WASHINGTON — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley dismisses claims that mass deportations of illegal immigrants could harm the nation’s economy.
In a conference call with ag reporters this morning, Grassley says the deportations aren’t just being done to migrant workers who are in the country illegally. “So I’ve said don’t talk to me about the impact of deportation on the economy because right now we’re getting rid of people on the terrorist watch list, we’re getting people with criminal elements. No business person in the United States is going to hire people that are terrorists or criminals. So deporting them is going to have zero impact on the economy.”
Grassley says those who have been ordered out of the country but have not been removed should be deported. “Then there’s another category of people, a massive number of people of about 1.2 million people, that have been adjudicated by our courts that they are not entitled to asylum in the United States, and so it’s been determined that they shouldn’t be in this country. So let’s get rid of those whatever it adds up to it, 1.5 million, two million people.”
Democrats in the Congressional Joint Economic Committee released a report in December that said the White House’s mass deportation proposals would threaten to harm the US economy, decrease the growth and labor force, and increase inflation.
