- Moderator
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Donald Trump's signature campaign issue was immigration. He fired up his supporters, creating images of ravening hordes of Mexican invaders raping our women and killing our children. He never lets us forget that those countries "don't send us the best they send us their worst". Be afraid. They're destroying America according to Donald Trump.
What happens if there is no immigration crisis? What happens if border apprehensions are at a 46 year LOW? What does a man like Trump do? He creates a crisis as a vehicle to implement some pretty horrific policies, to beat the nationalist drums, and unite us in fear that "the other" is going to take over decent hardworking white Americans.
And the horrible thing is - he is pretty damn successful at it. Enough so that we ignore the reality in favor of Trump World. We ignore working together on a much needed SANE and SUBSTANTIAL immigration overhaul in favor of a crisis management approach to immigration based on hordes that simply aren't there and myths that are blatently untrue.
Analysis | There’s no immigration crisis, and these charts prove it
What happens if there is no immigration crisis? What happens if border apprehensions are at a 46 year LOW? What does a man like Trump do? He creates a crisis as a vehicle to implement some pretty horrific policies, to beat the nationalist drums, and unite us in fear that "the other" is going to take over decent hardworking white Americans.
And the horrible thing is - he is pretty damn successful at it. Enough so that we ignore the reality in favor of Trump World. We ignore working together on a much needed SANE and SUBSTANTIAL immigration overhaul in favor of a crisis management approach to immigration based on hordes that simply aren't there and myths that are blatently untrue.
Analysis | There’s no immigration crisis, and these charts prove it
Myth No. 1: Undocumented immigrants are flooding into the United States
In fiscal 2017, apprehensions of immigrants entering illegally at the Southwest border (a proxy for the total number of individuals crossing the border illegally) hit their lowest level in 46 years.
Myth No. 2: Undocumented immigrants bring crime
The reality is just the opposite: A large body of social-science literature has demonstrated that immigrants, legal or otherwise, commit crime at lower rates than native-born Americans. This chart, using Texas Department of Public Safety data compiled by the libertarian Cato Institute, illustrates this quite clearly.
Myth No. 3: Immigrants take our jobs and lower our wages
This is a more complicated question than the previous two. The best information comes from a massive summary of the literature published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in 2017. “Most studies find little effect of immigration on the employment of natives,” that report concluded. In other words, no, immigrants are not taking your jobs.
Myth No. 4: Immigrants are a drain on the economy
In fact, research by the Cato Institute has found that poor noncitizens are considerably less likely than poor native-born Americans to use public assistance programs.
In fiscal 2017, apprehensions of immigrants entering illegally at the Southwest border (a proxy for the total number of individuals crossing the border illegally) hit their lowest level in 46 years.
Myth No. 2: Undocumented immigrants bring crime
The reality is just the opposite: A large body of social-science literature has demonstrated that immigrants, legal or otherwise, commit crime at lower rates than native-born Americans. This chart, using Texas Department of Public Safety data compiled by the libertarian Cato Institute, illustrates this quite clearly.
Myth No. 3: Immigrants take our jobs and lower our wages
This is a more complicated question than the previous two. The best information comes from a massive summary of the literature published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in 2017. “Most studies find little effect of immigration on the employment of natives,” that report concluded. In other words, no, immigrants are not taking your jobs.
Myth No. 4: Immigrants are a drain on the economy
In fact, research by the Cato Institute has found that poor noncitizens are considerably less likely than poor native-born Americans to use public assistance programs.
