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The recent crackdown on immigration has affected our entire country, but probably the areas most affected are those along the border such as the Rio Grande Valley, where immigrants comprise a larger percentage of the population. Local officials, advocates and observers note that the effects are widespread, and affect virtually everyone in our communities directly.
Recent data detail how the removal of thousands of Valley immigrants — many of them longtime residents and even business owners — affects us all. They also show the need that new policies are needed, or existing policies should be changed, to deal with them.
Information from the Deportation Data Project and the Caminos Institute indicate that since 2022, immigration officers have detained more than 13,000 Valley residents, and more than 86% of them have been deported. They include both illegal and legal residents.
Nearly 70% of those removals have been men and the median age is 36. In simple terms, most of the people our community has lost have been part of our workforce.
The effects have been obvious in several elements of our economy, particularly in housing, construction and agriculture.
This means fewer homes and other buildings are being constructed and renovated, driving up local home prices and making it more difficult for home and business owners to make repairs and upgrades that can improve living conditions, lower utility costs or recover from storm damage.
Valley farmers report they can’t hire enough workers for their fields, and some produce hasn’t been harvested because of the worker shortage. Local shrimpers for years have reported difficulty finding enough capable workers work their trawlers; some have even stayed in port because they can’t operate. Reduced harvests mean less produce in the stores, which drives food prices up.
Community officials report that the effects go beyond those who are deported. Many residents, both legal and illegal, fearing deportation, are staying home out of fear of being detained. Church and school attendance has fallen significantly. Because state public school funding is based on attendance, this means lower allocations to Valley schools. The lost revenue has caused several districts across the region to close schools, cancel projects or delay improvements.
Lost workers also means lost tax revenue, forcing county, city and other taxing districts to either impose austerity measures or consider raising tax rates to fund infrastructure projects and social services.
To be sure, illegal immigration is a major concern and it must be addressed. However, it’s likely that many undocumented residents would use our legal process if they had any confidence that it be worth the effort and cost.
Another way to reduce the strain of immigration into our country is to help create jobs and investment opportunities that encourage residents to stay home rather than seek to build their futures in the U.S. or other countries.
Our law and policy makers need to work harder to identify, and rectify, areas where their decisions are doing more harm than good to their constituents, and to our nation as a whole.
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