The new Republican plan focuses on securing the border, conducting the "largest immigrant deportation operation in American history" and "rapidly lowering all prices" for consumers and businesses hit by recent inflation.
But economists say these policies may not achieve the desired effect.
Inflation and immigration are priorities for the Republican Party, according to the platform adopted by the Republican National Committee on Monday. The document states that the party intends to reverse what it calls "Democratic open border policies," noting that "these policies have driven up housing, education, and health care costs for American families."
According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute's immigration information source, the recent increase in migrants arriving at the U.S. border is the result of several factors, including political and economic challenges in their countries of origin, the coronavirus pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and "the perception that U.S. policy is becoming more welcoming to immigrants."
Economists have found that the surge in immigration has caused little inflation and has actually had a positive impact on the economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that in the short term, immigration may help cool inflation because it increases the labor supply. Dallas Fed economists found that while immigration has pushed up inflation slightly, the resulting increase in U.S. GDP is greater than the increase in inflation.
While the new platform is the Republican Party's, not Trump's, the GOP promises to update many policies if Trump wins the November election and echoes several of his stated goals, including immigration, which economists predict could fuel inflation.
The cost of deporting millions of immigrants could exceed $1 trillion over 10 years. That doesn’t include the labor costs of the program or the consequences of drastically reducing the U.S. labor supply in a short period of time.
That massive spending, combined with the cost of Trump's proposed tax cuts and other policies, will increase the budget deficit, which economists say could be a driver of higher prices.
Inflation is a key issue for voters in the upcoming presidential election as many Americans are still feeling the effects of rising prices.
Republicans are not the only ones calling for restrictions on immigration.
Biden has been calling on Congress to secure the U.S. border since he took office as president in 2021, and now he is taking the matter personally, according to the White House. Some of his administration's recent actions include banning potential immigrants from applying for asylum, directing additional federal prosecutors to U.S. attorneys' offices in border areas, and increasing the number of border agents and repatriation flights from the United States.
The article is forwarded from: Jinshi Data
