PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — President Donald Trump campaigned on carrying out what he called the largest deportation operation in American history.

After taking office, his administration quickly ramped up immigration enforcement. Border czar Tom Homan also pledged to focus on so-called sanctuary cities, including Portland. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, more than 675,000 people were deported in 2025, while the agency says more than 2 million people “self-deported.”

READ ALSO | Supreme Court hands Trump immigration wins, but birthright citizenship might be different

In Oregon, state data shows state and local agencies experienced a 265% increase in immigration-related requests from federal authorities last year.

So what does that mean for Oregon’s economy?

The state’s chief economist says the effects are beginning to emerge.

Carl Riccadonna, Oregon’s state economist, said immigration enforcement actions are influencing consumer spending and activity across several key industries, though the state cannot yet quantify the overall impact.

“What we’re seeing in terms of immigration action is playing out in either consumption patterns, which we’ve seen in some communities, or in industrial or sectoral activity,” Riccadonna said. “This does then have implications for how we are reading the overall macroeconomy and putting together that revenue forecast.”

Riccadonna said the effects extend beyond agriculture, an industry that has historically relied on immigrant labor.

“We have certainly, in sector-by-sector analysis, we’re hearing evidence of impacts from immigration in consumption numbers, so retail, groceries, those sorts of things,” Riccadonna said. “There are also significant impacts in the retail sector and leisure and hospitality, restaurants and construction, important legacy industries of Oregon like timber, forestry … and manufacturing has a very large footprint as well.”

While the state is seeing those trends, Riccadonna said economists cannot yet calculate exactly how much immigration enforcement has affected Oregon’s economy.

“We haven’t done an exercise to say, well, this is what the forecast would have been otherwise. We don’t produce counterfactuals … but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence from the cherry harvest this past summer and stresses elsewhere throughout those specific sectors,” he said.

National data offers additional context.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the recent immigration surge — which the report says mostly comprises immigrants who were not lawful permanent residents, were not eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency based on their current status, and were not admitted on a temporary basis under the Immigration and Nationality Act — generated approximately $10 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2023. During that same period, governments spent nearly $19 billion on services such as schools, shelters and border security.

A damaged car is seen as law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

The Congressional Budget Office also projects the immigration surge that began in 2023 will increase the U.S. labor force by approximately 5.8 million people by 2034 and boost the nation’s economic output by nearly $9 trillion over the next decade.

Riccadonna said Oregon expects to gain a clearer picture of the economic effects as more tax and revenue data becomes available.

This story is part of KATU’s “The Cost of the Crackdown” special, which examines how increased immigration enforcement is affecting Oregon, from businesses and workers to the state’s broader economy.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Utah and Salt Lake County a total of $3.5 million in grants to assess potentially polluted properties for eventual cleanup and redevelopment.

The agency announced a $2 million grant to Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality and $1.5 million to Salt Lake County to conduct environmental assessments and inventory brownfield sites for cleanup. Brownfields are sites that may be difficult to redevelop or expand because of “the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant,” according to the agency.

“These brownfields grants will help Utah communities clean up contaminated sites and unlock opportunities for redevelopment and investment,” EPA Regional Administrator Cyrus Western said in a news release announcing the grants earlier this week. “By transforming underused properties into community assets, EPA is helping create healthier neighborhoods and stronger local economies.”

The two grants awarded to Utah and Salt Lake County are among more than $248 million awarded to nearly 200 communities nationwide for brownfield assessment and cleanup. Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality plans to focus the resources on several areas in Ogden, Heber City and Fillmore, among others, according to Bill Rees, who leads Utah’s brownfield cleanup program.

“What we do is work to secure the funding and then begin to reach out to our communities across the state, say, ‘Listen, there’s opportunity to do some assessment work in your community if you’re interested,’ and then work with our rural partners, work with our urban partners to see if there are sites that will fit that bill,” he told KSL.

The state has received similar grants in the past, and Rees said the money can help local governments determine what to do with ailing properties such as old schools, hospitals or private property that have gone to waste.

“Is there asbestos in it, or is there hazardous material in it? Or could there be something that’s impacting the soil or the groundwater, and a policymaker needs to make a decision?” asked Rees. “Knowledge allows you to make good decisions.”

The $1.5 million awarded to Salt Lake County is the largest brownfields assessment grant the county has ever received, according to a county press release.

“This grant is a real win for our communities,” said Mayor Jenny Wilson. “This funding will let us do vital environmental work on a larger scale and in more neighborhoods. It reflects exactly the kind of partnership between local and federal government that gets results for residents.”

The county grant funds will be used to help create cleanup plans in three areas, including a vehicle storage yard in Salt Lake City’s Ballpark Neighborhood, a 4.26-acre vacant lot in Millcreek and a small commercial building in Magna that was damaged during an earthquake in March 2020, according to the EPA.

Contributing: Don Brinkherhoff

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