Poverty rises as ICE arrests take household earners away

ICE arrests are cutting off immigrant families' paychecks, forcing some households to sell belongings, seek food aid and leave apartments.

A $30 microwave sale

Maria, 19, sold a microwave for $30, then other furniture, after her older sister was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June as she left a court appointment. The sister had been the family's main earner, leaving Maria to care for her 16-year-old brother and a 2-year-old nephew while taking time away from a meatpacking job.

The family later lost its apartment even after receiving some money from Maria's father in Guatemala, according to the account. Maria and her brother moved in with an American family they knew, while the toddler went to live with his father.

The Center for Migration Studies estimated in 2024 that a mass deportation campaign would cut median income for mixed-status households, those with undocumented residents and US citizens, by nearly half to $39,000. The group also estimated that 1 in 5 undocumented immigrants, or about 3 million people, already lived below the poverty line as of 2024.

Charlotte barber income disappears

Edna Galvis, a 37-year-old mother of two in Charlotte, said her husband Rodrigo was deported to Colombia in early July after being detained during an asylum court appointment. Her brother Diego, also a barber, was detained in Georgia, removing two earners from an extended household that had depended on their income.

Galvis said she and her mother now earn a combined $600 a week cleaning houses while supporting her children, her parents and a nephew. She said she has spent $14,000 on lawyers so far in an effort to prevent Diego from being deported, a legal bill that sits on top of rent, food and other household costs.

To cover the gap, Galvis has started driving for rideshare apps, sought help from a local church and tried to sell her car. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that immigration enforcement targets people unlawfully in the US, and that legally present people who are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear.

Minneapolis counts rent pressure

Local governments and charities are starting to put figures around the strain, though undocumented immigrants have limited access to federal safety-net programs and may avoid public benefits even for US-born children. A Minneapolis city assessment estimated that Operation Metro Surge created an added $15.7 million in monthly rental-assistance need and may have left 8,000 more households food-insecure.

The same assessment found eviction filings rose in March and April from the start of the year, after ICE and Border Patrol operations in the Twin Cities in December. The Minnesota Council of Churches, an interfaith group serving refugees and immigrants, said demand has increased for food, legal help, deliveries and escorted rides for people afraid to leave home.

Debt follows released detainees

Financial damage can continue after detention ends. Julisa, 36, said her husband, Vernie Nelson, returned home in early July after three months in detention, but the asylum seeker with an active work permit has stopped driving for rideshare work while he looks for another job.

Julisa continues to clean overnight at Austin's airport and has added delivery work to support their family of five from Nicaragua. She is also paying down debt built up from staying in contact with Nelson and sending him supplies while he was detained.

If arrests continue to remove primary earners from households, the first economic effects are likely to appear in local rent arrears, food demand and lower spending by affected families. If detention slows or legal outcomes allow more workers to return, households such as Galvis's may stabilize first through recovered wages, while cleaning, rideshare, meatpacking and barber businesses face less worker turnover.

The open question is whether enforcement remains concentrated in specific cities or broadens enough to show up in wider labor and consumption data.