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The Cost of Deporting America’s Illegal Immigrants
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A one-time operation to deport 11 million illegal immigrants from the U.S. would cost approximately $315 billion.
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to begin mass deportations within 24 hours of taking office on January 20.
This graphic highlights the estimated costs of deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The data is sourced from the American Immigration Council as of October 2024.
Methodology
The American Immigration Council estimated the undocumented immigrant population using 2022 1-year American Community Survey microdata from the IPUMS database. To calculate removal costs, it considered the following factors: (1) share of population that would be removed; (2) average cost per removal; (3) additional staff costs necessary for mass removals; (4) a 2.5 percent annual inflation rate (applied to the total of 1-3).
The Cost of Mass Deportations
A one-time $315 billion mass deportation includes expenses for arrests, detention, legal processing, and deportation.
If carried out in phases—deporting one million immigrants annually over 11 years—the total cost would rise to approximately $1 trillion due to increased administrative and operational expenses.
| Operation | Total Cost | Arrests | Detention | Legal Processing | Deportation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-time Operation | $315 billion | $89 billion | $168 billion | $34 billion | $24 billion |
| 11-Years Operation | $1 trillion | $7 billion/yr | $66 billion/yr | $12.6 billion/yr | $2.1 billion/yr |
According to the American Immigration Council, mass deportations could have significant economic impacts, potentially reducing annual GDP by 4.2% to 6.8%. This translates to a loss of $1.1 trillion to $1.7 trillion per year.
President-elect Trump, however, has stated that he is prepared to declare a national emergency and utilize military resources to facilitate the process.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic that shows the countries most exposed to potential immigration policy changes under the Trump presidency.
