers are undocumented. Always under the threat of deportation, these workers are forced to accept extremely low wages and excruciating working conditions. / Image: Russ Allison Loar, Flickr
How will this be implemented?
One aspect of the proposed operation that has the establishment raising eyebrows is Trump’s desire to use the military and the National Guard to assist the 6,000 current ICE officers spread throughout the country to round up and intern millions before deportation. During his first term, Trump wanted to use the military to squash the George Floyd uprising but was stopped by the establishment state bureaucracy. If he tries to go down this road during his second term, he will again find himself on a collision course with the machinery of the state.
Stephen Miller—soon-to-be Deputy Chief of Policy and the architect of Trump’s “family separation policy” and “Muslim ban” during his first administration—has spoken of wielding old parts of the bourgeois legal code, such as the Alien Enemies Act, to hasten the time-intensive process of mass expulsion. But the ruling-class courts likely understand that unveiling such bald-faced power will cause a backlash in the working class, pressuring them to gum up Trump’s attempts to utilize the law for his aims.
For working-class internationalism!
Whatever Trump does, his actions are sure to cause more instability and discontent. Capitalism and US imperialism in particular are in a deep state of crisis. No amount of rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship will keep it afloat. Only the struggle for international communist revolution, which will dissolve the inhuman necessity for artificial borders, exploitation, and oppression can solve the crisis facing our class.