President Trump's immigration policies could hurt Michigan over the long term by reducing the workforce and population growth needed to fuel the state's economic recovery, according to some experts.

Among those who have been wary about efforts to restrict immigration: Gov. Rick Snyder; Snyder's economic development director; the Detroit Regional Chamber; top management at Ford and General Motors, and the Michigan Farm Bureau.

"It's very hard to see how this will not have a negative effect on the labor market," Tim Bartik, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, said about Trump's policies.

"We want to attract highly skilled workers; part of Detroit's strategy is becoming a hub for immigration," he said. "It's not so much this is going to throw our economy into recession. But long term, it hurts our competitiveness in the world economy."

In the first week of his presidency, Trump issued two executive orders on immigration. The first was to initiate construction of a wall along the Mexican-U.S. border. The second order banned citizens from seven Muslim countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days.

Michigan has an estimated 652,000 immigrants, about 6 percent of its population, according to U.S. Census estimates. About 81,000 were born in Mexico, the state's single largest immigrant group. Another 81,000 were born in one of the seven Muslim countries specified in Trump's ban; three-quarters of that group are Iraqi.

State officials and others say they're still evaluating the immediate impact of Trump's executive order.

But long term, the concern is whether Trump's policies will have a "chilling" effect on efforts to rebuild Michigan's economy by attracting entrepreneurs and well-educated workers from around the world, said Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.

Just two weeks ago at Snyder's State of the State address, the governor set a goal of increasing Michigan's population to 10 million by 2020, with an emphasis on attracting highly skilled workers.

"To achieve that goal, immigration needs to be part of that," Lupher said. "If you look at our total population over the past three, four decades, it's been pretty flat. Absent immigration, we would have lost residents."

In terms of potential unintended consequences, Trump's new policies could:

Hinder employers' ability to recruit highly skilled workers from other countries. About 25 percent of employees in Michigan's computer systems design industry are foreign-born, according to a

Undermine Michigan colleges and universities in their recruitment of international students at a time when the U.S. college-age population is shrinking. In fall 2016, international students comprised 14 percent of enrollment at each University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Discourage international students at Michigan universities from staying in the state after graduation, which increases Michigan's supply of well-educated workers. About 56 percent of Michigan's immigrants have at least a bachelor's degree compared to 27 percent of native-born Michiganders, according to Census data.

Reduce the number of entrepreneurs, especially in the Detroit metro area, which has one of the nation's largest Arab communities. About 8 percent of the state's entrepreneurs are immigrants, and immigrant-owned businesses generated more than $608 million in business income in 2014, according to

Escalate shortages that already exist in the migrant worker labor pool needed to harvest Michigan crops. Each summer and fall, Michigan farmers rely on tens of thousands of Mexican workers to hand-harvest crops such as apples, blueberries and grapes.

"Immigration has been a huge plus" for Michigan, Roger Curtis, director of the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development, said the night of the State of the State address.

"We have a great immigration program," Curtis said, adding immigrants have provided much-needed labor in a wide spectrum of jobs, from migrant workers to auto industry engineers.

On Monday, Dave Murray, a spokesman for Curtis, said officials are trying to "get a better understanding of what the executive orders actually do and the impact they may or may not have on immigration and Michigan's overall economy."

"Things are still very fluid," Murray said.,

On Tuesday, Snyder issued a statement saying he wants to continue to encourage people to move here, adding Trump's "120-day assessment period is leading to a much-needed national dialogue on immigration policy."

Over the years, Snyder has made his support for immigration clear, including commissioning a 2016 state study that concluded immigrants helped mitigate some of the negative effects of the recent recession and have been a vital part of Michigan's recovery.

The analysis found immigrants, who comprise about 6 percent of the state population, "contribute significantly to the state as both taxpayers and consumers, earning $19.6 billion in income in 2014 (or 7.7 percent) of all income earned by Michiganders), and paying out $5.4 billion in overall taxes."

Immigrants spend about about $14 billion on consumer goods and services; own about $35 billion in residential housing and generate almost 10 percent of the state's rental income, the study said.

Enthusiasm for immigrants is shared by the Detroit Regional Chamber, which issued this statement in response to Trump's travel ban:

"Making Michigan a welcoming state for immigrants from across the world ranks high of our legislative priorities this year, as it was a past pillar of our Mackinac Policy Conference. We share in Governor Snyder's and Mayor Duggan's sentiments that immigration should not be feared, but embraced. The Detroit Regional Chamber will continue to pursue policies that create a welcoming environment, support efforts to expand opportunities for immigrants with needed skills to join our workforce and develop neighborhoods in urban areas transitioning from economic stress as a place for immigrants to live."

In a joint-statement to Ford employees and the media Monday, top executives Bill Ford and Mark Fields said "they do not support" Trump's travel ban.

"Respect for all people is a core value of Ford Motor Company, and we are proud of the rich diversity of our company here at home and around the world. That is why we do not support this policy or any other that goes against our values as a company," the statement said in part.

While Detroit-area officials seek immigrants to help re-populate Detroit and expand the number of entrepreneurs and highly skilled workers, a big focus in west Michigan is the need for farm laborers.

Michigan farmers rely on tens of thousands of migrant workers every summer to help harvest fruits and vegetables, and officials at the Michigan Farm Bureau say the state already has been struggling for years with a diminishing labor pool.

Because it's hard work, relatively low paying and seasonal, it's very difficult to recruit enough U.S. residents for hand-harvesting, said John Kran of the Michigan Farm Bureau. Moreover, record deportations of illegal immigrants by former President Obama hurt efforts to bring in enough workers from Mexico.

"We've been consistently asking for immigration reform that addresses the needs of agriculture -- a visa program for temporary guest workers," Kran said

While some see immigration as a drain on Michigan's economy, "the bulk of the research" says that's not true, especially in the case of well-educated immigrants, Bartik said.

"Some people think there's a fixed number of jobs where immigrants and natives are competing, so immigration must be bad," Bartik said.

But the reality is immigrants increase the population, which in turn creates more consumer demand, fueling economic growth, Bartik said.

In the case of immigrants in low-wage jobs, those jobs are typically ones scorned by American workers, Bartik said. And their willingness to work for lower wages means "they probably lower prices, which tends to increase the real wages of U.S. workers," Bartik said.

The case is even stronger for well-educated immigrants, who typically generate wealth that has "spillover" benefits for an entire community, he said.

"The idea that we don't need more highly skilled immigrants in the U.S. is ridiculous," Bartik said.

While Trump's travel ban is temporary and could be rescinded in a few months, it's hard to know what will happen, Bartik said.

"It creates tremendous uncertainty, and if you're someone who is getting a post-doc, for instance, maybe you'll think about going to Canada instead," Bartik said. "I think that could be very damaging to the United States."