How curbing immigration is hurting the U.S. economy

Latest in a series of studies and data:

…A study from the Brookings Institution found that, during the first half of 2025, arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cost 668,000 jobs.

Each arrest, the paper estimated, eliminates an average of 13 jobs as the effects ripple through the local labour market. If a company framing new houses is struggling to complete a project because it can’t find enough labour, for instance, this slows down or stalls the roofing crew and other construction workers.

And if immigrants stop going out as much for fear of being swept up in an ICE raid, this can hit a broad range of economic sectors, such as arts and entertainment.

“What happens when you pull migrants out of the labour force? Many of the jobs that are built around them also disappear,” said Marcela Escobari, a former U.S. Agency for International Development official who co-authored the study for Brookings, a Washington-based think tank….

Source: How curbing immigration is hurting the U.S. economy