"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!"
- Emma Lazarus
As a home-schooled child, I remember having to memorize that poem which sits at the base of the Statue of Liberty. It’s stuck with me because of how beautifully it captures the dream of America, a place where the world’s rejects can find opportunity and make a new start. For generations, immigrants have contributed to the diversity and vibrancy that has made America strong. And it is this lack of homogeneity that makes America’s success as a democracy all the more incredible. We are of different races, religions and cultures and yet all American, and better for it.
But there can be too much of a good thing, and for a country to maintain this welcoming view toward immigrants, they must also believe that there is a fair, orderly and lawful process by which this occurs. A nation must be able to control its border, no matter its posture toward immigrants.
We have been failing at this for quite some time. It was a problem under Trump until he imposed draconian measures predicated on the COVID emergency, and has been far worse under Biden:
Most of these immigrants are not technically “illegal,” but are rather exploiting the asylum process which allows them to claim asylum before a border agent and then be allowed to stay until their case is heard. But the backlog of processing these requests has been growing for years and has only been getting worse. Would-be asylees can often stay in the US for years before their hearing, making this a pretty gaping loophole in our immigration policy. And while Biden has ended some Trump-era policies that had been effective in deterring immigrant arrivals (some of which had to end when the COVID emergency declaration expired), he has been very slow to acknowledge this problem or push for a solution.
Last year, however, the Biden administration finally started to indicate openness to a serious border bill that would address this problem, and in February a bipartisan group of Senators led by Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma presented a serious bill (as part of a larger package that included aid to Ukraine). Biden came out in support of it, and it would likely have made a meaningful difference by granting the authority to close the border during periods of high crossings, increased funding for border patrol and processing of asylum claims, etc. Yet it failed because Trump rallied GOP members, especially in the House, against it. They claimed to oppose it because it didn’t do enough, but only started making these arguments after Trump voiced his opposition. Clearly, the real reason it failed was that Republicans would rather keep the border crisis a live issue for the election than actually solve it.
So now Biden has taken a page from Trump’s playbook and used executive action to “close the border.” It appears to have been quite successful in stemming the tide as encounters have fallen significantly, but it’s a shame that more comprehensive reform from Congress failed, since it doesn’t address the case backlog or many of the underlying issues. If the time to receive a rejected asylum claim (as happens in many cases since most of these claims are really economic in nature which doesn’t count) and be deported shrank significantly, the incentive to come would also decrease - why go through all the hardship and expense if you’ll likely be kicked out soon after you arrive? Again, cynical partisanship and the unwillingness of congressional Republicans to stand up to Trump has led to continued dysfunction.
Despite the very real need to do something about this broken system, it’s important to not let this translate to ignoring the importance of immigration or demonization of immigrants, which is often the case with those most exercised about this issue. Nor must we replace one disorderly and harmful process with another, as happened with the child separation policy under Trump, and is likely to happen in a second Trump term if he follows through on his “mass deportation” promise.
There are numerous benefits to a country - especially one as diverse as the U.S. - of a healthy rate of immigration. As our birth rates decline, immigrants are a crucial way to maintain America’s economic health and vibrancy. They bring increased demand for goods and services, which boosts local economies, and while this can introduce short-term localized challenges (such as strain on public services or higher prices on goods like housing), in the long run it is critical for our continued economic growth. Most would agree that it’s better to live in a growing community than a shrinking one.
Immigrants’ effect on things like inflation are a bit harder to gauge, though it’s certainly not clear that they significantly contribute to it. Inflation has been falling in recent years despite very high rates of immigration, and the economic effect of new, largely lower-wage, workers is mixed. Still, the broader benefits economically are clear, as many critical domestic industries depend on immigrant labor (both skilled and less skilled) and the effect of too few workers can be quite damaging (and inflationary).
There’s also the issue of public services and taxes. Undocumented immigrant children do receive public schooling, and undocumented immigrants do receive life-saving healthcare without insurance. But they’re not eligible for most other government benefits including federal healthcare programs like Medicaid or Social Security despite paying several kinds of tax (payroll, sales, property, etc.). They also work hard and take jobs that many Americans don’t want. In short, the net economic effect of even undocumented immigrants, especially during times of low unemployment, is almost certainly positive.
And of course, the immigrants have value beyond their economic contribution. They bring diversity, culture, entrepreneurial spirit and a strong work ethic. But more importantly, they have value as human beings. The vast majority of those coming to America are fleeing truly difficult situations back home. Some are literally fleeing physical danger and as such receive legal status as refugees or asylees. But even those who come for economic reasons (and as such are typically denied legal status - eventually - if they entered illegally) are leaving desperate situations that most of us can’t imagine. I’m not saying that means we should let all of them stay, but these are not people deserving of demonization or angry protests.
The weeks since the Trump/Harris debate has highlighted one of the few policy positions that Donald Trump has held consistently: a nativist opposition to immigration. After a first administration which engaged in inhumane and grossly irresponsible treatment of immigrant children, Trump and his V.P. pick J.D. Vance have now decided it’s appropriate to lie about Haitian immigrants (with legal status) eating people’s pets. We now know that Trump and Vance made these claims despite knowing there was no evidence for them and decided to spread them anyway in order to “raise awareness.”
As humorous as Trump’s bizarre claim in the debate and the many viral remixes of it on social media may be, the underlying message is not funny. False rumors about minorities and immigrants have a long history of leading to truly awful outcomes. Spreading lies about black people from another country abducting and eating your pets is not only cruel to them, but it portrays them as barbaric and even sub-human. Trump claims many immigrants are criminals, yet undocumented immigrants commit crimes at much lower rates than the native-born. If immigrants are criminals and pet-eaters, then crying out for mass deportation doesn’t sound as bad as when it’s referring to the friendly crew that just remodeled your kitchen.
A campaign of mass deportation would be highly disruptive, cruel, and given the first Trump administration’s appalling incompetence and carelessness in executing their child separation policy, almost guaranteed to ensnare people who are here legally. And recall that his first administration was the one with many competent professionals in it. We know that most of those types will be gone, replaced with neophytes selected not for their qualifications but for their loyalty.
We can work toward solutions that stem the tide of border crossings and speed the processing of existing asylum claims without a destabilizing and inhumane campaign to round up and deport millions of people, many of whom have established lives here and are contributing members of our society. Kamala Harris has promised to resurrect and sign the Lankford bill. Trump killed that bill but plans to use the National Guard to conduct his mass deportations. For the sake of our economy, these immigrants, and our national conscience, I pray he doesn’t get that chance.