Trump deportation prices report cites food, housing and care costs
America’s Voice says immigration enforcement is raising costs, but its data show correlations rather than proof of cause.
By Jordan Bell · Startups & Deals Reporter
· 3 min read
A report from America’s Voice argues that Trump deportation prices are showing up in grocery aisles, housing and home health care. For households already tracking their monthly bills, the key takeaway is more limited: the advocacy group found price and employment patterns in immigrant-reliant sectors, but its analysis does not establish that deportations caused them.
The pro-immigration group calls the alleged economic burden the “ICE Tax,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It released the report Wednesday and urged Congress and the White House to end the administration’s enforcement approach, CNBC reported.
America’s Voice reviewed 12 months of federal price data through June. It said lettuce prices rose 32.1%, while canned fruit increased 7.9%, fresh citrus 6.3% and apples 7.1%. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.6% during the same period, according to CNBC.
The report said the food categories with larger increases rely heavily on immigrant labor. It also acknowledged that weather and fuel costs can raise food prices. Those factors mean the comparisons cannot isolate immigration enforcement as the reason for the increases.
Did Trump’s deportation agenda cause higher prices?
America’s Voice says the timing and concentration of the increases point to enforcement as a contributor. CNBC reported that the group’s study does not prove causation, meaning it cannot show that deportations, rather than other changes in the economy, produced the reported price, construction or health-care outcomes.
The same distinction applies to housing. The report found construction employment declined 1.3% from the beginning of Trump’s second administration through June in five states it classified as most dependent on immigrant labor. Construction employment grew 3.3% elsewhere in the country. The report did not identify those five states in CNBC’s account.
In the Northeast, where the group said immigrants make up 23% of construction workers, single-family building permits fell 23.5% between March 2025 and June 2026. New-home prices in the region increased 15.4% from the first quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026. The figures cover different periods and do not by themselves demonstrate a direct link.
America’s Voice also said home-health-care costs rose 10.7% in the past year, describing the sector as having a 40% immigrant workforce.
What is the policy backdrop?
Trump has set a goal of deporting 1 million people annually, CNBC reported. ICE took more than 46,000 people into custody for alleged immigration violations in the prior month, a record monthly total under Trump, according to CBS News as cited by CNBC. The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Separate research from the Economic Policy Institute provides context, not confirmation of America’s Voice’s current findings. In a July 2025 projection, EPI estimated that deporting 4 million people over four years would leave 3.3 million fewer immigrants and 2.6 million fewer U.S.-born workers employed. That is a scenario-based forecast, rather than a measurement of the price movements cited in the new report.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
