The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation:
What’s at Risk in Rhode Island
The authors would like to thank Emily Eisner, Andrew Perry, and Nathan Gusdorf of the Fiscal Policy Institute, who with David Dyssegaard Kallick co-authored a similar report in New York State that was jointly published by the Fiscal Policy Institute and Immigration Research Initiative.
Rhode Island prides itself as a welcoming state—one that values and respects immigrants and recognizes their immense contributions to our economy, communities, and culture. There are 175,000 immigrants (16 percent of the local population) who call Rhode Island home.
The Trump Administration is undertaking an unprecedented intensity of enforcement actions to remove immigrants from their communities, from their workplaces, and often from their families. The administration is promising to radically reduce the number of new immigrants allowed into the country and has stripped some documented immigrants of their legal status or work authorization.
The most vulnerable immigrants are those who are undocumented. But the impact does not end there. People with temporary visas may have their visas terminated or not renewed. People with temporary protected status, asylum seekers, DACA recipients, and many others are also in a precarious position.
There are far-reaching social and humanitarian implications of this type of enforcement regime. But there is also an economic risk that can be quantified. This report details the economic risks to Rhode Island of increased immigration enforcement and mass deportations, including:
- Potential risks to occupations with a large percentage of immigrant workers, such as construction laborers, doctors, maids, and nurses;
- Job losses for U.S.-born workers in roles that depend on immigrant workers; and
- A loss in state and local tax revenue paid by immigrants who are undocumented, which could be as much as $95 million, at a time when Rhode Island is experiencing a tight budget.