Mass deportations could have $275 billion economic impact on CA, new report shows
KGO, BAY AREA COUNCIL ECONOMIC INSTITUTE, CNN
By J.R. Stone
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A new report highlights the economic impact that mass deportations could have on California, and it’s in the billions of dollars.
You’re likely aware of concerns in agriculture and food services, but construction and housing prices could also be impacted.
A new report by the Bay Area Council highlights the economic impact of large-scale deportations of undocumented workers in California, and how it could not only impact agriculture, but also the construction of apartments and condos.
“They make up 33% of the state’s farm workers and 26% of its construction laborers. These are sectors that already are experiencing labor shortages, absent of any immigration policy issue,” said Abby Raisz.
Raisz is the research director at the Bay Area Council. She says that mass deportations across the state could impact California’s GDP by up to $275 billion.
Raisz says the numbers show that undocumented workers in California generate more than $23 billion in tax revenue.
“The construction industry right now is faced with a huge labor shortage. We estimate about 500,000 that we’re currently short in the market. And now with mass immigration policies, we project that if this doesn’t slow down. We’re going to be 1.3 million workers short by 2030,” said George Carrillo of the Hispanic Construction Council.
And construction concerns trickle down to housing concerns, according to those we spoke with.
“And we’re not going to address our challenges in housing affordability and stabilize prices. If we don’t have enough supply of homes, and if we’re removing, we’re making it very difficult to do that,” says Jorge Gonzalez of the Urban Institute.
“Without a good construction workforce, if we deport a huge portion of that workforce, you know that would worsen the existing shortages in that industry, it would delay housing projects, and of course, ultimately continue to drive up costs which are already astronomically high in the state of California,” said Raisz.
We spoke with a construction worker involved in a downtown San Francisco project who told us mass deportations could cripple his company and others they contract with.
A reason that Carrillo is now working with lawmakers in Washington, DC on the issue.
“We agree with some of the immigration policies that he’s put forward, like we want safe communities. We don’t want criminals, you know, in our community. We support that. But we also need a policy in place that’s going to protect the workforce because we need to understand and identify and address that our immigrant population is what makes America great,” said Carrillo.
This report found that 11 percent of the state’s small businesses are owned by undocumented workers and they’ve had a major role here in California. Raisz says that two-thirds of the state’s 2.3 million undocumented individuals have been here for more than 10 years.
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