What is happening? The Department of Homeland Security is planning to hire thousands of additional immigration enforcement agents to detain and deport immigrants coming into or living in the U.S. illegally. It was also outlined in two draft memos issued by DHS Secretary John Kelly that the agency would expand the pool of immigrants prioritized for removal, speed up deportation proceedings and enlist law enforcement to make arrests.

How many immigrants are in the U.S. illegally? The Pew Research Center estimated there were 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. in 2014, making up about 3.5 percent of the population. This includes those who entered without permission and those who overstayed a visa. Undocumented workers make up about 5 percent of the U.S. labor market. 8 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are of working age, according to Pew.

What is the value of undocumented immigrant labor? According to a study issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research, loss of that segment of the labor force would cost the U.S. economy $5 trillion over a decade. Illegal immigrants provide $500 billion in output a year, according to study co-author Francesc Ortega.

Do they pay taxes? According to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid $11.64 billion a year in state and local taxes either through house payments or rent (property taxes), income tax through employer deductions from their paychecks or through the purchase of goods or services (sales taxes). If those same immigrants were given legal status, the amount of state and local taxes collected could increase by $2.1 billion a year, according to the study.

How will removal of the immigrant labor force affect the economy? The U.S. Gross Domestic Product could decrease by 2.6 percent or $434 billion a year if all undocumented workers were removed from the economy, according to a report by City University of New York researchers. Some states and industries would be more affected than others. Illinois, California, Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey would feel the greatest impact under such a scenario.

Which industries will be most affected by the loss of the immigrant labor work force? While construction, hospitality and agriculture are the largest employers of undocumented workers, manufacturing, food/restaurant, leisure, wholesale and retail also would feel the impact of the loss of that labor force.

Would this mean more jobs for U.S. citizens? Economist Ryan Edwards, who worked on the CUNY study, said employers could raise wages to attract U.S. workers to replace the immigrants they now employ, but a more likely scenario is they would simply adjust to having a smaller number of workers, shrink their businesses or automate their production.

How else could this affect U.S. consumers? The cost of produce could skyrocket due to a lack of farm workers, and the restaurant and manufacturing industries could see severe labor shortages, driving up costs or possibly forcing businesses to close. The Social Security Trust Fund could also be impacted. According to an actuarial report by the Social Security Administration, undocumented workers using fake Social Security numbers paid $13 billion into the trust fund in 2010, and only received $1 billion in retirement benefits.

Information from the Associated Press.