Don’t forget the human toll of immigration raids

Beyond the economic cost of these deportations, each abduction leaves friends, family, and community members who have had a loved one ripped from their midst.

By Hope Ferris and Spencer Klein

In the past several weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted sweeping raids on the homes, schools, churches, and workplaces of thousands of people—targeting not the criminals the Trump administration has claimed it is going after but rather many with no criminal history. The harm wrought by this immigration dragnet is difficult to overstate.

Start with the economic cost. Immigrants are central to the social and economic fabric of the United States, and attacks on them threaten the stability of the U.S. workforce and access to essential services. In California, for example, they are responsible for over $1 trillion in economic output and make up a third of the workforce. In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid nearly $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, and in a large majority of states (40), they paid higher state and local tax rates than the top 1% of households within each respective state. Undocumented immigrants put food on our tables, build housing, take care of the elderly, start businesses. They are an economic and social cornerstone of this country.

But beyond the economic and social costs of these deportations, each abduction leaves a blast radius of friends, family, and community members who have suddenly had a loved one ripped from their midst.

Take Lorenzo Sarabia Morales, an agricultural worker in Georgia who, until recently, worked 12-hour shifts six days a week in life-threatening, blistering temperatures, harvesting produce enjoyed by families across the country. Lorenzo’s labor puts food on our tables. He is also an advocate for his fellow agricultural workers, demanding their safety. In 2023, he spoke up in support of a campaign by the United Farm Workers pushing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to implement better workplace protections against extreme heat. in support of a campaign by the United Farm Workers pushing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to implement better workplace protections against extreme heat.

Lorenzo is also a husband and father of two daughters and a son. But this year, his children spent Father’s Day without their dad. On May 12, Lorenzo was detained by local law enforcement in south Georgia while driving home after a long day of work. That morning, communities were on high alert because of reports that ICE was in the region. But steering clear of ICE was not a luxury Lorenzo could afford; he needed to provide for his family. He went to work anyway.

The Colquitt County Sheriff’s office released a statement the next day claiming these raids were part of an operation to target those with active warrants for crimes against children and possession of controlled substances. Lorenzo, however, was detained for driving without a license, and he was not released after his family paid a $900 fine. After spending 48 hours in a local jail , Lorenzo was transferred to ICE custody in the Stewart Detention Center, a private prison under contract with ICE for holding immigrant detainees. Others taken on May 12 are still being held only on ICE detention holds.

The Stewart Detention Center is a private facility and one of the largest in the country, which produces $38 million a year in profit for private prison operator CoreCivic. Lorenzo has been held in this crowded facility for over a month awaiting his hearing.

As protests against this immigration dragnet continue in Los Angeles and across the country, they bring to the forefront not just how important and valuable immigrants are to our country, but they also remind us of the deeply human toll of each raid. Children without mothers and fathers. Parents without their kids. Communities without their leaders.

As indicated by his unhinged Truth Social post on June 15, Trump and his administration will continue their blitz to distract us from what they are unwilling and unable to defend. Don’t get lost in the visuals of Trump’s militarized sideshows or rhetoric villainizing all immigrants as criminals. Speak up in defense of people like Lorenzo and his family, donate to funds supporting them. What matters most is how Trump’s policies impact human beings: people like Lorenzo, people like his kids, and people like you.

Hope Ferris is a research assistant and Democracy Defenders Action. Spencer Klein is a voting rights attorney and senior legal adviser at Democracy Defenders Fund.

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