AUSTIN — Donald Trump promised to increase deportations, but the reality of his new immigration enforcement policies is sending shock waves across Texas as the potential impact sinks in. 

Under the policies, announced in a pair of memos this week, undocumented immigrants who are suspected of even minor crimes are now priorities for deportation.

“Even if you’re an American citizen, they’ve got discretion to stop and interrogate you,” said John Escobedo, president of the Huntsville chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “I don’t think you’re going to have anybody leaving a green card at home.”

Andy Hogue, communications director for the Travis County Republican Party, applauded the policies.

“While there are no easy answers, the result of not following the laws we already have on the books has resulted in a true humanitarian crisis — especially in our border communities where poverty and violence continue to increase,” Hogue said. “We support a consistent and humane application of immigration law, and stand by our president in daring to apply the law as-written.”

But Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, said that the policies will result in “hunting expeditions,” on the part of law enforcement and economic loss chaos on the Texas border, where he said U.S. officials will, “push them through the international bridges.”

The Department of Homeland Security in 2009 estimated that Texas is home to 1.68 million undocumented immigrants, second only to California. 

“Mr. Trump has the impression that he has a magic wand,” Payan said. “There’s only so many beds, there’s only so much cash, there’s only so much food.”

Jodi Goodwin, a Harlingen immigration and naturalization attorney, said the number of inquiries from immigrants at her office has been on “a skyrocket” since the general election in November. 

Goodwin said pressure on those who might be perceived as immigrants has already ramped up under the new administration.

Goodwin said that legitimate, multi-million dollar investors have in the last three months had “horrible, humiliating experiences” and been pulled to the side of the road and detained.

Some are green-card holders, some are investment-visa holders, some are multi-national corporation executives,” Goodwin said. 

Now, Goodwin said, some of them are “talking about Plan B,” and the possibility of taking their businesses to Canada, Costa Rica, Panama or Spain. 

Payan said that Texans who may support the president’s policies may not yet have a feel for the economic impact of expelling upwards of 1 million immigrants: a tighter labor market, and higher prices, for example. 

Economist Ray Perry in 2016 studied the economic impact of the undocumented workforce on Texas. 

“… The total net economic benefits of undocumented workers in Texas are estimated to include $663.4 billion in total expenditures and almost $290.3 billion in output [gross product] each year, as well as more than 3.3 million jobs when indirect and induced effects are considered,” Perry wrote.

The National Bureau of Economic Research recently reported that the president’s undocumented-immigrant crackdown could cost up to $5 trillion over the coming decade.

Jaime Puente, communications associate for the TRUST Coalition, said the new policies’ human cost will be hard to calculate, but equally real. 

The coalition advocates bringing “common sense immigration” to Texas.

Puente pointed to the fact that many Texas families are “mixed-status,” with some parents who are undocumented and children who are U.S. citizens.

“Are we going to kick them out too?” he asked. “Are we going to put them in the foster-care system?”

Tammy Blair, who chairs the Cherokee County Republican Party, said the nation’s immigration laws are “messed up,” but for the most part folks in her neck of the woods support the new deportation initiative.

“It’s about justice, not fairness,” Blair said. “Just because a child was born here doesn’t mean they have to stay here ’til their mother gets legal.”

John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jaustin@cnhi.com.