December 5th, 2024
The following letter was written by me and published by the Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 1st, 2024.
Dear Editor: Donald Trump plans to start mass deportations of illegal immigrants as soon as humanly possible.
I considered writing about the humanitarian issues associated with this project, but then nobody would read this letter. Instead, I will concentrate on the economic problems that come with expelling an estimated 11 million people from the United States. People seldom care about morality, but they always care about their money.
I worked as a volunteer at Voces de la Frontera in Milwaukee for several years helping immigrants, some here legally, some not. The people I met were consistently hardworking. There are those who say that immigrants take away jobs from U.S. citizens. This assertion is manifestly false.
Immigrants take the jobs that Americans don’t want. Deporting undocumented immigrants from the U.S. will disrupt the operations of industries that depend on them (e.g., hospitality, agriculture, construction). Employers, if they can even find native-born Americans to do the jobs, will have to pay them higher wages to do the same work.
When the mass deportations begin, expect supply chain problems and higher prices in the stores. These expulsions are guaranteed to increase inflation. If you don’t care about human suffering, then think about your pocketbook.
Frank is Emptiness 