Patricia Lopez, Columnist

Mass Deportations Are Creating a Workforce Crisis

Subtracting 1.2 million workers from the economy isn’t going to help growth.

September 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC

Patricia Lopez is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. She is a former member of the editorial board at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she also worked as a senior political editor and reporter.

Growing more than crops.
Photographer: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images

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The American workforce is now short 1.2 million workers — the result of the harshest, most aggressive campaign ever waged to drive immigrants from this country.

President Donald Trump promised that ridding the country of illegal or unworthy immigrants would usher in a golden age. Deporting millions of immigrants would lead to plentiful jobs, higher wages, less crime and more housing.