The most recent monthly jobs report, for February 2026, released last week, conclusively demonstrates that one of those pillars, Trump’s myriad tariffs on American imports, has indeed weakened the economy. Fewer people have jobs today than they did in April 2025, when Trump imposed sweeping and illegal import taxes on Americans.

The other pillar, Trump’s mass deportation agenda — besides its gruesome and worsening human toll — is, according to local news reporting, reducing employment and business revenue where the presence of Trump’s hastily trained immigration enforcers are most concentrated. On March 3, Investigate Midwest reported that an analysis of labor survey data by the University of California, Merced’s Community and Labor Center shows a correlation between Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement surges and declines in employment:

Local news outlets in four of the cities most heavily targeted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns have revealed similar stories about the shocking economic costs of sustained, escalated DHS enforcement activities for their communities.

• Desert Sun: “Los Angeles County immigration raids cost region more than $1B.” The Desert Sun reported in February that “a new report commissioned by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors links” losses of “more than $1 billion in economic damage” to “aggressive federal enforcement actions that sparked unrest, closures and a widespread pullback in consumer activity.” The article explained that “undocumented workers, the report noted, generate more than $250 billion in economic output annually, support more than 1 million jobs, and contribute roughly $80 billion in labor to the county’s economy.” [Desert Sun, 2/11/26]
• KPBS: A July 2025 study from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center determined that “the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign on the California workforce is comparable to the start of the Great Recession.” According to the report: “During the week of June 8-14, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted large-scale raids in Los Angeles and other parts of the state, California saw a 3.1% decline in its labor participation, according to the report. Meanwhile the participation rate grew by 0.5% throughout the rest of the country.” The report’s author told KPBS: “This translates into roughly 465,000 fewer Californians reporting having worked during the week of escalated immigration enforcement.” KPBS wrote that according to the study, “California’s labor force shrunk by 3% between December 2007 and January 2008, the first month of the Great Recession.” [KPBS, 8/6/25]
• The Sacramento Bee: UCLA forecasters predicted that California’s unemployment rate “will keep climbing as Trump administration tariff and immigration policies continue to have an impact.” The UCLA forecast predicted in December 2025 that Trump’s mass deportation operations “will be disproportionately felt in the inland parts of the state and the agricultural coastal valleys.” The report also stated that “deportations will deplete the construction workforce.” [The Sacramento Bee, 12/3/25]

• ABC7 Chicago: “A large group of Chicago's business, civic and faith leaders” united “to call for an end to the ICE raids,” which they said are “having a big impact on the city's workforce and economy.” The November 2025 article reported that Rebecca Shi of the American Business Immigration Coalition “calls Operation Midway Blitz economically reckless,” with some business reporting that revenues have plunged by 50%. Shi additionally stated: “Immigrants, along with undocumented immigrants, contribute $22 billion in taxes and local spending every year.” [ABC7 Chicago, 11/7/25]
• Crain’s Chicago Business: “Immigration crackdown deals a blow to Chicago's Latino business corridors.” The September 2025 article reported that “in interviews, small-business owners and leaders who serve Latino communities in the Chicago area have blamed immigration arrests and deportations as the main factor behind year-over-year revenue drops ranging from 20% to 50%.” [Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/4/25]
• Block Club Chicago: “Latino-Owned Businesses Struggle To Recover As Midway Blitz Impacts Linger.” The article reported that “many Latino-owned businesses across the Southwest Side” experienced “lower revenue and less foot traffic” as people “stayed home due to fear of being detained by the agents.” It continued: “In the months since the operation slowed, sales have slightly increased but remain low, several business owners told Block Club.” [Block Club Chicago, 2/13/26]

• The Minnesota Star Tribune: “ICE surge leaves Minneapolis with staggering economic, societal impacts, city says.” The Star Tribune reported in February that “a preliminary city study found 1 in 5 Minneapolis residents are now in urgent need of food assistance.” The article further reported that “Minneapolis officials say the federal immigration crackdown over the past 11 weeks has caused more than $203 million in damage to the city’s economy.” [The Minnesota Star Tribune, 2/13/26]
• MinnPost: “Amid fears of ICE raids, Minneapolis businesses say some customers are scared and staying home.” The December 2025 article reported that the Trump administration’s ICE raids have “caused staffing challenges and a drop in foot traffic for businesses along Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis, which has long been a hub for businesses run by and serving Minnesotans with heritage from South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.” It further reported: “Elsewhere in the city, some businesses, especially in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, have closed down entirely out of fear that they or their employees will be targeted, said state Sen. Doron Clark, DFL-Minneapolis.” [MinnPost, 12/12/25]
• MPR News: “Minneapolis City Council to vote on $7M for small business support” for those “that are losing money during the federal immigration operation.” The article reported that the city “estimated that restaurant and small business revenue losses total about $81 million in January” due to the ICE raids. [MPR News, 2/17/26]

• The Oregonian: “Latino businesses face economic fallout as immigration enforcement ramps up in Portland area.” From the November 2025 article: “Business owners and managers report stark declines in sales since mid-September – some as much as half. It’s worse than during the pandemic, many say, with empty store aisles, deserted restaurant floors and workers resigning or regularly calling in sick out of fear.” [The Oregonian, 11/3/25]
• Local governments in Oregon have distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to mitigate the economic impact of ICE raids in their communities. The Hillsboro News Times reported in December 2025 that the city of Hillsboro “distributed $200,000 across 11 local nonprofits to help mitigate the impacts of federal immigration enforcement on community members.” The priorities of this funding reportedly “emphasized legal services, food assistance and rent assistance based on needs identified by community based-organizations.” Portland NBC affiliate KGW reported in November 2025 that the city of Woodburn planned to distribute up to $30,000 to “help mitigate the impact federal immigration enforcement is having on families and businesses, as well as access to food, housing, and mental health services.” [Hillsboro News Times, 12/18/25; KGW, 11/21/25]
• A coalition of community leaders in Portland warned that Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to the area risked the city’s improvements to economic growth and public safety. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that the deployment was estimated to cost the state $3.8 million. [KATU, 9/28/25; Oregon Public Broadcasting, 10/1/25]

• Right-wing media have relentlessly pushed the false claim that ICE is going after the “worst of the worst.” In reality, data shows that “more than 60 percent of the people detained in at-large arrests since June did not have criminal convictions or pending charges.” [Media Matters, 1/23/26]
• Right-wing media lashed out against protesters and observers in Minneapolis who used whistles to alert the community about the presence of DHS officers. Multiple right-wing media personalities and outlets claimed the whistles “should be considered a violent weapon” and that their use amounts to “interference” or possibly “assault.” [Media Matters, 2/3/26]
• Fox News justified and celebrated ICE’s violent immigration crackdown in Chicago. Fox figures stuck with the administration’s false narrative that a raid on a Chicago apartment building would result in the arrest of members of a gang called Tren de Aragua. They also justified ICE’s violent tactics, which have involved using tear gas, pepper ball projectiles, and rubber bullets on protesters, and repeated administration claims justifying federal agents’ shooting of two people with live ammunition, including one who died. [Media Matters, 10/21/25]
• Right-wing media called for “overwhelming force” and arrests in LA protests over ICE raids. Some called for President Donald Trump to employ the Insurrection Act against protesters, and encouraged the arrest of Democratic officials. [Media Matters, 6/12/25]
• Right-wing media claimed Portland was a “war zone” to support the deployment of National Guard troops there, but local news reports debunked that narrative. [Media Matters, 10/10/25]