“Many workers who were born in the U.S. benefited from a complementary immigrant workforce that supported parts of their industry, according to a [study](https://www.nber.org/papers/w35129) by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and published last week by the National Bureau of Economic Research. But with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown over the past year, largely mediated through ICE, at least [1.2 million foreign-born workers](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/21/trump-immigration-policy-labor-force.html) have left the labor force, dismantling the structure that supported native-born jobs too.”
“Few things in economics happen in isolation, and complementarity occurs when one piece of the economic puzzle functions better or more productively when paired with another input. Workers are a clear winner thanks to this economic rule, with most employees benefiting enormously when others, such as immigrants, are allowed to participate in the workforce. The catch with complementarity, however, is that its effect is most noticeable when one part of the pairing gets stripped away.”
“The researchers behind the recent study crunched national labor market and ICE arrests data from the past year, a period during which daily apprehensions by ICE surged [from around 300 to nearly 1,300](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-arrest-statistics-americans-noncriminals/). The authors then compared labor effects in areas with large upticks in arrest with comparatively stable ones to see how total employment changed in places where the foreign-born workforce suddenly shrunk or vanished. The study focused its findings on male workers, who are demographically more likely to be affected by immigration enforcement.”
“The authors found that in an average area that saw a surge in ICE activity, 7,574 likely undocumented male workers stopped working, coming out to around six males leaving the workforce for every ICE arrest, primarily out of fear of being arrested themselves.”
“Chilling effects capture the fact that heightened ICE activity may cause people to be fearful of participating in their regular activities—including going to work,” the study’s authors wrote.”
“That immigrant labor is a complement instead of a replacement for native-born work is already known. A [report](https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/p/2025-07-25-mass-deportation-of-unauthorized-immigrants-fiscal-and-economic-effects/) published last year by the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that even high-skilled workers—which tend to be native-born—are affected by mass deportations and the removal of undocumented workers from the labor force. Depending on the scale of deportations, high-skilled workers could see their wages fall up to 2.8% over the next 30 years relative to a scenario without an immigration crackdown, the report found.”
Money_Cost_2213 on
This is not a surprise.
Knowing how many billions undocumented citizens contribute to the economy, it was very obvious from the start that it was never about helping… not helping the economy, not helping citizens, not helping immigrants, not helping America. It was all meant to hurt and flex power and beat people into submission.
Atticus_Taintwater on
I know this is low brow for an economics sub, but how is it that all of these ice guys even stand like douche bags?
3 Comments
[https://www.nber.org/papers/w35129](https://www.nber.org/papers/w35129)
“Many workers who were born in the U.S. benefited from a complementary immigrant workforce that supported parts of their industry, according to a [study](https://www.nber.org/papers/w35129) by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and published last week by the National Bureau of Economic Research. But with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown over the past year, largely mediated through ICE, at least [1.2 million foreign-born workers](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/21/trump-immigration-policy-labor-force.html) have left the labor force, dismantling the structure that supported native-born jobs too.”
“Heightened ICE activity is harming the labor market overall, and we find no evidence that it is benefiting U.S.-born workers,” Chloe East, one of the study’s authors, said in a [statement](https://www.colorado.edu/today/2026/05/04/heightened-ice-enforcement-harms-us-born-workers-shrinks-workforce). “If anything, job opportunities for U.S.-born workers are going down as a result.”’
“Few things in economics happen in isolation, and complementarity occurs when one piece of the economic puzzle functions better or more productively when paired with another input. Workers are a clear winner thanks to this economic rule, with most employees benefiting enormously when others, such as immigrants, are allowed to participate in the workforce. The catch with complementarity, however, is that its effect is most noticeable when one part of the pairing gets stripped away.”
“The researchers behind the recent study crunched national labor market and ICE arrests data from the past year, a period during which daily apprehensions by ICE surged [from around 300 to nearly 1,300](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-arrest-statistics-americans-noncriminals/). The authors then compared labor effects in areas with large upticks in arrest with comparatively stable ones to see how total employment changed in places where the foreign-born workforce suddenly shrunk or vanished. The study focused its findings on male workers, who are demographically more likely to be affected by immigration enforcement.”
“The authors found that in an average area that saw a surge in ICE activity, 7,574 likely undocumented male workers stopped working, coming out to around six males leaving the workforce for every ICE arrest, primarily out of fear of being arrested themselves.”
“Chilling effects capture the fact that heightened ICE activity may cause people to be fearful of participating in their regular activities—including going to work,” the study’s authors wrote.”
“That immigrant labor is a complement instead of a replacement for native-born work is already known. A [report](https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/p/2025-07-25-mass-deportation-of-unauthorized-immigrants-fiscal-and-economic-effects/) published last year by the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that even high-skilled workers—which tend to be native-born—are affected by mass deportations and the removal of undocumented workers from the labor force. Depending on the scale of deportations, high-skilled workers could see their wages fall up to 2.8% over the next 30 years relative to a scenario without an immigration crackdown, the report found.”
This is not a surprise.
Knowing how many billions undocumented citizens contribute to the economy, it was very obvious from the start that it was never about helping… not helping the economy, not helping citizens, not helping immigrants, not helping America. It was all meant to hurt and flex power and beat people into submission.
I know this is low brow for an economics sub, but how is it that all of these ice guys even stand like douche bags?
Twinkle toes here with imaginary lat syndrome.