U.S. Latinos, 20 percent of the American population, are driving national economic growth. The Latino Donor Collaborative’s new report details the whys and wherefores as immigrant arrests, detentions and deportations increase. 

First, here are some highlights of the LDC report. (The LDC is a nonpartisan research organization and does not lobby or endorse specific legislation, as policymakers use its data at the local, state, and federal levels to inform economic development, workforce and immigration strategies.)

“Now valued at $4 trillion with an annual average real growth rate of 4.4 percent, U.S. Latino GDP is the second-fastest growing among the world’s ten largest economies, trailing only China and on par with India, and outpacing countries like France, Canada, and the rest of the United States.” Current U.S. GDP is $27.6 trillion, according to estimates from World Economics.

The growth of gross domestic product, or GDP, is the sine qua non of a capitalist economy.

On that note, U.S. GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025, after a 2.4 percent rise in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

According to the LDC report, “U.S. Latino GDP is projected to rank as the world’s fourth largest by 2029, surpassing Japan and Germany by the end of the decade.” That is less than five years away. These economic numbers suggest a rise in the political power of the U.S. Latino population. Economics and politics are a unity, though not always easy to see.

Speaking of working people, the LDC report spotlights the outsize contributions to growth from Latinos residing stateside. “Despite comprising 19.5 percent of the U.S. population, the U.S. Latino cohort was responsible for 28.3 percent of total additions to national GDP between 2017 and 2022. The 10 largest state Latino economies, including California, Texas, Florida, and New York, are all growing faster than their non-Latino counterparts.”

What else does the data above mean in the current moment under President Trump and the GOP-controlled House and Senate? We turn to the recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill legislation.

One of its features is tax cuts for the wealthy and increased federal spending for immigration arrests, detention and deportation. On one hand, an influx of more taxpayer dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement will create new employment opportunities. For example, these new workers will spend their wages to buy goods and services and spur growth in the consumer economy.

On the other hand, ICE workers do not care for, feed and shelter the working population. It requires care, food and shelter to live. Thus, industries such as agriculture, domestic care and construction are vital to the lives of other workers.

Recall that the term essential workers arose during the pandemic. Essential workers are central, not peripheral, to the nation’s economic output and the well-being of the entire working class, including those born in the U.S. Further, their well-being extends past care, food and shelter.

For more details, we turn to Ben Zipperer, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, based in Washington, DC. According to his research, ICE arrests, detentions and deportations of noncitizen workers would also harm U.S.-born workers, an impact that has yet to appear on the public radar screen.

“Immigrant workers make up a substantial part of the workforce in the United States: 1 in 5 workers is an immigrant, and about half of immigrants are noncitizens,” according to Zipperer. “Because of their sizable presence in the workforce, large-scale attempts to remove them will lead to extensive employment losses for foreign-born workers. What is less apparent, however, is the impact that arrests, detentions, and deportations of immigrants will have on millions of U.S.-born workers who will lose their jobs. The widespread job losses for both immigrants and U.S.-born workers will undercut the narrative that abruptly removing immigrants will somehow magically increase employment opportunities for U.S.-born workers.”

Employment opportunities increase when the economy grows. When growth decreases, employment opportunities shrink. All things being equal, workers of all birthplaces want job gains. Magic is not part of this equation.