W-3-23 1

Is Deportation Really Worth The Cost?

Recently, the topic of deportation has been the subject of many outlets due to the

emphasis placed on the issue within the current presidential administration. President Trump

built his campaign on the foundation of “Making America Great Again” and some of his many

promises to accomplish this goal included deporting illegal immigrants and to building a “great

wall” along the Mexico/United States border. However, there is an argument to be had as to

whether or not this plan is viable for the long term economic health of the United States and if

the negative psychological and emotional consequences of an undocumented parents’

deportation on their children is justified by the minimal benefits of deportation for the United

States of America? Therefore, the goal of this analysis is to shed light on the pros and cons of

deportation, both for the deportees as well as the United States, with the purpose of informing the

reader so they may develop their own thoughts on the matter at hand.

There are many reasons a person would flee their own country, often the only home

they’ve ever know, only to go to a strange country where it is more than likely they are to be met

with innumerable obstacles, such as trying to find work as an undocumented person or having to

learn an entirely different language from their own. According to Global Citizen, three of the top

eleven reasons for one to leave their home country are to escape conflict/violence, to offer more

opportunities for their children, including better education, and to escape poverty through better

job opportunities. (Nuñez and Sanchez)

“​Leaving El Salvador had never been in Alberto’s plans. He and his wife had stable jobs

and supportive friends and relatives, and their five children were happy… Then Alberto and his
 W-3-23 2

family received a phone call threatening to kill them if they did not turn over the children for the

gang’s use. The family fled north, taking only what it could carry,” (Semple) Alberto’s sentiment

is one that is shared by many immigrants who have made the journey to the United States, they

never wanted to leave home yet were left with no other choice. Gang violence within Central

America has been a root cause of mass migration as entire families flee in search of safer home,

mainly in the United States, creating a pseudo-refugee migration. “Gangs in certain communities

in the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) have become so merciless, and

their control so widespread, that a family is often left with a stark choice: Comply, flee or die.”

(Semple)

In leaving their own homes, adult immigrants are conscious of they are making as it is

one that can benefit not only themselves in the short term but their families in the long term by

providing better opportunities for work and better educations for their children, “​one of the most

important markers of progress is the ability for a specific group to increase their educational and

economic attainment from generation to generation, also known as intergenerational mobility.

When looking at the children of Hispanic immigrants and their parents, the results are much

better [than other immigrant groups], especially when compared to the gains of other

second-generation immigrants. The reason: many Hispanic immigrants are starting out much

poorer and with much less education than those are groups, so there’s a longer way to go.”

(White) Understandably, when starting from the very bottom, the only place to go is up, which is

why many immigrants, particularly those from Latin America see the United States as the land of

opportunity.
 W-3-23 3

Immigrants from around the world migrate to the United States in search of the

‘American Dream’, a life where everyone has the resources to be able to afford life’s necessities,

“economic opportunity in the United States is a tremendous reason for emigration from other

countries. For example, if a Haitian resident arrives in the United States looking to do the same

job he performed in his nativ​e country, his wage will ​increase​ tenfold compared with what he

was making back home.” (Contributor) The enormous risk of leaving their home countries is

offset by the knowledge that a migrant’s finances can increase to a level that would have never

been possible had they remained at home. These economic opportunities not only benefit the

person, but the extended family that they left behind as well, “remittances — money sent back to

a home country — for this three percent equal about US$450 billion annually.” (Contributor -

PanAm)

However, before these ladies and gentlemen can enjoy their new country, they must first

make the hard journey from their homes to the United States of America, a journey that is a big

challenge, ​“according to ​Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs​, around 370 to 800 migrants are

dying every year in U.S. territory while trying to cross the border. ​The U.S. government

estimates​ the number to be closer to 300 – 400. The majority of these deaths result from

dehydration, hypothermia in the desert, or drowning in the Rio Grande canals.” (Peña) The

varying climate change of the desert is not the only part involved in a migrant’s journey to cross

the border, “as many as 20,000 migrants, mostly from Central America, are kidnapped – some

tortured, raped or even murder – by organized crime each year on their way through Mexico and

to the north,” (Peña), migrants also face the dangers posed by wildlife, such as hungry coyotes

and venomous snakes. And even if they survive all this, there is no guarantees that they will be
 W-3-23 4

able to call the United States their home or that they won’t be captured and sent back to their

homeland at any point throughout their journey and have to start all over again.

Undocumented parents are not the only factors within this conversation nor are they the

most vulnerable, that role is played by their children, whether they were born in the United States

or not. “​About one in 14 students, or 6.9 percent from kindergarten through twelfth grade, have

at least one undocumented immigrant parent,” (Flannery)​ and as such, live with the knowledge

that their parent(s) could be deported to their home countries at any time, even though the only

crime they have committed was to enter a country illegally, a majority of the time in search of a

better life. “With parents targeted, students are traumatized, unable to learn,” (Flannery) and this

stress adds up, leading to some children becoming physically ill as they are unable to cope. And

as their parents are targeted, they rely on their US-born children more in an attempt to try and

keep their family together as fear of deportation increases. “Fear is why Cristal’s mother stopped

leaving the house to shop. Instead, Cristal’s father drives the 15-year-old to the grocery store,

parks his pickup truck far from the entrance, and sends his daughter inside with the family’s

shopping list,” (Flannery) placing an enormous burden on a child whose only worries should be

school and being a child.

If a child is separated from their parent(s) due to deportation, that child’s stress levels not

only increase but more likely to develop other health conditions as a reaction to the trauma,

“Parents’ legal vulnerability, detention and deportation are strongly associated with depression,

anxiety, fears of separation, social isolation, self-stigma, aggression, withdrawal and negative

academic consequences among children.” (Zayas and Heffron) US-born children whose parents

have not been deported or are in the process of deportation face a far lower chance of exhibiting
 W-3-23 5

aggression and depression than children who have been separated from their parents. The subject

of deportation “shapes citizen-children’s understanding of their sense of belonging [ regarding

family, place, and their identity as American]” (Zayas and Heffron), ultimately creating a sense

of exclusion and unbelonging. With these traumas scarring their lives, these children are more

likely need mental health care at some point in their lives, creating citizens that could potentially

be destructive towards themselves and a society in which they do not feel they belong.

For children brought to the United States illegally by their parents, life is a little more

complex than their US-born counterparts. While they still share the worry of their own parents

possible being deported, the idea that they could be sent back to an unfamiliar country can also

place additional stress on their shoulders. In 2012, President Obama enacted the Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which “shielded some 800,000 immigrants from

deportation and freed them to take jobs, get an education and live the American dream they’d

always claimed as their own.” (Rhodan and Talkoff)

However, the futures of DACA children now hangs in limbo as the current

administration, despite campaign promises that DACA would not be affected, have repeatedly

tried to end the program, going so far as to suspend the acceptance of applications and shortening

the window in which applications could be turned in. The most recent news received by DACA

children was only slightly promising, as a third federal judge has decided the administration has

failed to provide enough information to prove that ending the program is a good thing. Judge

John Bates ordered the administration to renew DACA permits, by ordering the administration to

begin accepting new applicants unless it can issue a new memo justifying its decision that

satisfies him within 90 days, at which point the ruling will take effect. (Kopan)
 W-3-23 6

Armando Zumaya* (who asked his real name not be used), is an undocumented

immigrant and DACA recipient that I was able to talk about the current situation he finds himself

living in. He arrived to the United States when he was just four years old and has no recollection

of his parents’ home country of Mexico, he says that this is the only home he has ever known

and he doesn’t know what will happen if he’s forced to return to Mexico. “I haven’t done

anything wrong, I go to school, I go to work, I don’t get into any trouble, it’s not my fault my

parents brought me here, why should I be punished for something I had no control over,” (Ayala

and Zumaya) he stated as we spoke, clearly upset at the idea that his life here could be taken

away from him in the blink of an eye. He also acknowledged that he is stuck in an impossible

situation, as DACA applications require one’s address, place of work and school, so the

government knows exactly where to find him if that day ever comes.

Although many undocumented immigrants have US-born children and abide by the laws

of their adopted country, it does not change the view that they are here illegally and that some

are criminals. “There are 11.3 million illegal immigrants in the country, and the federal

government has the funding to remove just 4 million. Criminals must be the priority, and they

should receive no quarter,” (Washington Examiner), the idea that many undocumented

immigrants have criminal records and are dangerous is fuel for the pro-deportation sentiment.

“ICE deported more than 200,000 in 2012 and 2013 (Washington Examiner), allowing

deportation to be seen as a key to resolve criminal activity within the United States as removing

criminals from the country increase overall public safety. If the United States were to deport all

convicted criminals, it is also plausible that the prison system would have a great burden

removed from it as, “one in five inmates in federal prison are foreign-born, and more than 90
 W-3-23 7

percent of those are in the United States illegally, according to a report released by the Trump

administration.” (Yee) These statistics, as well as highly publicized trials such as that of Jose

Ines Garcia Zarate, 45, who had been deported to Mexico five times since first entering the

United States as a juvenile, was charged in the July 1, 2015, killing of Kate Steinle on a San

Francisco pier (Dobunzinskis), provide a firmer argument for pro-deportation parties.

While there can be an argument made in support of it, deportation does not come cheap,

there are many steps that must be met during the process of deportation and each one costs

money, “during fiscal 2016, ICE spent $3.2 billion to identify, arrest, detain and remove

undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security.” (Blanco)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for about half of the deportations that

occur on a yearly basis while Customs and Border Patrol is responsible for the other for a rough

total of about 450,000 deportations per year, “each deportation conducted by ICE cost taxpayers

an average of $10,854, which includes all steps of the process ” (Blanco) “The Pew Research

Center estimated there were 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. in 2014, making

up about 3.5 percent of the population,” (Contributor - Morning Call) from a money management

point of view, the high cost of deportation for a single person does not seem like a smart way to

spend money, let alone the cost to deport 11 million people.

Not only should the high cost of mass deportation be a concern for the United States,

almost $11,000 per deportee, the state of the economy should also be carefully considered. “Loss

of that segment of the labor force would cost the U.S. economy $5 trillion over a decade. Illegal

immigrants provide $500 billion in output a year,” (Contributor - Morning Call) meaning that the

entire economy would suffer a great deal when undocumented workers are no longer available to
 W-3-23 8

show up for their jobs, especially in labor intense fields with minimal pay such as kitchen work,

construction, hospitality and janitorial services. Contrary to popular belief, undocumented

immigrants pay their fair share of taxes, contributing $11.64 billion (Contributor - Morning Call)

to state and local taxes, a loss that would be felt greatly if they were to be sent back to their home

countries. Another factor to consider is that not all undocumented immigrants pay taxes but if

they were given legal status, the dollar amount of taxes paid could increase by $2 billion.

(Contributor - Morning Call)

Besides the cost and economic consequences of removing undocumented adults from the

United States, the cost of taking care of their US-born children must also be taken into account,

“annual state and federal expenditures for foster care total more than nine billion dollars… even

more monies are spent for publicly subsidized medical care for foster children, as well as for

Food Stamps, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and child care payments to the

families that care for them.” (Zill) Of course, not all children who are in the foster care system

are the children of undocumented immigrants, some undocumented parents are able to arrange

guardians for the children in the event of their deportation yet, “an estimated 5,000 U.S. citizen

children in foster care had a detained or deported parent in 2011” (Contributor - AIC)

There is an option for undocumented parents to return to their home countries with their

children, however this requires cooperation between the United States, the home country and the

family or agency with which the child has been placed. Taking the children to a foreign country

also depends on whether or not their parents can “prove that they can provide for their children

in a stable and safe environment in the country of deportation,” (Contributor - AIC) which can be

difficult given the circumstances that caused their parents to leave their homes in the first place.
 W-3-23 9

This leaves the parents with little choice in regards to their children, unless as stated above, they

have made previous arrangement for the care of their kids.

In a recent interview with Kaysie Lopez, I asked why she had accepted guardianship of

her friend’s young daughters, aged 2 and 6. Ms. Lopez stated that besides being the children’s

godmother, she had signed forms accepting guardianship of the children in case of their parents’

deportation for her friend’s peace of mind as well as her own. She continued to say that she did

not want to see the children “get lost in the system and never be able to see their parents again”

and that she was content in the idea of “if I have them, at least I know they’re being taken care

of, that they are loved and that I can take them to Mexico to see their parents.” (Ayala and

Lopez)

Most undocumented immigrants are hard workers who pay their taxes and boost the

economy of the United States, while their children, whether US-born or DACA recipients, prove

to be bettering themselves from their parents’ generation, both through educational and

economical means. While there is a certain peace of mind to be gained from the deportation, the

overall high cost of mass deportation ($11, 000 per deportee) does not make itself out to be a

good, long term plan, unless it is used to specifically target criminals as opposed to the honest

and hardworking undocumented immigrant. There are many risk factors to mass deportation

other than the high cost of the act alone, including the care of the children left behind and the

loss of young minds that can be educated due to the perks of DACA. Therefore, based on the

facts stated above, gained through articles and interviews, the analysis of whether or not

‘deportation and the trauma it causes are justified by the benefits for the United States’ proves
 W-3-23 10

that, in both the short and long term, the country stands to lose much more than it has the

potential to gain.
 W-3-23 11

Works Cited

Allport, Alan, and John E. Ferguson. ​Immigration Policy​. Chelsea House, 2009.

Ayala, James, and Armando Zumaya. “I Was a Kid, This Is My Home.” 14 May 2018.

Ayala, James, and Kaysie Lopez. “Guardianship of Undocumented Parents' Children.” 13 May

2018.

Bausum, Ann. ​Denied, Detained, Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American

Immigration​. Readhowyouwant.com Ltd, 2014.

Blanco, Octavio. “How Much It Costs ICE to Deport an Undocumented Immigrant.”

CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 13 Apr. 2017.

Contributor. “Don't Blame Immigrants for Seeking a Better Life.” PanAm Post, PanAm Post, 30

June 2014.

Contributor. “FAST FACTS: Deporting Illegal Immigrants Could Cost US Economy $5

Trillion.” The Morning Call, 23 Feb. 2017.

Contributor. “U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement.” American

Immigration Council (AIC), 11 Aug. 2017.

Dobunzinskis, Alex. “Illegal Immigrant Acquitted of Murder in San Francisco, Trump Slams

Verdict.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 30 Nov. 2017.

Flannery, Mary Ellen. “Fear and Longing: Life for Students with Undocumented Parents.” NEA

Today, National Education Association, 11 July 2017

Kopan, Tal. “DACA Ruling Further Complicates Legal Path Forward.” CNN, Cable News

Network, 25 Apr. 2018

 W-3-23 12

Nuñez, Christina, and Erica Sanchez. “Why People Migrate: 11 Surprising Reasons.” Global

Citizen, Global Poverty Project, 4 Dec. 2014.

Peña, Alex. “Migrants Face Higher Risks Illegally Crossing the Border.” NBC Latino, NBC, 20

Sept. 2012.

Rhodan, Maya, and Emma Talkoff. “DACA: Talking to Recipients Five Years Later.” Time,

Time, June 2017.

Semple, Kirk. “Fleeing Gangs, Central American Families Surge Toward U.S.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 12 Nov. 2016.

Washington Examiner. “Deportation Is a Good Thing.” Washington Examiner, 2 Sept. 2016

White, Gillian B. “Are Hispanics Finding a Better Life in the U.S.?” The Atlantic, 16 Nov. 2015.

Yee, Vivian. “Thousands of Federal Inmates Are in the U.S. Illegally, Administration Says.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017

Zayas, Luis H., and Laurie Cook Heffron. “Disrupting Young Lives: How Detention and

Deportation Affect US-Born Children of Immigrants.” Monitor on Psychology,

American Psychological Association, Nov. 2016