There are at least four unmistakable hints that spooky season is upon us: Doorsteps bloom with eerie jack-o-lanterns, skeletons sway in the breeze, cobwebs weave their way across porches — and former President Donald Trump continues his macabre promises of the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.

While there’s much to be fearful of in the lead-up to Halloween and the 2024 presidential election, perhaps none is more bone-chilling than the nightmare of mass deportations — one that would haunt Maryland’s families and economy for generations to come.

In the abstract, it may seem easy to talk about mass deportations as though undocumented residents are somehow separate from the rest of American society. But here in Maryland, they are very much an integral part of our families, with approximately 640,000 people living in mixed-status households — including 120,000 U.S. citizen children. When Mr. Trump promises the “largest deportation operation in history,” what he is actually promising is the largest family separation operation in U.S. history.

Imagine the trauma of immigration raids playing out across neighborhoods from Silver Spring to Salisbury. Imagine schoolchildren coming home to empty houses, wondering if their parents will ever return. How does it serve us as a state to devastate nearly half-a-million families and leave 120,000 U.S. citizen children without one or both of their parents? The simple answer is that such indiscriminate cruelty serves no one except the politicians who demagogue for political gain.

The economic consequences would be equally staggering. According to a comprehensive report by the nonpartisan American Immigration Council, mass deportations would cause our nation’s GDP to drop by as much as 6.8% — an even larger impact than the Great Recession. Not only would this bring our economy to a grinding halt, but it would cost taxpayers nearly a trillion dollars to execute. And for what? To remove workers who have been contributing to our economy for years.

It bears repeating that undocumented immigrants constitute an essential core of our labor force — nearly 5% of total U.S. workers — including an outsized 13% of construction workers and 12% of agricultural workers. If you think affordable housing is hard to come by now, just wait until authorities remove those critical workers from the construction industry. If you think grocery prices are high today, imagine what will happen when crops are left to rot in the fields due to a lack of agricultural workers. Got milk? Thank immigrant labor. Craving crabs? Same story.

The fact of the matter is that deporting these people will not spur Americans into filling those jobs — it will lead to abandoned construction sites, rising mortgage payments and food prices that stretch already strained household budgets.

It’s also important to consider the tax contributions undocumented families make, which in 2022 alone amounted to approximately $780 million — ranking ninth among states in terms of contributions. These funds are critical to sustaining services that benefit all Marylanders, like education and health care. Removing these families would gut our state’s tax base, especially in cities like Baltimore, which is already contending with a shrinking population and dwindling tax revenue. Without their contributions, the burden of that shortfall would fall on every Maryland taxpayer, leading to cuts in essential services or higher taxes for all of us.

Given the steady drumbeat of misinformation about immigrants, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the concept of mass deportations has bewitched more Americans in recent years. Despite these harmful falsehoods and their impact on public perception, polling shows that voters still prefer a pathway to citizenship — in fact, a recent University of Maryland survey across six swing states found that respondents favored an earned pathway to citizenship over mass deportation 58% to 26%.

Most Americans understand that undocumented residents are deeply integrated into our communities, our economy and our workforce. What we need is a reasonable, humane alternative to mass deportation — one that includes an earned pathway to citizenship for those who have been living here for a number of years and contributing to our society.

So as we enter the heart of spooky season, Americans must confront the real horror lurking behind the promises of mass deportations. Are we willing to cast a dark shadow over Maryland’s legacy as a land of hope and opportunity, or will we choose to illuminate the path forward with compassion and common-sense immigration reforms that protect families, live up to our humanitarian ideals, strengthen our workforce and bolster our economy?

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah (X: @krishvignarajah) is president and CEO of Baltimore-based nonprofit Global Refuge.