By: Samuel Barros

Quick facts on Trump’s mass deportation plan:

• Deporting 11 million immigrants would cost around $400 billion dollars.
• Trump’s mass deportation plan would separate 4.5 million children born in the U.S.
• Trump’s mass deportation plan would take 20 years to complete.

In the current presidential election, candidates have shown many different positions on the issue of immigration in the U.S. It seems like none of them has presented an immigration reform that would benefit both immigrants and Americans. In fact, what the republican nominee Donald Trump said he would do to undocumented immigration might be harmful to both immigrants and Americans.

Trump has a plan of deporting 11 million illegal immigrants. He has also made many negative statements on immigrants. According to the Newsday, on June 16, 2015, as Trump announced his run for the Republican nomination for President at the Trump Tower Atrium in Manhattan, he said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Immigration to the Unites States is often the subject of significant public and political debate.

How many immigrants reside in the United States?

According to the Migration Policy Institute, the Unites States has more than 42.4 million immigrants, which represent 13.3 percent of the total population. Of the 42.4 million immigrants, 11 million are undocumented. Immigrants account for 17 percent of the total labor force in the country. In states like California, immigrants represent 58 percent of the agriculture work force. According to the Gallup’s 2015 Minority Rights and Relations Poll, 65.5 percent of Americans favor path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Deporting 11 million people means losing 25 percent of all immigrants in the United States. It means losing people that are working and helping the economy grow. The point is that mass deportation would basically destroy the American economy.

What do people think about Trump’s mass deportation plan?

Garon Dayley is currently a real state investor who lives in Salt Lake City. Dayley has also worked many years in the construction industry in Utah and for many years he worked with undocumented immigrants here in the state. Even though he believes that most immigrants are hard working people that come to America looking for a better life, he believes that an immigration reform is needed, and Trump is the only candidate that will do something about it. He believes we need to control who comes into the country. “Some cultures bring bad habits to America and I don’t like that,” said Dayley. When asked about the mass deportation plan presented by Trump, Dayley said, “I don’t think he is going to do it the way he says, he is just going to make the rules of immigration more strict and he might deport some people, but not 11 million.’’ Dayley also mentioned that this mass deportation plan would probably tear many families apart, and that’s the negative side of Trump’s immigration plan.

Kyle Rehn is a senior at the University of Utah majoring in Economics. Renh thinks that mass deportation is a terrible idea. “Far too many immigrants play a critical role in our country, whether it is in their work, or helping support other jobs,” said Rehn. He also mentioned how immigrants bring a culture dynamic that enriches our country. “Whether it is new languages, food, or other cultural dynamics, we would be seriously missing on some great new things to learn from and grow,” said Rehn. It is unknown whether or not Trump will win the white house and deport 11 million immigrants, but some people believe that that all the negative statements that Trump has made about immigrants as well as his mass deportation plan have already created a strong anti-immigration feeling in the Unites States.

Mutsumi Yamasaki is an international student at the University of Utah, she is from Japan and she is majoring in communication. Yamasaki believes that even though the majority of people in the U.S are very nice and friendly to immigrants, she feels that there is an increasing hostile feeling towards immigrants in the U.S. “It is very sad that some people believe that all immigrants are a threat to the country,” said Yamasaki. Yamasaki agrees that some immigrants commit crime, but the majority of them, even them ones that come here illegally come motivated to work and benefit the American society.

Further information on Trump’s mass deportation plan:

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/us/politics/donald-trump-immigration.html?_r=0

http://www.newsweek.com/trumps-mass-deportation-plan-means-making-us-police-state-397250

http://www.newsweek.com/how-much-would-it-cost-deport-all-undocumented-immigrants-364316