Immigrants aren’t vermin.
They are not poisoning the lifeblood of America.
They are not trying to replace anybody.
That’s how Hitler spoke of the Jews.
How he riled up the Germans to hate, fear and see us as less than human. Then it was easy to cart us off to gas chambers while taking our property and pulling the gold from our teeth.
That’s the cruel reality of this type of rhetoric.
It slowly, but surely, eats away at the intended victim’s humanity until they are no more than scum to be scraped away without thought.
Immigrants are the life blood of America.
Without immigrants we would not exist.
Unless you are the direct descendants of the only rightful owners of this land- American Indians- we are all immigrants.
Putting immigrants in cages, tearing children from the arms of parents, watching while they drown, caught up in barbed wire, is inexcusable for any country.
But in America?
Now there’s talk of mass deportations, militarizing the border, putting them in camps and once again only allowing certain immigrants into the country.
A bipartisan bill passed in the Senate, backed by the Border Patrol, to put more money in helping secure our border, prevent the transportation of drugs and still allow the legal entry of immigrants into our country. It would:
“Give the government emergency powers to refuse entry to migrants crossing the border or to quickly expel those who had already entered the U.S.
Create a trigger, which will be tripped when the number of migrants encountering border officials crosses an average of 5,000 over the course of a week. The bill also gives the President the power to shut the southern border with Mexico if more than 4,000 migrants attempt to cross the border in a week.
Require the government to process at least 1,400 migrants per day at border crossings, and would maintain some protections for people who fear torture or persecution after being deported. And it caps the number of days the emergency powers can be used each year.
Increase the number of border patrol agents and judges and increase funding for much needed resources by the immigration and customs enforcement agency (ICE).
Install cutting edge inspection machines to detect fentanyl and allow for sanctions on those knowingly trying to traffic drugs.”
But the House leadership won’t discuss it.
It’s easier to call immigrants vermin and claim they are the reason for all our ills and scream there are caravans of dangerous people crossing into our country every day. Claim they are turning public schools into migrant camps and the U.S. into a crime ridden, disease ridden dumping grounds.
The truth is far different.
A Department of Justice report found,
“There was no evidence that the percentage of unauthorized or authorized immigrant population at the city level impacted shifts in the homicide rates and no evidence that immigration is connected to robbery at the city level. In fact, overall violent crime rates have dropped. Homicides were 10% lower.”
Studies have found native born residents are far more likely to commit violent crimes than illegal immigrants.
And what seems to be forgotten is how much we need immigrants. They have always filled a valuable and necessary part of our society. From jobs others don’t want to filling in gaps left by the pandemic and an aging population set to retire. They pay taxes and contribute a significant value to the housing and retail markets. They are the driving force behind our growth and ability to compete on the world stage.
“Immigrants added $2 trillion to the U.S. GDP in 2016 and $458.7 billion to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018. In 2018, after immigrants spent billions of dollars on state and local, and federal taxes, they were left with $1.2 trillion in spending power, which they used to purchase goods and services, stimulating local business activity. Proposed cuts to our legal immigration system would have devastating effects on our economy, decreasing GDP by 2% over twenty years, shrinking growth by 12.5%, and cutting 4.6 million jobs. Rust Belt states would be hit particularly hard, as they rely on immigration to stabilize their populations and revive their economies.”
We are not static.
We are growing each and every year.
There isn’t just one size and that’s it. More does not mean someone else suffers, because with more comes-
More jobs,
More growth.
More taxes being paid.
More businesses.
More value.
Not to forget the richness and value diversity gives our lives.
Immigration has always been the hallmark of America, etched in the very beacon that welcomes them to our shores,
“… give us your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse teeming your shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tots to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Is it time to remove the Statue of Liberty and enshrine it, and our once held belief that all are welcome, in the Smithsonian Museum?
Every time we demonize immigrants, make them less than human, we demonize our own country and its very foundation. Without their richness and contributions, we will stagnate, and our greatness will be diminished.
-https://crimeandjusticeresearchalliance.org/rsrch/sanctuary-cities-unauthorized-immigration-and-crime/
-https://counciloncj.org/mid-year-2023-crime-trends/
-https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/whats-in-the-senates-118-billion-border-and-ukraine-deal
-https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-if-elected-again-he-will-send-troops-us-mexico-border-2023-09-20/
-https://www.fwd.us/news/immigration-facts-the-positive-economic-impact-of-immigration/
-https://www.reuters.com/world/us/three-migrants-drown-us-border-amid-dispute-between-texas-white-house-2024-01-14/
-https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/06/10/a-majority-of-americans-say-immigrants-mostly-fill-jobs-u-s-citizens-do-not-want/
-https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-immigrants-taxes-rent-vaccine-requirements-983035929946
-https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2023/02/23/immigrants-make-economies-more-dynamic-increase-employment-growth/?sh=b788635427c9
-https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/01/the-story-behind-the-poem-on-the-statue-of-liberty/550553/
-https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-biden-gop-voters-border-migrants-1fc6624188f540f495e1087bee64318e
-https://siepr.stanford.edu/news/mythical-tie-between-immigration-and-crime