During the campaign trail, a lot was said about the mass deportation plan that then Republican candidate and now president-elect Donald Trump pushed as the backbone of his immigration policy. But one often overlooked aspect of deportations has to do with the massive effect it would have on the U.S. economy, as undocumented immigrants fill a large percentage of jobs in sectors like agriculture, services and construction.
Construction specifically figures to be severely hampered by deportations as undocumented immigrants make up around 1,5 million jobs, equivalent to around 13% of the total workforce, according to an NBC News report released in October. "They're building our houses — have been for 30 years," said the CEO of a Texas-based specialty subcontracting firm to the news outlet. "Losing the workers would devastate our companies, our industry and our economy."
