Trump's immigration policies impose an 'ICE tax' on food, housing and healthcare, report suggests — but White House blames something else

The group is calling the added costs the “ICE Tax,” in reference to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and says the loss of immigrant workers is impacting the economy.

“Forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands of essential workers means extra dollars at the grocery checkout, the home that costs six figures more to build, the corner store that goes quiet after a raid, the job that disappears when a coworker never comes back to work,” Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, said in a statement, according to CNBC.

The ‘ICE Tax’

America’s Voice analyzed 12 months of federal price data ending in June and found that costs are rising more quickly for foods whose production relies on immigrant labor. For example, lettuce was up 31 %, fresh citrus rose by 6% and apples by 7%.

Other industries outside of agriculture are also being impacted.

In the Northeastern U.S., new permits for single-family homes fell 23.5% from March 2025 to June 2026. The construction workforce in that region is composed of 23% immigrant laborers. New home prices in the same region rose 15.4% between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

Home healthcare, where 40% of workers are immigrants, has seen a 10.7% increase over the past year.

America’s Voice notes that other factors outside of Trump’s immigration policy are further exacerbating the crisis, such as weather and higher fuel costs.

“No single figure proves the case on its own. But category after category, the products and services that rely most on immigrant labor are the ones pulling away from the rest of the economy. That’s a cost with a cause, not a coincidence,” the report says.