Immigration and the economy

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Ms Martinez is one of around 740,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that Barack Obama implemented in 2012 by executive action. In his 100-day plan published in October, Mr Trump vowed to reverse every one of Mr Obama’s executive actions. He could kill DACA on his first day in the Oval Office.

In his earlier stump speeches, Mr Trump repeatedly pledged to rid the country of all 11m unauthorised undocumented migrants living within its borders, the bulk of whom arrived before 2004 (see chart). He has picked the Senate’s most enthusiastic deporter, Jeff Sessions, as his attorney-general. This has alarmed DACA recipients.

A 2014 study by the University of Southern California estimated that workers who are in the state illegally make up 10% of the workforce and contribute $130bn of California’s $2.5trn gross domestic product. On December 5th, California lawmakers introduced a package of bills to obstruct mass deportation.

Donald Trump’s administration could deport millions of undocumented immigrants, using a system perfected under Barack Obama | The Economist