The illegal immigration crisis is being blamed for a decline in the participation of American-born in the U.S. workforce.

The Center for Immigration Studies shared a study this week that showed the share of working-age (16 to 64), American.-born men who are not participating in the workforce has soared since the 1960s, from 11.3% who were either not working or looking for work in April 1960 to a whopping 22.1% in April of this year., Fox News reported.

“This is relevant to the immigration debate because one of the arguments for allowing in so many legal immigrants, or even tolerating illegal immigration, is that there are not enough workers,” the group said in a post along with its findings. “But this ignores the enormous increase in the number of working-age people not in the labor force.

“Further, being out of the labor force is associated with profound social problems such as crime, overdose deaths, and welfare dependency,” it said. “Policy-makers should consider encouraging work among the millions on the economic sidelines rather than ignoring the problem by bringing in ever more immigrants.”

From 1960 – 2024 the number of American-born men who are not participating in the workforce increased by 13.2 million, the study said.

At the same time the number of immigrant men who have joined the workforce has increased by 14.1 million, it said.

Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni said that Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that job growth in the past year can be attributed almost entirely to immigrant workers.

“There are now 1.1 million fewer native-born Americans employed than a year ago,” he said in a post on X. “[A]ll net job growth has gone to foreign-born workers, totally just over 400k since Nov ’23.”

But President-elect Donald Trump has planned a mass deportation of illegal immigrants and he has options if nations refuse to take back their citizens.

NBC News reports that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, countries unwilling to accept migrants who have an immigration judge’s deportation order may relocate them to Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Grenada, Panama, or other destinations.

Although the transition team has not yet confirmed the plan, it could significantly advance Trump’s pledge to implement the largest deportation initiative in U.S. history.

It’s unclear if local officials will allow illegal migrants to stay and work in the countries they are deporting to or what kind of pressure the Trump administration might be applying to the host nations. A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.

Foreign governments that refuse to accept deportees have long been a source of frustration for federal immigration authorities across multiple administrations. To avoid holding these individuals in detention indefinitely, many may be released back into the U.S., even if an immigration judge has ordered their removal, the outlet reported.

During President Biden’s administration, federal immigration authorities and major cities across the nation faced an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration. The situation became even more challenging in February when Venezuela, the second-largest source of illegal immigrants to the U.S., ceased accepting flights containing deportees.

Advertisement
Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist authoritarian responsible for rampant inflation, economic instability, and political repression. Reports suggest that Maduro’s government is urging Trump to negotiate a deal that would see Venezuela accept deportees once more in exchange for a relaxation of U.S. sanctions.

However, it remains uncertain whether the incoming president is open to this proposal, the Caller added.

In the past, the Chinese and Cuban governments have also been resistant to participating in deportation flights from the U.S. Nevertheless, both nations have recently begun accepting more flights from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) once again, the report said.

During his first term in the White House, President Trump established safe third-country agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. These agreements aimed to deter asylum seekers by requiring them to seek refuge in these countries before applying for asylum in the United States.

But Biden suspended these deals immediately upon taking office, among other Trump-era policies.