Mass deportations could cost Bay Area $67 billion a year; report shows loss of undocumented workers

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Mass deportations could cost the Bay Area region $67 billion a year, according to a new report by the Bay Area Council.

The new report shows just how much of a difference immigrants and undocumented workers make to our local economy.

Supporters also say the report shows immigration enforcement is not a just a federal issue, but also a local economic concern.

More than 477,000 undocumented workers call the Bay Area home.

The new report shows that undocumented workers in the Bay Area earn more than $21 billion a year. And, they pay more than $8 billion in taxes a year.

“This was a follow up to a statewide study we released last June,” said Abby Raisz, Vice President of Research for the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.

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A new report by Bay Area Council Economic Institute shows that there are 2.5 million immigrant workers in in the Bay Area.

In the Mission District, many of the businesses are owned by immigrants.

“The City of San Francisco, the Bay Area, and California as a whole runs on immigrant labor–from the flowers, the food, which is touched by immigrant labor,” said Susana Rojas, Calle 24 Latino Cultural District Executive Director.

The report also shows undocumented workers– are a huge part of the Bay Area workforce.

They work at hotels, restaurants, and in construction.

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A chart from the report shows that 82% of the maids and housekeepers in the Bay Area are immigrants. 39% of them are undocumented.

The chart also shows that many janitors, cooks, landscapers in the Bay Area are immigrants and it shows what percentage of them are undocumented.

The new report shows exactly how much undocumented workers mean to our economy, and what would happen if they all disappeared because of mass deportations.

“What we found is that would be about $67 billion in GDP lost if we lost our undocumented worker population. That’s the size of a small country–just the undocumented labor that contributes to our region,” said Raisz.

The Trump Administration and others have argued that undocumented workers have hurt the U.S. economy.

“Part of the narrative has been undocumented workers take away from the city and from the country–that we don’t contribute, that we are a burden and that we are making things worse for everybody because we are taking away. I think these numbers contradict that narrative and will help those who are willing to listen and understand and understand that is not the reality,” said Rojas.

But some local leaders say mass deportations would be devastating for the Bay Area.

“We would see a collapse of our economy,” said Rojas.

“When you remove half a million people from the economy, you are talking about a serious disruption to the economy,’ said Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation CEO.

Many say just the threat of mass deportations is already impacting the Bay Area economy.

“When there are activations, when arrests happen–like what happened on Monday, we definitely see a change. Not as many people will come (out). People don’t show up to work,” said Rojas.

“The way immigration enforcement is being rolled out, it’s causing a lot of fear. So, even when folks aren’t actually deported, the fear is created in the community. It makes people stay at home. It keeps them from being consumers, it keeps them from taking the kids to school. It keeps them from going to doctor and getting health checkups; all that has an impact on the economy as well,” said Blackwell.