There are issues that, although they are not correlated, are used by politicians to advance their agendas. One example is the idea that undocumented immigrants take jobs away from Americans. But after a year and a half of immigration restrictions and mass arrests, has there been an increase in job openings?
Immigrant Arrests on the Rise
The federal government is breaking all records for arrests and deportations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out 49,571 immigration arrests during July, the highest monthly figure of Donald Trump’s second term. This represents an increase of 70% compared with February.
Before Trump’s return to the White House, ICE was making just over 8,000 arrests per month, according to official data.
More than half of the immigrants arrested in July had no convictions and were not facing criminal charges, according to an AP analysis. Less than one-quarter had any criminal conviction.
Additionally, nearly half of the arrests took place outside jails or detention centers. This means that ICE agents detained many people directly in their communities.
The operations include arrests during traffic stops, as well as actions carried out with state and local police. Local agencies cooperating with ICE participated in 6,500 arrests during July. This represents 13% of all immigration arrests during the month. A year earlier, these agencies participated in less than 5%.
Immigration arrests in Charlotte have doubled so far in 2026. Between January 1 and August 6, ICE arrested 1,580 people, compared with 752 during the same period in 2025 and 253 in 2024, according to data from the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA.
Nearly Three Million Deported?
Between January 2025 and mid-2026, the Trump administration recorded more than 900,000 deportations and transfers of undocumented immigrants. Added to that figure are approximately 2.2 million self-deportations reported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during the same period. Although organizations such as the Center for Migration Studies say these figures are inflated.
These deportations are expected to continue, as ICE received billions of dollars in its budget, increased hiring, and began detaining immigrants who lost protections such as TPS.
Did More Deportations Mean More Jobs?
With all these figures in mind, can those who believe undocumented immigrants take jobs away from Americans explain why there are fewer jobs today?
Before Trump, in the first half of 2024, the economy maintained strong job growth, creating more than 1.2 million net nonfarm payroll jobs (with an average of 220,000 per month).
Now, during the first half of 2026, total net job creation slowed to 450,000 (with an average of 75,000 per month), in part due to the economic fluctuations caused by an unpredictable federal policy.
Academics and economists warn that mass deportations do not increase net employment for Americans; instead, job opportunities decline and economic activity decreases.
For example, a 2023 analysis of the Secure Communities deportation program concluded that counties with higher numbers of deportations did not see increases in the employment rate of native-born workers, but rather a decline in labor force participation and wages among Americans with lower levels of education.
Additionally, undocumented immigrants not only represent a supply of labor, but also an active part of domestic consumer demand.
Let us not allow prejudice against immigrants to continue demonizing this group and harming our economy through inhumane policies.
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