A few months ago, María did not mind going out into the streets and protesting to defend the rights of many who, like her, do not have papers to live and work legally in the United States. Now she admits that she has “gone back into the shadows,” frightened by the consequences of the harsh immigration policies that President-elect Donald Trump has promised to implement.
“We are very scared because we don’t know the extent this may have. We live in the shadows again,” explains the woman, who lives in Florida and who preferred not to reveal her real name for fear of reprisals.
Like María, hundreds of undocumented farmers face an uncertain future after the arrival to power in January of Trump, who made immigration the center of his presidential campaign and has insisted that from the first day of his administration he would order a campaign of mass deportation, which will begin by expelling those who have committed crimes and then expand to the rest of the irregular immigrants in the country.
María works in the Homestead countryside, located in South Florida, where there is a large undocumented migrant population that works mainly in agriculture, one of the most important sectors in the entire state.
At the state level, approximately 44.36% of Florida’s land area is dedicated to agricultural activities, according to state government data. The Homestead area hosts a large amount of land for this type of industry.
According to the US Migration Policy Institute, an estimated 455,000 undocumented migrants work in Florida. Of them, 24% work in construction, 17% in administrative or household tasks, 15% in food services, 9% in stores, and 8% in other services.
The undocumented immigrant, consulted by the Voice of America, assures that many people who find themselves in the same situation face the uncertainty of staying or leaving.
“(Many) have already told me that they plan to leave Florida to settle in sanctuary cities or even to other countries because of what may happen,” he explains, pointing out that “this is the first time that I am feeling afraid of this.” situation” and that “we don’t deserve this because we are doing the work that others, with papers, don’t want to do.
“Not all of us are criminals, not all of us come to ask him for anything,” said another woman, also under anonymity, in response to the intentions raised by the next US government.
Mass deportations
President-elect Donald Trump has outlined a series of immigration policies that he plans to implement in his second term, among which he is considering “carrying out the largest internal deportation operation in American history,” as he stated during the election campaign.
This would mean a significant increase in raids and arrests, even in places previously considered sensitive, such as schools, hospitals and churches. The elimination of restrictions that prevented arrests in these places generates fear in immigrant communities.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made during the campaign. He will deliver,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said in a public statement.
Although Trump has promised to carry out an unprecedented deportation operation, the president himself has admitted that carrying out this plan will be difficult.
“It’s a very difficult thing to do. You know, there are rules, regulations, laws,” the president-elect said during an interview with NBCNewsalthough convinced that “it must be done.”
This position has also provoked suspicion from several organizations that defend the rights of migrants.
“This is not only going to attack immigrants, this is going to attack the country. There are many people working in the fields and services. We already saw that here in Florida with the anti-immigrant law SB 1718which attacked the economy of this state and caused many people to leave,” said María Bilbao, spokesperson for the American Friends Service Committee organization, which advocates for the rights of undocumented migrants.
Bilbao considers that “this is unprecedented cruelty” because “Trump has said that he will not separate families, but rather that he intends to deport them all together,” although he has not detailed what his specific plan for this is. “It’s like rejoicing in being more and more cruel,” he said.
Along these lines, the activist warned that they intend to start mobilizations to stop these policies. Other organizations have assured that they will present challenges to these measures in court.
Faced with the implementation of Trump’s promises, localities known as “sanctuary cities” for immigrants They have begun to prepare. Cities like Los Angeles, which recently officially adopted that titleinsist that they will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities in operations and raids.
Economic impact
The deportation of millions of immigrants would have significant economic consequences, experts reiterate. They contribute substantially to the U.S. economy through their participation in the workforce and payment of taxes.
His expulsion could “result in a decrease in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a reduction in tax revenue, affecting the financing of health programs and other public services,” said Tulio Rodríguez, a graduate in Economic Sciences at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. from Venezuela and founder of the consulting firm Kores in the US.
The number of unauthorized immigrants in the US workforce has seen a significant increase in recent years. A report from the Pew Research Center concluded that in 2022 that segment of the population increased from 7.4 million people in 2019 to 8.3 million, reaching historic levels not seen since 2008 and 2011.
This figure represents approximately 4.8% of the total workforce in the country, highlighting the “substantial” role that undocumented immigrants play in the US labor market. The report’s data reflects a growing trend and persistence of these levels of participation amid economic and political changes in the United States.
Furthermore, their role in key sectors such as construction, agriculture and services remains crucial for many industries, highlighting the country’s dependence on these workers.
In that sense, specialists in the area maintain that if this workforce is eliminated or considerably decreased, salaries could increase in many activities. “If this change is 180 degrees and we begin to remove people en masse, that also has an impact since we must remember that this country is purely a country of immigrants,” said Rodríguez.
A likely impact of these measures will be a rise in prices for American consumers, as many companies often pass these costs on to buyers.
Other immigration measures
Trump has expressed his intention to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), which protects more than half a million young immigrants known as “Dreamers” from deportation.
During his first term, he attempted to rescind this program, but it was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2020. Removing DACA would not only expose these young people to deportation, but would also deprive them of work permits, affecting their access to health services. health and economic stability.
However, in the same interview with NBCNewsthe president-elect assured that he would be willing to reach an agreement to protect the “dreamers” and added that Republicans are open to the idea.
It is also anticipated that the new administration will seek to reduce legal immigration avenues, including family reunification programs, humanitarian protections such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and humanitarian parole program for citizens of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti, implemented by outgoing president Joe Biden to reduce arrivals at the border by these groups.
The removal or restriction of these programs could result in the separation of families and the deportation of individuals to countries where they face dangerous conditions, exacerbating mental and physical health problems among immigrant communities.
However, María admits that “we must not lose hope” and trusts that there are legal mechanisms to be able to dispute her situation through legal means.
“We do not consider it lost, they tell us that we have to wait to see what laws Trump proposes and, then, see what legal solutions there are,” concluded the immigrant, as recommended by several legal advisors.
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