“Immigrants take our jobs, become public burdens, compete with our own poor, and don’t contribute to our economy. What’s more, they can’t assimilate and ultimately divide our society with a mixing of cultures to which we can’t accommodate. Immigrants are uneducated and will only end up creating overpopulated urban areas.”
This could pass as a news story you would read in 1844 America about the Irish ― or the Chinese later in the same century. Although we may feel that we would only find this in our history textbooks, the vitriolic phenomenon is being recycled today.
In 21st-century America, we have social scientists, non-partisan think tanks and academic institutions that provide copious amounts of evidence that supports why immigrants are more contributive than deteriorative to our sociopolitical sphere, economy and mainstream culture. It seems we are seeing that most of the myths about the large influx of immigration within the past two decades ― or the “invasion,” as the fear-mongering groups put it ― have been nothing more than that.
Here is where we need to see a clear picture. It is understandably very difficult to find anyone making a case in favor of illegal immigration. There are valuable perspectives that argue against a dangerously pervious border for the sake of national security and a suppression of drug cartels. However, we mustn’t go down the slippery slope of buying into the conceptualization anti-immigrant groups have about undocumented immigrants ― or “illegal aliens” ― to use their xenophobic dysphemism.
Undocumented immigrants have clearly demonstrated their primary interests: working, giving their children better educational opportunities and sending most of their hard earned dollars back home in the form of remittances. It is vital to understand that many developing nations have often depended significantly on the strength of remittances to sustain a large part of their economy.
Even more vital to understand is the reason why people immigrate illegally in the first place. The motives are almost purely supply and demand economics. Where there is work ― particularly within low to semi-skilled, segmented labor markets ― there is demand. The result? With consistent labor in these areas, there are then consumers who replenish their earnings into the economy. Couple this with the millions in tax revenue, unclaimed Social Security accumulations and the entrepreneurial drive these immigrants often bring, and we begin to view the bigger picture with a type of social gestalt effect. Ironically, the pro-business GOP fails to come to terms with this vivid reality.
The other side of the coin also has the “illegal” element to it. With naturalization protocol, it is excruciatingly difficult for a family to go through the legal hurdles and monetary costs of becoming a permanent resident. Backlogging, selective immigration courts and the superabundance of applicants make the legitimate form of immigration a goal attained by only those who are sufficiently financially prepared for the long transition.
Even if the simple act of empathy does not convince us to allow for an immigration reform that favors humane consideration for the undocumented immigrants here, just looking at the facts should have some effect. What is happening under the Obama administration is an escalation of deportations and border security funding. Many of the times the deportations aren’t solely for criminals who have committed serious offenses, but rather law-abiding fathers and mothers who are being ripped apart from their families. With the racist undertones behind laws from states like Arizona, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Is this the America the Statue of Liberty poem depicts?
So many ingredients in this country ― from Bank of America, the Kennedys, Frank Sinatra, to Hollywood ― are immigrants or products of the efforts of immigrants. It has essentially come to define who we are as Americans. Unless you are Native American or have indigenous ancestors in the West, it is almost certain you are the living outcome of immigration. It’s in our heritage.
Manny Guisa is a senior film and electronic media major and guest writer for the Daily 49er.
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