Mass deportations could cost California's economy $275 billion, report says
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute has released some striking data about the potential impact of mass deportations on the state economy.
Researchers said deportations could cost California $275 billion, and those hit the hardest would be in the construction, agriculture and occupational service industries.
"These last few days, it has been a little bit slower than normal. People are definitely being more cautious about when they come out and obviously that affects all of our communities," Susana Rojas, the executive director of Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, told CBS News Bay Area.
Rojas works in the Mission District and says the normally-bustling 24th Street corridor is a very different scene now.
"We've had a lot of people with bad intentions calling our businesses and saying that ICE is coming and just creating fear in our community," she said.
Rojas puts up banners explaining one's constitutional rights, in both English and Spanish along 24th Street.
"The purpose is if anybody is walking around and they don't know their constitutional rights, they can go ahead and read them here and get to know them," Rojas said.
Many of the businesses in the Mission District are immigrant-owned. But, Rojas said with the threat of ICE raids and mass deportations, it has already put a dent economically in San Francisco as fewer people are reporting to work.
"It's a city that is fueled by immigrant work," Rojas said. "A lot of the essential workers are from our community. And them not being around will mean that hospitals will have less services, hotels will have to close and not have staff, restaurants will close, nannies will go away, people who clean your homes will go away."
According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, of the state's 10.6 million immigrants, nearly 2.3 million are undocumented, representing 8% of all workers statewide.
"In the Bay Area, 1/3rd of the Bay Area's population is immigrants. That is a big number, right? And of that third, 20% are undocumented," Abby Raisz, the research director for the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, told CBS News Bay Area.
"Twenty-six percent of the construction sector in the state is undocumented, 61% are immigrants," she added. "These industries are already facing significant labor shortages."
If significant numbers of deportations continue, researchers say this will have a dire impact on the state economy.
"As the native labor force sort of ages and people retire, there are needs. Labor force needs that aren't really being met that immigrants have long filled," Raisz said.
She added through the institute's collaboration with UC Merced, they have spoken with stakeholders who have also seen the impact to their business.
"One of the folks that we talked to said, when a quarter of your workforce doesn't show up for work, the economic impact alone from that one worksite is in the millions of dollars," she said.
The institute's report also states that undocumented workers generate nearly 5% of the state's gross national product. Raisz said it's not just the workforce that the state is losing.
"Undocumented immigrants in the state of California pay over $23 billion in taxes. That is no small number," she said.
Meanwhile, Rojas said the community has been posting flyers on some business windows to explain what to do if ICE shows up.
"It explains what to do in case ICE comes to our community and how we can protect our community. It has the rapid response number and then it has the rights and what people can do in order to protect themselves and the community," Rojas said.
She adds that while ICE agents have not been spotted in the Mission District, she is urging the community to remain vigilant.
"Please do not report anything unless you see them yourself. And make sure you know the hotline number, to protect each other," Rojas said. "And come to the Mission, support the businesses. Shop in the Mission that helps them be able to stay open and that helps us be able to make up for the people who do not feel they can come out and shop like they usually do."
