Tennessee taxpayers are projected to pay approximately $1,961 each to fund the Trump administration's mass deportation policies, according to a federal budget analysis released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

The deportation push is a central pillar of Trump's 2024 campaign platform, in which he pledged to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. The think tank developed an online calculator that estimates the average taxpayer's share of the $268.9 billion total cost of deportations projected through the end of President Donald Trump's term. The tool draws on IRS income data, federal expenditure estimates from the Institute for Policy Studies, and other datasets to calculate the per-taxpayer price tag across every U.S. city, county, and state, accompanied by written analyses of the findings.

According to the calculator, Tennessee's taxpayers collectively will shoulder nearly $4.5 billion of the total deportation costs.

EPI, founded in 1986 and partially funded by labor unions, is described as a left-leaning think tank. The organization also calculated potential tradeoffs in the federal government's immigration enforcement spending. The same level of funding, the organization estimated, could alternatively cover the salaries of 21,401 firefighters, fund Medicaid healthcare for 246,018 patients, or support the hiring of 18,750 teachers.

Gordon Lafer, a professor at the University of Oregon's Labor Education and Research Center and a research associate at EPI, said the organization built the tool because "we think it's important for people to know exactly how much money is being taken out of their communities to pay for mass deportations."

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement in response to questions about the data, saying "it's ridiculous that investments to enforce the law are making headlines while the devastating consequences of breaking it went completely ignored under the Biden administration."

The spokesperson asserted that illegal immigration costs taxpayers over $150 billion annually — a disputed figure that varies significantly depending on methodology and ideology. The clash reflects a broader, long-running debate between organizations on opposite ends of the political spectrum: conservative-leaning groups tend to emphasize the fiscal burden of unauthorized immigration, while progressive-leaning organizations highlight the cost of enforcement and the economic contributions of immigrant workers.

The DHS statement also included a directive to immigrants in the country without legal status, encouraging them to "take control of their departure with the CBP Home App" to request a $2,600 stipend and a free flight out of the United States.

"Deportations are absolutely vital to stop the bleeding," the spokesperson said.