US Vice President JD Vance is popping the champagne, and for once, it's not just because he's in a good mood. Speaking at the Hill & Valley Forum, Vance took a well-deserved victory lap, gleefully dismantling the doomsday predictions of economic analysts who swore that mass deportations of illegal immigrants would tank the American economy faster than a bad TikTok trend. Spoiler alert: they were wrong, and Vance was here to rub it in with a grin wider than the Rio Grande River. But beyond the gloating, there's a serious point: deporting criminals like rapists and murderers doesn't just have hidden social advantages; it's proving to be an economic win, too.
Picture this: a chorus of economists and corporate media types, clutching their pearls and screaming that deporting illegal immigrants would unleash economic Armageddon. Housing costs would soar to Mars, inflation would make Zimbabwe's currency look stable, and labour shortages would leave every fast-food drive-thru a ghost town. According to Vance, these analysts were basically reading from a script written by Chicken Little. Fast forward to July 2025, and the sky hasn't fallen. In fact, the U.S. is on track for its first net negative immigration in half a century, thanks to President Trump's deportation agenda.
What's the real story? Inflation is cooling, housing costs are showing signs of peaking, and the economy is humming along without collapsing into a dystopian nightmare. Vance's point is clear: you don't need to rely on illegal labour to keep America's economic engine running. Instead, putting faith in American workers is paying off. The Labor Department backs this up, since Trump and Vance took office, native-born Americans have snagged all net job gains, with over two million new jobs, while foreign-born employment has dropped by half a million. So much for the "we need illegal immigrants to do the jobs Americans won't" mantra.
Now, let's get to the vital part, deporting rapists, murderers, and other unsavoury characters. Critics of mass deportation often paint it as heartless, but Vance's argument flips the script: removing criminals from communities isn't just a feel-good policy; it's a social and economic boon. Posts on X have echoed this sentiment, with users cheering the removal of "undesirable elements" and pointing to incidents like the tragic death of a child in Springfield, Ohio, caused by a Haitian migrant driver without a license. While unconfirmed rumours about pet-eating migrants grabbed headlines, the real damage, crime, strained resources, and community tension, is what Vance is focusing on.
Take the case of an illegal immigrant in Kentucky, accused of murdering a 15-year-old boy who tried to protect his mother from rape. Or the Alabama child sex trafficking ring linked to the Sureños gang. These aren't hypotheticals; they're real consequences of lax border policies under the Biden administration. Deporting criminals doesn't just make neighbourhoods safer; it frees up resources, housing, jobs, healthcare, that were stretched thin by unchecked migration. And contrary to the naysayers, it hasn't sent the economy into a tailspin.
The naysayers had a playbook: scare Americans with tales of economic collapse and labour shortages. But their predictions were about as accurate as a weather forecast in a hurricane. Studies cited by the New York Times even admitted that immigration can push up housing prices, yet they still tried to fact-check Vance's claims as "misleading." The reality? A 2006 study by economist David Card found a "strong positive association" between immigration and housing prices, and even pro-immigration analysts like Alex Nowrasteh from the Cato Institute admit immigrants drive up real estate costs. So, when Vance says deportations are easing pressure on housing, he's got data on his side.
Then there's the labour shortage myth. Democrats argued that illegal immigrants were the backbone of industries like construction and agriculture. But Vance counters that prioritising American workers is proving effective. The Labor Department's numbers don't lie, native-born employment is up, and companies are finding ways to innovate and hire locally. It's almost as if betting on Americans was a better idea than betting on cheap labour from across the border.
Vance's broader point is that the Biden administration's open-border experiment was a disaster, economically and socially. From sanctuary city policies shielding criminals to catch-and-release tactics, the previous administration created a system where illegal immigration was practically incentivised. The Trump administration's reversal, cracking down on criminal migrants, tightening enforcement, and opting for American workers, hasn't just avoided catastrophe; it's delivering results. A recent poll shows a 23-point swing in public optimism about the economy since April, with Americans across income levels supporting deportation policies.
Sure, there's more work to do. Housing costs aren't fully tamed, and inflation, while cooling, isn't dead yet. But Vance's message is resonating: you can secure the border, deport criminals, and still keep the economy humming. It's a rebuke to the establishment's fearmongering and a nod to the common sense of valuing citizens over lawbreakers.
Imagine the headlines if the analysts were right: "Deportations Cause Nationwide Taco Shortage!" or "Housing Prices Soar to Moon, Elon Musk Offers Mars as Backup!" Instead, we're seeing a reality where deporting criminals is making communities safer and giving American workers a fair shot. The social advantages? Fewer tragedies like the ones in Kentucky and Alabama. The economic upside? Jobs for citizens, easing housing pressures, and an economy that's proving it can thrive without illegal labour.
There is a lesson here for the rest of the West beginning to grapple with remigration, turning back the tide.
"Vice President JD Vance is calling out economic analysts and their allies in the corporate media for claiming that mass deportations of illegal aliens would spur an economic collapse across the United States, a claim he says has now been proven entirely false.
Vice President JD Vance is calling out economic analysts and their allies in the corporate media for claiming that mass deportations of illegal aliens would spur an economic collapse across the United States, a claim he says has now been proven entirely false.
During a Hill & Valley Forum with hosts of the All-In podcast, Vance said thanks to President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, the U.S. is likely to see net negative immigration for the first time in half a century.
"Where we've been most wildly successful is that we have, I think, in 2025, we'll have the first net negative immigration number in about 50 or 60 years in the United States, and so there has been a major, major, major shift in immigration policy," Vance said.
In particular, Vance called out economic analysts who repeatedly claimed before Trump's election that his mass deportation agenda would drive up housing costs and spike inflation while perpetuating a labor shortage.
Vance said the data shows otherwise, with housing costs peaking and inflation cooling.
"There's always more that we can do and I think there's more than we can do, but if you just look fundamentally," Vance said, "what people said is that if you actually take border enforcement seriously, the entire economy is going to collapse, inflation is going to go through the roof, housing costs are going to go through the roof."
He added:
And if you look, while there's still a lot more to do, inflation has cooled, housing costs are now showing signs of peaking … there are a lot of things that we're showing work and more importantly, we're showing that if you put your faith in American workers, you can build great companies and build a great economy. You don't have to build an entire economy on illegal labor, which is what the Democrats told us we had to do. [Emphasis added]
Most notably, the Trump administration has reversed former President Joe Biden's migrant economy in less than six months.
According to the Labor Department, native-born Americans account for all net job gains since Trump and Vance took office. While foreign-born employment is down by over half a million, thanks to strict federal immigration enforcement, native-born American employment is up by over two million."