Getty Trump deportation plan would wreak economic havoc, study says

If Donald Trump follows through with his plan to deport the millions of people in the United States illegally, it could cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars in the private sector alone, according to a study released Thursday by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank.

Of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, approximately 6.8 million are employed, according to government data as of 2012. Rounding them up and deporting them, even temporarily, would result in a decrease of $381.5 billion to $623.2 billion of economic output in the private sector alone, the non-profit said in its analysis. The group notes that would represent anywhere from a 2.9 percent to 4.7 percent reduction in total annual output from the private sector.


Industries that would be particularly hard-hit include agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, of which undocumented workers comprise 16.1 percent and construction, of which they made up 12.1 percent of the workforce as of 2012. The hospitality industry would also be disproportionately affected, with 9 percent of undocumented workers making up that population.

If Trump is successful, the group estimates that America's private-sector workforce would fall by anywhere from 4 to 6.8 million.

Trump, who launched his campaign nearly 11 months ago with a call to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make the Mexican government pay for it, has not backed away from his position, maintaining that undocumented workers keep salaries stagnant and take away jobs from American citizens.