Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Janet Yellen Claims Deporting Illegal Migrant Workers Would Make Inflation Worse

Ron Brownstein and Janet Yellen

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed during a Thursday interview that Americans could see higher prices if illegal immigrants were deported out of the U.S.

Former President Donald Trump has promised to carry out a massive deportation effort targeting illegal immigrants should he be voted back into the White House this November. In the interview conducted by Ron Brownstein during a “fireside chat” at The Atlantic Festival, Yellen claimed immigrants helped bring down prices when asked what effects Trump’s proposed policy on deportations would have.

“Well, I think it would raise inflation. These workers have contributed to America’s ability to produce more goods, including agricultural goods,” Yellen told Brownstein. “And this influx we’ve seen since the pandemic, and it’s not only through immigration, it’s also we’re seeing the highest labor force participation on record for adult women. The influx of workers into the labor market is something that’s helped to bring down inflation and create a lot of jobs.”

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Residents of Springfield, Ohio, recently interviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation described how the city has struggled to handle an influx of at least 20,000 Haitian migrants, straining resources and contributing to skyrocketing local housing prices.

“I think it would be devastating to simply remove this number of immigrants,” Yellen told Brownstein about mass deportations.

Since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office in January 2021, prices have risen by more than 20%, while the consumer price index reached a high under the Biden administration of 9% year-over-year in June 2022. Many economic experts have blamed the high inflation on big spending programs from the Biden administration, like the American Rescue Plan.

The Border Patrol has encountered nearly 7.4 million illegal immigrants since the start of fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters Wednesday that the rising unemployment rate was being driven by migrants entering the country.