President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would lead to population loss, exacerbate workforce shortages and increase tax burdens for Pennsylvania residents and businesses, the Democratic state lawmakers heard Wednesday.

Advocates for the immigrant community testified before the state House Democratic Policy Committee that although the federal government maintains exclusive authority over immigration policy, which is expected to take a draconian shift under a second Trump administration, state lawmakers can make Pennsylvania a more welcoming place.

“It’s been laid out very clearly. Unfortunately, it’s going to be immigrant detention and deportations on the horizon,” Julio Rodriguez, political director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, said. “So now it’s crucial that this legislature not only has welcoming policies to support immigrants, but to fight back against these proposals.”

The hearing on the last day of the 2023-2024 legislative session was convened by state Rep. Danilo Burgos (D-Philadelphia), who serves as chairperson of the Pennsylvania Legislative Latino Caucus.

Pennsylvania ranks fourth in the nation in population loss, Rodriguez said. In 2021, the net decrease in population between births and deaths was more than 23,000.

“We didn’t see that impact, because net international migration, also known as immigrants moving here, was 25,721,” Rodriguez said “Had it not been for immigrants, we would have seen a drastic population decline.”

A state’s population determines its number of representatives in Congress. Rodriguez noted that Pennsylvania lost one congressional seat after the 2020 census and could lose another in 2030. It would also result in Pennsylvania receiving less federal funding.

But more immediately, the loss of a portion of the commonwealth’s 978,000 immigrant residents would worsen the labor shortage in the agricultural sector, driving up grocery store prices. Undocumented workers also contribute billions in taxes and in the state’s gross domestic product, Rodriguez said.

Immigration groups brace for a second Trump administration

Cathryn Miller-Wilson, executive director of HIAS Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that provides aid to immigrants and advocates on their behalf, said history strongly suggests that the effects of an immigration crackdown will be severe.

Miller-Wilson noted that the United States has gone through several cycles of liberal and conservative immigration policies. After Congress passed the National Origins Act in 1924, which severely limited immigration, the country entered a period of stagnation that resulted in the Great Depression. 

“Now that wasn’t only because immigrants were kept out, but it certainly was in large part. We stopped creating patents, we stopped inventing, we stopped innovating, we stopped creating new businesses, we stopped hiring, we stopped increasing wages, and disaster ensued,” she said. 

“People voted because they can’t afford groceries. That’s fine. We can all understand that. We can all empathize with that,” Miller-Wilson said. “The problem is they don’t understand that what they voted for will increase prices and plunge our country into an economic crisis such as we haven’t seen for 100 years.”

House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) said the apprehension of what will come during the Trump administration is evident, and noted that her district office recently received a question about what can be done at the state level to protect immigrants.

“If you had to tell us your top three legislative goals for 2025 to 2026 — no, we don’t actually regulate immigration — but what do you think we can do?” McClinton asked Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said state lawmakers should oppose any measure that requires state or local agencies to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding residents who are suspected of being in the country without permission. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania recently published a report that details unlawful tactics and civil rights violations by the agency against immigrants living in Pennsylvania, he noted.

Rodriguez also highlighted legislation sponsored by Rep. Joe Hohenstein (D-Philadelphia) that would clarify the process for an undocumented immigrant to apply for a U visa, which is available to victims who assist in the prosecution of a crime and creates a pathway to legal residence. House Bill 1371, which was awaiting final consideration in the House, would establish duties and procedures for law enforcement, prosecutors and judges in the application process.

Julissa Morales, of the Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania, said her organization is focused on passing legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, to do so with a taxpayer identification number and to protect information in PennDOT’s database from access by ICE. House Bill 769, sponsored by Burgos, was introduced in March 2023, but did not receive consideration.

Rep. Greg Scott (D-Montgomery) noted that in his previous office as a district judge, he had seen defendants who were stopped for driving without a license multiple times because there is no way for them to get one. That has an impact on county jails where undocumented immigrants are often held on ICE detainers before being transported to immigration detention centers. 

Morales, who shared that both of her parents currently have no path to citizenship, said such policies affect people who are not just numbers, but family members.

“My parents are business owners, and part of the system that we are calling an economic workforce,” Morales said. “These are the people who are being impacted day to day for not being able to access something as simple as mobility.”