Increased ICE activity has ripple effects on Colorado’s workforce and economy. Amendment 81 could lead to more ICE involvement in the state.

Across the country, immigrants of all backgrounds and statuses face dangerous challenges with more frequent and haphazard immigration enforcement in the second Trump administration. Heightened ICE activity carries less obvious spillover costs for Colorado’s economy, without clear evidence that it improves public safety or opens up jobs or higher wages for U.S. citizens.1,2 In fact, it leads to fewer jobs for citizens.

The consequences of more frequent and indiscriminate immigration enforcement under Trump’s second administration extend well beyond the families and communities directly affected. They reach into the labor force and broader economy.