# Report: Mass deportations could cripple Kentucky's workforce, economy  
**Published:** 2026-05-12T00:04:14.662Z  
**Source:** [Public News Service - Kentucky](https://app.publicnewsservice.org/story/new-data-deportations-could-cause-economic-woes-in-kentucky/4a384f7e-1062-408f-b33a-35ca2961f685)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/report-mass-deportations-could-cripple-kentucky-s-workforce-economy

Mass deportations could shrink Kentucky's workforce and trigger severe labor shortages across the state's economy, particularly in the restaurant and agriculture industries, according to [a new report](https://kypolicy.org/the-economic-impact-of-mass-deportation-in-kentucky/) from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

The removal of immigrants from the state's working population ages 25 to 54 would be a loss of 112,700 workers, the report found. Businesses would be forced to shrink given the state's low unemployment rate, and costs would increase not only because immigrants are often underpaid but also because there would be an under-supply of workers, meaning Kentuckians would end up paying more for essentials like food, child care, housing and medical care.

The report comes as Kentucky saw nearly 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests between January and October 2025, a 32 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024. Nearly 180,000 immigrants live in Kentucky and account for around 5 percent of all Kentucky workers, with immigrants making up 12 percent of construction laborers, 24 percent of software developers and 16 percent of physicians.

Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said the concern extends beyond undocumented workers. "If you either start deporting these folks or even more likely, you just scare them away from work," Pugel explained in the report. "Not only are you creating a shortage in those roles but you actually make it harder for everyone in the restaurant to make ends meet."

The restaurant industry would be particularly vulnerable. Undocumented immigrants complement the types of jobs U.S.-born workers fill, such as construction site managers or restaurant servers, and if restaurants experience a shortage of cooks they cannot serve as many customers, reducing jobs for servers.

Agriculture faces equal threats. Kentucky processes approximately 1,174 contracts serving more than 860 farmers and more than 7,360 guest workers through the H-2A visa program. Removing immigrant workers would place additional pressure on an industry already under strain and critical to the state's food production, Pugel noted.

Immigrant workers, both documented and undocumented, accounted for 6 percent of gross domestic product in Kentucky in 2023, and undocumented immigrants contribute $119 million in state and local taxes.

A survey of over 2,000 Spanish-speaking immigrants conducted in March 2025 found that two in five respondents had to miss work because of the federal government's new immigration agenda, indicating that deportation fears are already affecting Kentucky's workforce and economy.

## Sources

- [Public News Service - Kentucky](https://app.publicnewsservice.org/story/new-data-deportations-could-cause-economic-woes-in-kentucky/4a384f7e-1062-408f-b33a-35ca2961f685)
- [Kentucky Center for Economic Policy - The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What's at Risk in Kentucky](https://kypolicy.org/the-economic-impact-of-mass-deportation-in-kentucky/)
- [NKy Tribune - Kentucky's immigrant workers and business owners have helped grow the Commonwealth's economy](https://nkytribune.com/2025/01/kentuckys-immigrant-workers-and-business-owners-have-helped-grow-the-commonwealths-economy/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Public News Service - Kentucky, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://app.publicnewsservice.org/story/new-data-deportations-could-cause-economic-woes-in-kentucky/4a384f7e-1062-408f-b33a-35ca2961f685.