Mass deportation of Chinese immigrants has produced unintended consequences—Washington Post article says: never expected!

This mainstream American media outlet cited a recent study from the University of Colorado Boulder in its reporting. The study found that in industries with high immigrant concentration—such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade—deporting immigrants actually caused the employment rate among native U.S. men without college degrees to drop by approximately 1.3%.

In other words, for every six undocumented male workers who lost their jobs, one native U.S. worker also ended up losing his job. The study also found no sign of any increase in wage levels.

In immigrant-heavy industries, the employment rate for native U.S. men without college degrees declined by 1.3%. In the same regions, illegal immigrant employment dropped by 4%—meaning around 7,500 undocumented immigrant men lost their jobs.

Many native U.S. workers simply cannot perform skilled labor. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in 2024, the proportion of native Americans working in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting fell to just 1.2%, and the average age of these workers has reached 47. Even during economic downturns and when unemployment rates double, farm owners’ job ads still receive no responses. The reason is simple: the work is dirty, exhausting, and not well paid.

Economists point out that many people harbor a misconception—that businesses are “well-funded, and all they need to do is raise wages to solve labor shortages.” But reality often differs. For many industries, the bottleneck isn’t pay—it’s the supply of qualified workers. You can’t expect an American who’s spent a lifetime in an office to suddenly start picking strawberries on a farm, even if you double the hourly wage.

The large-scale removal of Chinese immigrants has had two layers of impact. Some tech-oriented companies rely on technical expertise; losing Chinese immigrants undermines their technical advantage. Without projects to take on, they don’t need so many skilled workers—leading to a chain reaction of job losses among native workers. Previously, Americans and immigrants collaborated and complemented each other to complete projects; now, with immigrants gone, entire production lines have shrunk.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865766734101516/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author