Haitian immigration is a Biden success story. I have seen it first hand.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance has said he considers the immigration policy of the Biden-Harris administration illegitimate and insists on calling documented immigrants like the Haitians in Springfield, Ohio “illegal” . That’s why Trump and his surrogates often say that mass deportation would trap 25 or even 30 million people in the United States. With only about 12 million undocumented residents, many more people who are here legally would also be swept up in this purge. But they are not only immigrants with or without documentation; US citizens are also at risk of deportation. Former political adviser Stephen Miller, architect of the family separation policy, among other horrors, has outlined a “turbocharged” policy to denaturalize citizens in order to deport them. “The consequences of this will be targeting immigrants, but also anyone who looks like an immigrant,” Román said.

The promise of mass deportations (“NOW!”) has been central to the Trump campaign. “Their only political position is to blame everything on immigrants,” Román said. Their hateful rhetoric has consequences for all Americans, beyond the realm of morality to the practical and logistical. If Trump is re-elected, “we’re going to have an incredible shortage and economic recession” with the potential for “rampant inflation,” Román said. He pointed to the examples of Alabama and Georgia, where strict immigration enforcement cost each state billions of dollars. “Look in your kitchen, open the fridge, almost everything you buy” would see higher prices, Román said. Child care, health care, agriculture, hospitality, construction workers are all industries built on immigrant labor.