Why are We Threatened by Immigrants?
Two passengers enter an empty railroad compartment. They have taken control of the whole compartment, taking up most of the luggage space, laying their belongings on the seat, and sitting wherever they desire. This power is short lived though. The compartment doors slide open to reveal two new passengers, their arrival is not welcomed. The first two passengers reluctantly make room for the newcomers. The first passengers and have made the compartment their territory, viewing the second passengers as intruders. Why are the initial passengers so threatened by the later ones? Author and scholar Hans Magnus Enzensberger, states that there is no rational way to justify this behaviour. We can see this same behaviour today in discussions of immigration reform. Today’s immigration legislature has been tirelessly shaped for over 300 years.
From the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the Refugee Act of 1980 and even the ongoing policy conversations about the border wall, the country has not stopped talking about reform. The term “immigration reform” was initially meant to refer to people who arrived or stayed in the country to get legal permission to remain in the states. Recently, the term has been coined by individuals wanting to tighten immigration laws. Amid all these conversations and changes, the immigration population continues to grow but at a slower rate than the 2007–09 recession (Migration Policy Institution). But unfortunately, this may not be a positive thing.
The Conversation Today
Today’s immigration legislature has been tirelessly shaped for over 300 years. From the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the Refugee Act of 1980 and even the ongoing policy conversations about the border wall, the country has not stopped talking about reform. The term “immigration reform” was initially meant to refer to people who arrived or stayed in the country to get legal permission to remain in the states. Recently, the term has been coined by individuals wanting to tighten immigration laws. Amid all these conversations and changes, the immigration population continues to grow but at a slower rate than the 2007–09 recession (Migration Policy Institution). But unfortunately, this may not be a positive thing.
Immigration has made strong and lasting impacts to our culture and our economy. In order to sustain this growth, the government must establish fair and ethical immigration reform, building a better infrastructure while simultaneously reconstructing visa criteria allowing a clearer path to citizenship. By doing this, we would be able to finally implement the structured reform that benefits both the American economy and Americans themselves.
Do Immigrants Take Our Jobs?
Contrary to popular belief, immigrants do not take jobs away from hard working Americans. In fact, by increasing the number of workers in the labor force, immigrants enhance the productive capacity of the U.S. economy (The Brookings Institute). When immigrants enter our job force, they not only fuel economic growth by creating more supply and demand but also open up more job opportunities. If the flow of foreigners into the workforce decreased, it could harm businesses with fixed staffing needs, or lead to underutilization of housing and other similar capital (Saiz 2007). They also hold different occupations and different educational degrees than native Americans, posing no threat or competition for jobs that Americans these days go for. “The impact of immigrant labor on the wages of native-born workers is low… However, undocumented workers often work the unpleasant, back-breaking jobs that native-born workers are not willing to do” (Vanda Felbab-Brown), this means that immigrants and natives are not interchangeable within the workforce, leaving a majority of high skilled jobs for natives and more labor focused jobs for themselves. On the less likely chance that immigrants pursue a high skill career, they increase innovation which benefits the United States as a whole. Now what about native low skilled workers? Are their jobs threatened by low skill immigrants? The answer is no.
Studies show a 0 to -1 percent impact on the wages of low skilled natives (Blau and Mackie 2017). This results in a positive impact on low skilled native wages, causing an overall positive increase. Unfortunately, mass deportation would only cause our economy to drop drastically. In order to keep our economy from failing and implement stricter reforms, the government must create a legal visa system for jobs that Americans do not want, in addition to providing a safety net for native workers.
Crime Rates vs Immigration
Following this debate on immigration, There are many people in power who use immigrants as a way to incite fear within all of our communities. By demonizing a whole group of people, politicians are able to essentially brainwash the masses and push this anti immigration agenda. Even though some migrants do commit crimes, a majority of them do not and increased immigration does not cause increased crime. This is only a rumor. Immigrants are way less likely to cause a crime and be incarcerated than natives. Michael Light, a criminologist at the University of Wisconsin, researched the correlation between the increase in illegal immigration to the states and crime rates. Light states, “Increased undocumented immigration since 1990 has not increased violent crime over that same time period,” debunking the claim that crime rates have increased due to the flow of immigrants coming in. We can further examine this correlation within the state of Texas. Because it is on the Mexico-United States border, Texas has a high rate of immigration. Now, if immigration caused crime to increase then wouldn’t border counties have a high crime rate? This actually not the case at all. Border counties have far less crime per capita than American counties that are not along the border (Cato Institution). In fact,
“If the entire United States in 2017 had crime rates identical to those in countries along the U.S. — Mexico boarder, there would have been 5,720 fewer homicides, 159,036 fewer property crimes, and 99,205 fewer violent crimes across the entire country.”
Border walls wouldn’t have an effect on crime rates either. El Paso’s border fence did not lower the crime rate nor make a dramatic change to the community surrounding it, it was just a waste of money and resources. There is also evidence that providing legal resident status to unauthorized immigrants causes a reduction in crime (Baker 2015). So, by providing illegal and incoming immigrants with a fair and easy path to citizenship, they’ll be less inclined to commit crimes therefore reducing crime rates greatly.
Becoming A Citizen
When implementing reform, government officials need to take into account how long and arduous the road to citizenship actually is. In order to keep out as many illegal immigrants as possible, we must provide them with an easier way to legally live in this country. Today, immigrants are constantly discouraged from getting legal documentation. In order to be considered for citizenship, one must first get a green card. There are four paths leading to a green card: employment-based, family-based, diversity visa, and immigration through investment. Once they’ve chosen a path, the individual must wait 5 to 15 years before they are given their green card. Then after the green card, it takes around 5 to 7 years to become a permanent resident (Immigration Road). This time varies dramatically affected by many factors such as, visa availability, labor certification/background check delays, the applicant’s qualifications, nationality, residence, and profession. Immigration lawyer David Leopold states that
“When someone comes to me who is undocumented, in most cases, 99 percent of the cases, they are going to have to go back their country of origin to get the green card. The problem is once they step across the border they are now barred for 10 years,”
and for some that means leaving their families behind. Unfortunately, our legal immigration system is so restrictive that without unauthorized immigrants the U.S. population of the foreign-born would only be about 9.5 percent of our population — a 28 percent reduction in present numbers. In order for us to completely get rid of illegal immigration, we must implement strong and straightforward immigration reform that way the people that come to this country are the ones that are committed to becoming citizens.
The Immigrant Is Important
At the age of 19, my father packed up his bags and left everything he knew to migrate to the land of opportunities. Through hard work and determination, my father was able to not only create a better life for himself, but also me. I can’t think of a single person that would not want to give themselves a better chance at life and to make a name of themselves, just like my father did. However, impending reforms and prejudices are stopping people from being able to do this. From the elimination of protections for DACA recipients to the separation of at LEAST 2,700 children from their parents at the border to the extermination of the US refugee admissions program; the path to citizenship is pushed further and further away. In order to keep our society and economy strong, we must push the government to create clear and moral immigration reform. For a country that is built by immigrants, you would think there would be a higher level of acceptance and understanding by those seeking to provide a better life for themselves and for their loved ones.
Works Cited
- Griswold, Daniel. “Immigrants Have Enriched American Culture and Enhanced Our Influence in the World.” Cato Institute, 18 Feb. 2002, www.cato.org/publications/commentary/immigrants-have-enriched-american-culture-enhanced-our-influence-world
- Hoban, Brennan, and Brennan Hoban. “Do Immigrants ‘Steal’ Jobs from American Workers?” Brookings, Brookings, 19 July 2018, www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2017/08/24/do-immigrants-steal-jobs-from-american-workers/.
- Nunn, Ryan, et al. “A Dozen Facts about Immigration.” Brookings, Brookings, 9 Oct. 2018, www.brookings.edu/research/a-dozen-facts-about-immigration/.
- Chang, Alvin. “Watch How Immigration in America Has Changed in the Last 200 Years.” Vox, Vox, 3 Aug. 2017, www.vox.com/2016/1/4/10709366/immigration-america-200-years.
