Trump’s Immigration Policy Would Make Food Inflation Even Worse
If the US were to deport the 1.7 million undocumented workers who help power its food system, trips to the supermarket will only get more expensive.
In these divided times, there’s one thing Americans of all political stripes can agree on: Food prices are too high.
Even though food inflation has cooled substantially, a recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found that 80% of likely voters in swing states liked Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ plan to ban price gouging, including 78% of independents and 70% of Republicans. (Never mind that her plan isn’t going to change today’s supermarket prices; it’s narrowly targeting prices during emergencies like a hurricane or a pandemic.) Republican nominee Donald Trump has talked about food prices in terms of tariffs—putting them on imports to bring costs down, a dubious strategy since tariffs usually make products more expensive, not less.