Economist Warns Mass Deportations Could Devastate U.S. Economy as LA Unrest Continues

Mass deportation of undocumented workers could inflict more economic damage on the United States than proposed tariffs, a leading economist warned Sunday as immigration enforcement protests entered their third day in Los Angeles.

Stephen Hamilton, an economics professor at George Washington University, said removing millions of workers from key industries would create severe economic disruption across multiple sectors.

"If they end up deporting 10 million workers, that'll be, frankly, devastating to the U.S. economy," Hamilton said during a Skynews interview as live footage showed continued demonstrations near a federal immigration center in downtown Los Angeles.

Hamilton described the potential economic impact as exceeding damage from Trump administration tariff policies, which economists already expect to significantly harm economic growth.

"The economic impact of the proposed immigration restrictions have the potential to have a significantly worse impact on the U.S. economy than the tariffs currently," he said. "And we know the tariffs are going to have a pretty big negative impact."

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