SALISBURY, Md - President Donald Trump's renewed effort to enforce immigration laws more strictly have some questioning the potential economic fallout on Delmarva, a region heavily reliant on agriculture, seafood, and construction—three industries that often depend on migrant labor.
President Trump has emphasized prioritizing the deportation of individuals with serious criminal records. “We’re getting the bad hard criminals out—these are murderers, these are people that are as bad as you get,” he said over the weekend.
Data from Pew Research estimates there are 275,000 illegal immigrants in Maryland, 30,000 in Delaware, and 275,000 in Virginia. Experts and community leaders warn that mass deportations could disrupt regional industries and local economies.
John Hickman, director of BEACON at Salisbury University, says the economic impact of mass deportations could be significant, particularly in terms of food prices. “If there’s inflationary pressure on food prices, will that cause a backing down? We’re unsure."
Habacuc Petion, a community advocate working with Rebirth, an organization tailored toward Wicomico County's Haitian population, highlighted the essential role migrants play in sustaining the economy. “They do the dirty job to keep everything moving, so they are essential workers. They are essential in the economy,” Petion said.
Hickman noted that deportations could lead to higher prices for goods and services. “If you have a group of workers—whether it’s undocumented workers or for whatever reason a group of workers leave—that’s less spending in our local economy. It does have that ripple effect through to the retailers, to home services, to healthcare.”
President Trump says his goal right now is focusing on illegal immigrants with serious criminal records, his plan is to eventually deport all of the estimated 11 million illegal aliens in the country.