A survey of residents and business owners in Minneapolis and St. Paul finds that workers lost an estimated $244 million during the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement operation while businesses missed out on $610 million in revenue.
The research from the University of California San Diego’s U.S. Immigration Policy Center is included in an amended complaint that the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office filed Tuesday in an ongoing federal lawsuit in which the state is asking a judge to declare the administration’s actions illegal.
The researchers found that nearly 36 percent of survey respondents in Minneapolis reported missing work, in most cases because their place of employment had closed; the workers lost an average of $2,315 in pay.
In St. Paul, nearly 21 percent of employees surveyed said that they missed work; workers in the capital city lost $1,754 on average.
The researchers gathered data from 1,390 people across both cities who responded to the survey. The study also found that federal agents “frequently engaged in broad, non-targeted stops of residents” and were more likely to ask people of color than white people about their immigration status.
Large majorities of residents in both cities who had encounters with immigration agents said that they are less likely to seek help from law enforcement in the future.
The research team also conducted a similar survey of businesses in Minneapolis and St. Paul using city license lists. Nearly 900 business owners responded.
“A strong majority of businesses reported that Operation Metro Surge had a negative impact on their business,” the researchers write of both cities.
They estimate that Minneapolis businesses lost $445 million in revenue while those in St. Paul lost $165 million. Many business owners also answered “yes” when asked if they took on unexpected debt because of the enforcement operation.
