President Biden's new executive order will restrict asylum for undocumented immigrants at the southern border, potentially slowing labor market growth while easing supply chain bottlenecks. Immigrants have been critical to the U.S. labor force and GDP growth since the pandemic. Without them, the labor force would be 1.2 million smaller. Bottlenecks at border crossings increase business costs importing and exporting between the U.S. and Mexico. Fewer migrant processing could speed up trade. Experts argue that the Trump alternative of extreme border shutdowns and stringent deportations could exacerbate inflation. One expert likened Trump's approach to "shooting ourselves in the kneecap" with a shotgun instead of a pistol.
