DEBUNKING SOME OF THE MYTHS ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Transcription

1 DEBUNKING SOME OF THE MYTHS ABOUT IMMIGRATION

2 Many people today have strong beliefs about immigration, which are frequently based on erroneous facts and incorrect assumptions. However, it can be hard to have a conversation about why anti-immigration talking points are just not factually correct and are frequently racist; particularly when discussing the issue with white families, white friend groups, and white peers. This booklet is meant to offer some support for that conversation.

3 SO FIRST OFF, WHAT CONSTITUTES AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT? There are four types of legal or documented immigrants in the US. 1 Naturalized citizen: must be at least 18, has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, and has resided in the US for five years (three if married to a US citizen) Lawful permanent resident (green card holder): a non-citizen who may work and reside in the the US. The main visa petitions to get a green card are: 1) family-based, which applies to people who are siblings or children of citizens, or spouses or unmarried children of green-card holders; 2) employment, which applies to priority workers (people with extraordinary skills like researchers or executives), people with advanced degrees, or skilled workers in fields where there are no qualified workers in the US; or 3) diversity-based, meaning the US doesn t get a lot of immigrants from that country. So if you are from a country that has a lot of immigrants to the US, and you don t have special skills, you are likely out of luck. Conditional permanent resident: spouses and children of LPRs, who must file to have conditional status removed within two years. Refugees. To be granted asylum, a refugee must 1) have a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, or politics; 2) not be a security risk or a perpetrator of persecution; and 3) never have committed certain crimes. What s more, the refugee is only allowed to stay in the US as long as it is unsafe to be in their country of origin. Any other person who is permanently residing in the United States is an undocumented immigrant. This means that unless you already have close family in the US, have extraordinary job-related skills, or live in a country where very few people go to the US, it will be very difficult to legally come into the country. The diversity and employment visas, in particular, limit the people who most need the opportunities in the United States. Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

4 AREN T IMMIGRANTS BRINGING CRIME INTO OUR COUNTRY? Actually, no. In fact, the opposite is true. According to a report by the American Immigration Council, higher immigration corresponds with lower crime rates.2 From 1990 to 2013, the foreign-born share of the US population went from 7.9% to 13.1%, and undocumented immigrants went from 3.5 million to 11.2 million. However, during this same time period, FBI data indicates that violent crime declined by 48%, and property crime fell by 41%. The same report indicates that immigrants are also less likely to commit crimes than native-born members of the population. The AIC analyzed data from the 2010 American Community Survey, and reported that (as of 2010) roughly 1.6% of immigrant males aged are incarcerated, compared to 3.3% of native-born (males aged are the demographic by far the most likely to be incarcerated). This disparity in incarceration rates has existed for decades, as is shown by data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 censuses. And in case you think that this is just the product of an effective immigration system that deports immigrants rather than holding them in US prisons, think again. Undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the US serve their prison sentences and are then deported. In fact, immigrants are overrepresented if anything, because a large portion of their crimes are simply immigration offenses.

5 WELL, THEY STILL CAME HERE ILLEGALLY. WE SHOULDN T REWARD BREAKING THE LAW. Yes, undocumented citizens came to the US illegally. And yes, in a way, granting them a path to citizenship is rewarding people for breaking the law. By the same token, ending prohibition, eliminating anti-sodomy laws, and removing Jim Crow segregation laws also rewarded people who broke the law. Sometimes the laws that we have are unjust and actively harmful to our country, and when that is the case, it is better to remove those laws rather than cracking down on lawbreakers. The United States decided that banning alcohol, gay intimate relationships, and racial integration were bad laws, so the US overturned them. We can do the same with immigration reform. And if empathy doesn t sway you, how about economics? It s very expensive to detain and deport people. According to the Center for American Progress, it would cost an average of $10,700 to remove each unauthorized immigrant.3 What s more, tough immigration laws lose money. Arizona s SB 1070 (the show me your papers law) made the state tourism industry lose $250 million and 3,000 jobs in one year.4 WHY COULDN T THEY JUST WAIT THEIR TURN? It s not that easy. No more than 7% of visas can be issued to natives of one country per fiscal year.5 That means for countries with a lot of applicants, such as Mexico, the wait list can be up to 20 years. In the meantime, families are apart from one another, children are separated from parents, and spouses have to live in different countries. It is also not very easy to get an employment visa. To qualify, the employer must ask for the specific foreign employee, and the visa is only allowed if there is not a qualified US worker available to take the job first.6 Most qualifying professions for permanent immigration require high levels of education and professional experience, which does not help immigrants fleeing poverty.

6 NO, IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT REALLY TAKING OUR JOBS One of the most common themes of anti-immigration activists (and sadly, our current president) is that immigrants are stealing jobs from native-born US citizens. These people think that we have to think of our citizens first, and that by deporting immigrants, jobs will be freed up for unemployed US citizens. This is not accurate. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, removing unauthorized workers would not automatically free up all of their jobs. This is because removing millions of workers would also remove millions of entrepreneurs, consumers, and taxpayers, meaning that the economy would actually lose jobs. In fact, immigrants create jobs by establishing businesses, and in 2014, continued to be almost twice as likely as native-born to become entrepreneurs. 7 Moreover, immigrants and native-born workers are not competing for jobs with one another, even during times of high unemployment. Foreign-born and native workers differ in occupation, education, and where they live. If they are in the same occupation, they usually specialize in different tasks. Native-born workers are usually able to take higher-paying jobs that require better English skills than many foreign-born workers possess. 7 According to the Cato Institute s testimony to the House Judiciary Sub-committee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, in today s economy, there are more low-skilled jobs and fewer native-born workers who want to do them. Employing immigrants for low-skilled jobs enable sectors of the economy like retail, hotels, and agriculture to expand, which in turn creates middle-class jobs in areas like management, bookkeeping, and marketing for citizens. Rather than stealing jobs and competing over employment, immigrants and native-born workers tend to complement one another s skills. YES, IMMIGRANTS DO PAY TAXES Immigrants paid $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in And allowing undocumented immigrants to work legally in the United States would increase their contributions by an estimated $2 billion per year. 8 According to the Congressional Budget Office, 50% to 75% of unauthorized immigrants paid taxes in What s more, creating a path to citizenship for those undocumented immigrants could reduce deficits by $175 billion over the first 10 years, and by at least $700 billion in the second decade. Whichever way you slice the numbers, immigrants are actually a huge boost to the economy, and they will only help the economy more if they are allowed a path to citizenship.

7 AND IMMIGRANTS ARE DEFINITELY NOT LEECHING OFF THE SYSTEM Another popular conservative perception is that immigrants, especially unauthorized ones, are just draining the system of public benefits. This couldn t be further from the truth. Undocumented immigrants don t qualify for welfare, food stamps, or Medicaid. Legal immigrants must have been in the US for five years to receive any benefits. Instead, immigrants are paying taxes into the system, without reaping the rewards available to citizens. This is especially true in the case of Social Security. As of 2010, about 7 million people were working in the US illegally, and 3.1 million of those were using fake Social Security numbers, and thus paying into Social Security. Undocumented immigrants contributed $12 billion to Social Security in 2010, and due to their unauthorized status, they are unlikely to ever benefit from their contributions. In fact, Social Security projects that without immigrants, the system will no longer be able to pay full benefits by They are paying an estimated $15 billion a year into Social Security with no intention of ever collecting benefits. Without the estimated 3.1 million undocumented immigrants paying into the system, Social Security would have entered persistent shortfall of tax revenue to cover payouts starting in Stephen Goss Chief Actuary of the SSA

8 WAIT, IS IMMIGRATION FROM MEXICO REALLY INCREASING? Contrary to popular wisdom, no, it s not. In fact, analysis of government data from the Pew Research Center suggests that immigration rates from Mexico are actually going down. 3 million Mexican immigrants came into the US from 1995 to 2000, but only 1.4 Mexican immigrants entered the country from 2005 to The immigration rate decreased by over 50% since its peak. In addition, 1.4 million Mexican-born people moved from the US back to Mexico between 2005 and 2010, roughly double the rate from 1995 to Based on these trends, the Pew Center believes that it s likely that more people were going back to Mexico than coming from Mexico into the US in the past few years.10 Something else to consider while it s true that Mexico has provided the largest ever wave of immigration from one country to the United States in terms of absolute numbers, it s not necessarily true in terms of percentage. When measuring a share of the immigrant population at the time, immigration waves from Germany and Ireland in the 19th century were equally big.

9 TODAY S IMMIGRANTS AREN T ASSIMILATING LIKE PREVIOUS IMMIGRANTS DID. AND WHY DON T THEY JUST SPEAK ENGLISH? Immigrant assimilation is never perfect and always takes time, but it s going well. The United States has traditionally been a country of immigrants, but previous waves of largely European immigrants met with their fair share of resistance. The Philadelphia anti-catholic riots of 1844, the Know Nothing party promising to purify US politics by ending the influence of Irish Catholics and other immigrants, and the Bennett Law of 1890 threatening to close down German-language elementary schools are all examples of the United States history of nativism. Looking through the other side of history, we can see that German, Irish, and Catholic people managed to assimilate just fine, and today s immigrants are doing the same. Some worry that white people will soon be a minority in the United States. It s true. The census bureau says that whites will be a minority by 2043 if immigration and birth rates remain on their current trajectories. And so what? Without any negative consequence that would accompany whites becoming a minority, simply objecting to a non-white majority in and of itself is a racist sentiment. Some conservatives have argued that immigrants are weakening US culture by not always speaking English. But frankly, there is no legal basis for favoring English speakers, as the United States does not have an official language. What s more, the culture of the US is not static. It has undergone significant changes since the first European settlers came to Jamestown in 1607, and it will continue to change. Unless you are Native American, you don t really have any basis to complain about one stage of US culture being better than another. Rather than complaining about how immigrants are ruining the United States culture, why not appreciate contributions from other cultures that are enriching our previously existing one? Immigrants bring their food, culture, learning, and customs to the United States, and expose us to new ideas and practices that we might never have known about. Since only 36% of Americans hold a valid passport, according to the State Department, we should appreciate that international culture can come to us. Immigration also helps us retain the best global talent. Ever wonder why the software industry came out so strongly against President Trump s immigration proposals? Those companies struggle to find enough competent US citizens for high-ranking jobs, and must rely on immigrants to remain competitive in a global market. Immigrants do not weaken our culture; they add to it.

10 CAN ACCEPTING REFUGEES FROM COUNTRIES COMPROMISED BY TERRORISM BE SAFE? Yes. The threat of accepting refugees has been exaggerated to an unbelievable degree. Refugees are fleeing the same terrorists that we are fighting. They certainly do not support them. Some conservatives posit that ISIS or other terrorist groups might sneak an insurgent into the United States by having him or her pose as a refugee. This is, simply, extremely unlikely. The Syrian refugees that many conservatives are so worried about are 73% women and children.11 Aside from that, refugees are the most strictly vetted of any travelers to the United States. The average time from UN referral to arrival as a refugee in the United States is months, and all refugees undergo an extremely thorough vetting process, as detailed in the infographic below, adopted from the State Department s website. If red flags or inconsistencies appear at any step during this vetting process, the case is put on hold until inconsistencies are cleared up. Problematic results to any step of the process means that the refugee s case will be denied. Even if a terrorist were able to somehow fool the State Department, he or she would be unable to pick their resettlement location, and would likely end up not in the US.12 Only an extremely inept terrorist would attempt to enter the country as a refugee.

11

12 KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! If you are or know an undocumented immigrant, it is important to be aware that undocumented immigrants still have rights, so that police, immigration officials, or others cannot violate them. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1896 that [t]he Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is not confined to the protection of citizens. It says: Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. These provisions are universal in their application to all persons within the territorial jurisdiction, without regard to any differences of race, of color, or nationality. (Wong Wing v. United States) The right to due process means that you are owed a jury trial and the right to defend yourself if arrested, and the right to defend yourself against civil matters in court. You also have the right to defend yourself against deportation or removal from the United States. You have the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, and representation by an attorney (not paid for by US). Undocumented immigrants have a constitutional right under the Fourth Amendment to deny any officer from entering their residence without either their consent or a warrant, meaning that if ICE knocks at the door, you don t have to answer. (Almeida-Sanchez v. United States) Undocumented immigrants also have a Fifth Amendment right against selfincrimination and a Sixth Amendment right to a speedy and public trial. This means that you do not have to answer questions about your citizenship or immigration status if you do not wish to. (Almeida-Sanchez v. United States) The Supreme Court also ruled that all children, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to a free public education. (Plyler v. Doe) The law does require that non-citizens who are 18 and up and who have valid US immigration documents to carry those documents at all times. If you are undocumented, it is safest to not answer questions about your citizenship or immigration status. Non-citizens also have the right to call their consulate if arrested. Your consulate may help find a lawyer or offer other help. If you have further questions about your rights, contact an immigration lawyer or an organization serving immigrants.

13

14 HOW CAN I BE AN ALLY TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS? Come out as an ally and be vocal in your role. When you voice your support, you create a safe space for immigrants in your community. However, being an ally doesn t make you an authority. Don t speak for immigrants; work with them. Learn the correct terms for immigrants. Calling immigrants illegal and aliens dehumanizes them, and is a tool used by xenophobes to make them seem different. Using the term illegal oversimplifies a human problem. Instead, use undocumented or unauthorized. If in doubt, ask how an individual would like to be described. Get informed. Be aware of the current laws on immigration, and how to keep your immigrant friends safe. Immigration law is complex, but immigration issues are frequently oversimplified in the media and politics. Use your privilege. As a citizen, you have a lot of privilege that immigrants do not. For example, it is much riskier for undocumented immigrants to protest and lobby politicians for fear that their immigration status may be revealed, causing them to lose their homes or jobs. As a citizen, you can do the same thing and risk much less. Get involved! The election is over, but that does not mean that your chance to have a voice in the political process is over as well. Call your senator and member of Congress and be vocal in your opposition to xenophobic and frequently racist anti-immigration policies and laws. Websites like Daily Action and 5 Calls allow users to easily talk to their representatives in Congress by providing a script and automatically connecting callers to their member of Congress once they type in their zip code. Most of the country is with you! According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 13 65% of US adults favor a path to citzenship for undocumented immigrants, and only 19% are in favor of deporting those immigrants back to their home countries.

15 GROUPS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT (AND DONATE TO) The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) The ACLU has been fighting tirelessly in court to block Donald Trump s unconstitutional immigration ban, as well as providing lawyers to people who need them and providing helpful guides on their website for immigrants to know their rights and how to deal with police. The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) The NILC represents and protects the rights of low-income immigrants currently living in the United States through litigation, educating decision makers, and leading research and communications. Border Angels Border Angels is a non-profit run entirely by volunteers that advocates for social justice around the US-Mexico border. It offers educational and awareness programs and pushes for immigration reform. National Immigration Forum The National Immigration Forum provides multiple programs to train and support immigrants to integrate into the workforce, as well as legal support to gain citizenship. Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) www. maldef.org MALDEF advocates for all Mexican Americans and their rights, but specializes in pro-immigration litigation and develops public policy for immigration reform. Sources report_final.pdf

16 Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. Bertrand Russell In worshipping their nationhood men worship themselves and scorn others, and that is no healthy thing. C.J. Sansom