In a long, truth-based social post on June 15, President Donald Trump called on ice officers to expand detention and deportation in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, which he described as part of the “core of the Democratic Power Center.”
The post has no protests on weekends across the country, including a military parade in the country’s capital to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday, coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday.
New York metropolitan areas have the country’s largest foreign-born population, followed by Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Chicago, according to US census data. Trump did not mention Miami or Houston in his post, but they have the largest foreign-born population in the country.
Which cities have the most immigrants?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, immigration accounts for around 14% of the population.
Almost two-thirds of foreign-born residents live in 20 major metropolitan areas, the Pew Research Center reports. The metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles and Miami had the largest population of immigrants. Approximately 60% of the country’s undocumented population lives in these same metro areas.
Immigrants account for 19.2% of the private workforce. According to the Census Bureau, migrant workers account for 28.6% of all people employed in the construction industry.
Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy.
The 2023 US Census-American Community Survey collected data on cities and other cities mentioned by Trump. This is the demographic collapse:
Los Angeles City
Census Bureau data shows that nearly half of Los Angeles’ population is Hispanic or Latino, and a third of all residents there are immigrants. This includes foreign-born US citizens and non-citizens. The exact number of undocumented immigrants in the city is unknown, but a 2020 study by the University of Southern California, Dawnsif University, found that around 900,000 people in Los Angeles were undocumented, with most of them in the United States for over a decade.
According to the nonprofit California Budget and Policy Center, immigration accounts for about a third of the state’s workers, making up a large share of the workforce in physically intense sectors such as construction and agriculture.
Economists say low immigration in the US could weaken the economy, cause labor shortages and slow economic growth. A 2024 analysis of Jamsid Damooey, executive director of the Center for Social Affairs and Economics at Lutheran University of California, found that undocumented employee jobs created an additional 1.25 million jobs in California. According to USAFacts, 37.9% of workers in the Los Angeles area were immigrants in 2023.
Chicago
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pretzker defended the sanctuary law, which protects undocumented immigrants during the June 12th legislative hearing.
Illinois Trust Act prohibits state and local law enforcement from arresting, searching or detaining people for immigration status. The law prohibits local police from working with federal immigration officials, with a few exceptions. According to USAFacts, 23% of Chicago-area workers were immigrants in 2023.
New York City
Ice was recently arrested New York City Director and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander When he tried to escort a man from the immigration court. The arrest that became the virus is the latest stance against federal agents and Democrats tactics against the Trump administration’s tactics of detaining a massive number of immigrants in 2022, according to the mayor’s immigration office. This is a 32% decrease since 2012. Immigration accounts for almost 40% of New York City’s total population.
According to the New York Secretary’s office, immigration accounted for 44.3% of the city’s total workforce. It is more than twice the national market share of 18.6%. “Many industries in the city rely on these workers, including construction, which accounts for almost 70% of foreign-born workers. In 2023, 36.8% of workers in the New York area were immigrants, according to USAFacts.
Miami
Miami recently voted to enter into a 287(g) contract with federal immigration authorities. The partnership allows local Miami police to enforce federal immigration laws. Florida local and state police already have 292 signatures and pending contracts.
Miami has over 252,000 immigrants, making up 55% of the city’s total population, according to the Census Bureau. According to USAFacts, in 2023, 50.7% of Mairian workers were immigrants in 2023.
Houston
According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign laws requiring all county police to sign an agreement with ICE. Partnerships with federal immigration officials allow local police to investigate the immigration situation of people in prisons.
According to Census Bureau data, approximately 24% of Houston’s population is immigrants. Immigrants make up nearly a third of the Houston workforce, according to the nonprofit American Council on Immigration. As of 2023, 31% of Houston-area workers were immigrants, according to USAFacts.
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Over 600 local police agencies have partnered with ICE: see if you are one of them
