Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

How Trump's plan to deport more immigrants could affect the economy

Nov 6, 2024
Mass deportations could impact everything from growth to wages to inflation.
Trump's deportation plan could have major ramifications for the U.S. economy.
Getty Images

Is immigration good or bad for the economy? The answer is complex.

Sep 5, 2024
Immigrants become consumers, workers and contributors to the U.S. economy. But in some places, an influx can stress budgets and infrastructure.
Many of the workers who rebuilt parts of Florida after Hurricane Ian in 2022 were unauthorized immigrants. Immigrants have a large presence in the U.S. construction industry.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

An immigrant family in Waterloo, Iowa, reflects on multigenerational living

Apr 5, 2024
For many immigrants, the support of extended family can be critical when it comes to navigating a new home.
According to economist Giovanni Peri, immigrants "squeeze in a house with the idea that they can support themselves, and their kids are going to be better off than they were."
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Immigrant workforce reaches near record level

Jul 6, 2023
Foreign-born workers are continuing to play a crucial role in a tight job market.
Tisheeka Wallace is assistant manager of Pacci's Trattoria, where immigrants make up one-fifth of the workforce.
Nancy Marshall Genzer/Marketplace

Immigrant women are increasingly running their own businesses

Jun 6, 2023
Roughly 11% of immigrant women are entrepreneurs, according to the American Immigration Council.
Ummehaani Karimjee began her flower design business Beginnings by UK after building up clientele through her religious community.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

Immigrants help fill gaps in trucking workforce

Mar 6, 2023
Trucking is an increasingly immigrant-driven industry as U.S.-born drivers retire and demand to move freight remains high.
Like many trades, trucking doesn’t attract U.S.-born workers like it used to. The hours are long, and the median pay is around $48,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  
The Palmer/Getty Images

Has the drop in immigration contributed to inflation?

Jan 20, 2023
Immigrants have accounted for a major share of labor force growth for years, increasing production, which keeps inflation lower, experts say.
Immigration to the U.S. dropped dramatically during the pandemic. Above, new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony in Massachusetts on Jan. 5.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

How day laborers are feeling the effects of inflation

Many day laborers are having difficulties paying bills because of rising prices and fewer work opportunities.
Day laborers wait for offers of work outside the Don Bosco workers center in Port Chester, New York.
Mitchell Hartman/Marketplace

This fourth-generation farmer cultivates new ideas

Aug 23, 2022
Amber Balakian went "to college thinking, 'I'm going to do something else and get away from everything.' I actually ended up coming back."
Amber Balakian, a co-owner of Balakian Farms in Fresno, California. "It's not always easy to make those changes ... but I think it's worth it in the end,” she says.
Ariana Velazquez

Ukrainians will soon be eligible for temporary protected status. What does that mean?

Apr 6, 2022
It lets people get work permits and protects them from deportation. The status does not offer a path to citizenship.
While Ukrainians will soon be eligible for temporary protected status, it is not a path to citizenship and doesn't include eligibility for programs like federal housing assistance or food stamps.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images