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DC

@dcosta.bsky.social
362 followers 839 following 46 posts

Researching law and data at the intersection of immigration and labor for EPI.org Visiting Scholar at UC Davis, Global Migration Center. [Views expressed are personal] Stop the wars, respect international law. 😷

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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Temporary protections like TPS and DACA are a band-aid for a flawed immigration system but significantly improve labor standards and wages and protect millions of workers from some of the worst forms of employer lawbreaking. -TPS has been shown to raise wages by 13% -DACA has more than doubled wages
epi.org
Trump attacks on temporary immigration protections like TPS hurt the economy and strip millions of their workplace rights
The Trump administration has waged numerous attacks on workers’ rights during its first 100 days, as outlined in EPI’s recent report. Some of the most damaging actions include targeting millions of mi...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Rep. Andy Harris, the sole Republican House member from Maryland - is a zealot on a mission, to first, deport as many current immigrants as possible, and then replace them with migrant workers on temporary visas that employers control - where workers are indentured, vulnerable, and often underpaid:
politico.com
The Trump ally cracking down on immigration in Washington — and bringing in foreign workers back home
Rep. Andy Harris is wielding his clout to expand the number of seasonal workers allowed into the U.S. as he also backs the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 10/04/2026
Chief Economist @joshbivens-econ.bsky.social breaks down what today's inflation means now and in the future 👇
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 09/04/2026
"Bad news for anyone who believed the predictions of immigrant opponents." U.S.-born unemployment is higher under Trump. @pkrugman.bsky.social breaks it down as only he can and—as always—😍 to see @dcosta.bsky.social + @benzipperer.org work cited. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/job-growth...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Job Growth on ICE
The employment slowdown: Causes and consequences
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Contrary to Trump and Vance's promises to help unemployed US-born workers through mass deportations, *the unemployment rate has steadily increased* for U.S.-born workers under Trump during the mass deportation era. Analysis with the latest data from @benzipperer.org and me for @epi.org:
epi.org
Unemployment has increased for U.S.-born workers in the face of mass deportations: Trump’s draconian immigration enforcement is harming all workers
During the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance promised that mass deportations and a crackdown on immigration would open up jobs for unemployed U.S. citizens. The theory was simple: remove immi...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Trump administration is radically cutting wages for migrant farmworkers in the H-2A visa program because his Labor Department admits that deportations will raise food prices. The @nytimes.com cites research from @benzipperer.org and I showing that US farmworkers will also see a $3 billion pay cut:
nytimes.com
To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 16/03/2026
The Trump administration is radically cutting wages for farmworkers in the H-2A visa program - because they’ve admitted that deportations will raise food prices. This will also put downward pressure on the wages of U.S. farmworkers, reducing their total annual wages by about $3 billion.
nytimes.com
To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
A not-so-happy #LongCovid Awareness Day: Millions are now ill and disabled, with many left behind by society. This @latimes.com article discusses some of the severe challenges that people with Long Covid face, and the lack of a social safety net or treatments for them
latimes.com
Long COVID leaves thousands of L.A. County residents sick, broke and ignored
Six years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, doctors are still treating long COVID patients with complex symptoms and unknown futures.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Long covid and disability justice seems to not even be remotely on the radar of progressives and leftists:
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
We are now seeing solid evidence that Trump's increased immigration enforcement is not leading to better outcomes for US-born workers - in fact, the opposite is happening, with joblessness increasing for native-born workers as deportations increase:
bloomberg.com
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Fails to Deliver Jobs for US-Born Workers
One year into President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, there’s little evidence that closed borders are boosting employment for US-born workers.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
El Presidente Trump dedicó relativamente poco tiempo a la inmigración en su discurso, demostrando que el apoyo publico a sus políticas migratorias es menor que antes, y volvió a presentar varias mentiras sobre la comunidad inmigrante: laopinion.com/2026/02/25/p...
laopinion.com
Para Trump, los inmigrantes siguen siendo criminales: expertos - La Opinión
Especialistas advierten que Trump mantuvo un discurso duro contra inmigrantes en su Estado de la Unión
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
One of the most blatant and orwellian lies in the SOTU speech, of which there were too many to count:
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Repealing the $170 billion for ICE and CBP should also be a top demand. Will you all stand firm on zero dollars for ICE and CBP for fiscal year 2026?
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
DHS is deporting hundreds of thousands and canceling temporary statuses like TPS while simultaneously doubling the H-2B visa program, where migrant workers are indentured and have little power. Trump doesn't mind migrant workers as long as employers (including himself) can control & underpay them:
nytimes.com
Trump Officials Move to Double Number of H-2B Guest Visas This Year
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Yeah not only are these terrible, they bear little resemblance to other asks that party caucuses are making. I just got a Hispanic Caucus list of "non-negotiables" that has like 20 other things on it. The Senate Dems are squandering the moment in real time.
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Wrote about how disappointing it is that Jon Stewart punched down on people masking at @motherjones.com, when people should mind their own business and leave mask wearers be. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Hey Jon Stewart, jokes about wearing masks aren't funny
Critics of the Daily Show host say he's a hypocrite.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Trump’s new H-2A wage rule will radically cut the wages of all farmworkers - and that appears to be the administration's explicit intention: New estimates from @benzipperer.org & me at @epi.org show farmworkers stand to lose $4.4 to $5.4 billion annually under DOL’s updated Adverse Effect Wage Rate
epi.org
Trump’s new H-2A wage rule will radically cut the wages of all farmworkers: New estimates show farmworkers stand to lose $4.4 to $5.4 billion annually under DOL’s updated Adverse Effect Wage Rate
The Trump administration will cut the pay of all farmworkers by reducing the minimum wages paid to workers filling seasonal agricultural jobs in the H-2A visa program. By lowering wage rates implement...
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
Workers in Merced County, CA are harvesting sweet potatoes. There's so much work at this time of year that there are multiple shifts. These workers start at 4 a.m. when it's still dark. Lamps hung on the tractor give them enough light to sort the potatoes by size into boxes. #WeFeedYou
Workers harvesting sweet potatoes
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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Bernie Sanders, speaking Saturday night: www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/eugene-deb...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Data analysis from @bloomberg.com assesses the impact of current and future H-1B visa reforms on foreign workers with MBAs - finding that 70% of MBAs are hired at the two lowest wage levels, and that "prioritizing higher-paid jobs could assure H-1B status for many MBA grads":
bloomberg.com
Will Foreign MBAs Win or Lose With Trump’s H-1B Reforms? Maybe Both
Two largely overlooked sentences in a government proclamation, calling for raising the H-1B program’s wages, could prove to have a big effect.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Quick summary of my comments: The H-1B program needs better rules - including an updated prevailing wage rule, better allocation system, and a requirement that employers recruit US workers - plus real enforcement from the Labor Department, which will require additional staffing and funding for DOL:
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
As @ddayen.bsky.social and now the @washingtonpost.com have reported - the Trump administration has admitted their immigration enforcement efforts will lead to a spike in food prices. Their solution? Cut wages for farmworkers, already some of the lowest paid workers in the country
washingtonpost.com
Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices
U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.
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Tina Vasquez @tinavasquez.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
I want to do a little breakdown of this investigation I published today for @prismreports.org about gender-based violence in the H-2A agricultural visa program.
prismreports.org
She managed to get a farmworker visa. Once in the U.S., she endured abuse.
A Prism investigation reveals that women are routinely shut out of the H-2A program. Those who get in report doing non-agricultural labor and facing sexual violence and trafficking
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
Thank you CA Department of Public Health for recommending that people wear an N95 mask during a significant Covid surge:
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 26/09/2025
"The H-1B visa program is deeply flawed. But Trump's new $100,000 fee on employers won’t fix it," says EPI's @dcosta.bsky.social. There are much better ways to fix the H-1B program and protect workers. Learn more in Costa's @msnbc.com op-ed: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
msnbc.com
Opinion | Trump cited my research to criticize H-1B visas. But his solution is all wrong.
The program is deeply flawed. But a new $100,000 fee on employers won’t fix it — and could have unintended consequences.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Trump's new H-1B fee of $100K is a haphazard and not-well-targeted way to reform a visa program that is deeply flawed. To fix it, new rules are needed with labor enforcement to ensure fair conditions & pay for migrant & US workers. Here's @epi.org's Policy Watch explainer on the fee and its impact:
epi.org
Trump creates $100K entry fee for H-1B visas, directs DOL and DHS to update H-1B wage and lottery rules
On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring a new $100,000 fee requirement on H-1B visas. The H-1B visa program provides temporary, non-immigrant U.S. work visa...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
The amount collected from the new $100K H-1B fee will be $6.5 billion, not $14bn. The fee will be applicable to H-1B petitions for new employment after Sept 21 and for less than half of new H-1Bs, ie those who were not already in the US. In 2024, 46% of the 141,000 new H-1Bs were outside of the US.
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 16/09/2025
Raids & indiscriminate immigration enforcement are disrupting farm labor & America’s food system This Thursday, EPI's @dcosta.bsky.social will speak at an @investigatemidwest.bsky.social panel on raids, reform, & the future of farm labor 9/18 @1pm ET. Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/immigratio...
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
As I wrote about for @motherjones.com, people are already crossing state lines to get the Covid vaccine—which may become more common if the CDC vaccine advisory committee recommends limiting them this week. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Welcome to the new era of Covid vaccine tourism
Trump and RFK Jr.'s anti-vax crackdown is driving Americans across state lines—and making some pay out of pocket.
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 11/09/2025
Raids & indiscriminate immigration enforcement are disrupting farm labor & America’s food system. Next week, EPI's @dcosta.bsky.social will speak at a @investigatemidwest.bsky.social panel on raids, reform, & the future of farm labor. Thurs, 9/18. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/immigratio...
eventbrite.com
Immigration Raids, Reform and the Future of Farm Labor
Investigate Midwest hosts a conversation on raids, reform, and the future of America’s farm workforce.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
A not-so-happy Labor Day for farmworkers, thanks to the Trump administration's latest move to end the USDA survey of farm employers. The only reason to do this is to lower wages for both migrant farmworkers and U.S. farmworkers - who are already some of the-lowest paid workers in the country:
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
David Bacon's interview with Lelo Juarez, a farmworker who was imprisoned by ICE - and likely targeted because of his union organizing and advocacy and criticism of the H-2A visa program:
progressive.org
Why Lelo Juarez Chose Self-Deportation
How the current conditions of immigrant detention and Trump Administration policies impelled a farmworker organizer to return to Mexico.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Completely unqualified hack. The Trump administration is an affirmative action speak for mediocre white guys. It's kind of a reverse-DEI.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
California has some of the better state labor standards enforcement agencies in the US, but even there, agencies are understaffed: A recent audit found Cal/OSHA had an overall staff vacancy rate of 32%, or 289 unfilled positions, last year: calmatters.org/politics/202...
calmatters.org
‘Critical weaknesses’ in Cal/OSHA inspections of accidents
Cal/OSHA is so understaffed it doesn’t visit all accident sites, even when workers are injured. A state audit says that can ‘undermine’ safety laws.
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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 13/07/2025
Florida is committing "enforced disappearance," a very serious violation of international human rights law. www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i... www.ohchr.org/en/special-p...
The DeSantis administration has not made public a list of names of the immigrants held at the facility in heavy duty tents at an airstrip in the Florida Everglades.
Individuals sent to the makeshift detention center do not show up in an
online government database that allows the public to search for immigrant detainees' whereabouts. Lawyers say they
have had difficulty locating clients sent to the site, often learning that they are there when detainees call family members.An enforced disappearance is considered to be the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law (Article 2 of the ICPED and Preamble of the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance)
It is characterized by three cumulative elements (defined in A/HRC/16/48/Add.3):
1. Deprivation of liberty against the will of the person;
2. Involvement of government officials, at least by acquiescence;
3. Refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared
person.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
The public can't yet wrap their brain around the level of intrusion in their lives and the suffering that will be caused for millions as a result of ICE becoming the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the government:
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
.@benzipperer.org's new report has estimates on the job losses that will be caused by Trump's deportations - including state by state estimates and for the construction and child care industries:
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 09/07/2025
EPI's @dcosta.bsky.social was featured on @wbur.org's‬ "On Point" talking about America's reliance on migrant farm workers. Listen here: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...
wbur.org
Why American farmers rely on unauthorized workers
More than 40% of hired farm laborers in the U.S. are immigrants without legal status. President Trump campaigned on a plan for mass deportation. But even he admits -- the country can't survive without...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
My colleague @benzipperer.org estimates if Trump meets deportation targets of 1 million per year, it'll lead to massive job losses: 6 million total, 44% of them jobs belonging to US-born workers. If Trump gets $160 billion in new enforcement money, he might pull it off. www.epi.org/blog/the-rep...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Republican reconciliation bill will nearly triple funding for ICE, increase the detention budget from $3.4 billion to *$45* billion - giving Trump a total of $185 billion to turn the US into a police state. And there's ZERO new funds for protecting workers:
epi.org
House Republican budget bill gives Trump $185 billion to carry out his mass deportation agenda—while doing nothing for workers: Immigration enforcement would have 80 times more funding than labor stan...
House Republicans recently passed Trump’s budget reconciliation legislation that massively redistributes income from some of the poorest households to the richest. It is now under consideration in the...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
It will take a police state to remove 14 million US residents, and we're well on our way to getting there, and it's what Trump wants - at least for Democratic led states. If the reconciliation bill becomes law, the money allocated for immigration enforcement could mean there's no turning back:
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
I spoke with mask bloc organizers about how they prepared for the impact of tariffs on masks that they hand out to their communities for free at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Trump's tariffs will drive up PPE costs—but organizers are ready
Facing trade war and Covid denial, mask blocs are "looking five steps ahead."
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SEIU California @seiuca.org · 07/06/2025
When Huerta says “We are a power” He means the farmworker, the janitor, the nurse, the home care provider. The workers. And he’s right. You can’t detain a movement. #FreeDavidHuerta #FreeThemAll
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Been saying this for weeks. In order to build a mass deportation machine to round up and deport 4% of the entire goddamn population, you must first build the police state.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
ICE and other feds are dressed and armed like they’re in a war zone when going after migrant workers. Cosplaying with heavy artillery. Republicans are on the verge of *tripling* the budget for these people and quadrupling their prison budget. Scenes like these will occur much more frequently.
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Immigration enforcement is and has always been anti-worker and anti-union - a tool for bosses to use against workers who might dare to stand up for their rights and demand that they be treated and paid fairly:
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Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 05/06/2025
The House Republican budget bill gives Trump $185 billion to carry out his extreme mass deportation agenda—while providing NO new funding for federal agencies that protect workers. Immigration enforcement would have 🚨80x🚨more money than labor standards enforcement: www.epi.org/blog/house-r...
epi.org
House Republican budget bill gives Trump $185 billion to carry out his mass deportation agenda—while doing nothing for workers: Immigration enforcement would have 80 times more funding than labor stan...
House Republicans recently passed Trump’s budget reconciliation legislation that massively redistributes income from some of the poorest households to the richest. It is now under consideration in the...
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DC @dcosta.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
The budget reconciliation bill from Congressional Republicans will increase immigration enforcement funding to unimaginable levels - it is currently funded at $30 billion for 2025 - the reconciliation bill would add $143 billion, giving Trump $173 billion to detain, deport, and terrorize immigrants:
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