There are more immigration myths to be attacked. Sadly, some of these myths reside in my mind or at least in my feelings. Others are commonly held misconceptions about immigration, ones that may or may not affect how we deal with the issue.

Let’s explore a few of these:

• MYTH: Undocumented workers are all hard-working, family-oriented, law-respecting individuals, making the best way they can in a difficult situation. The inclusion of the word all tips you off that this is a myth. Admittedly, this conception is near and dear to my heart, for it’s a good representation of the vast majority of immigrants that I have known. Yet, I also know that some immigrants are much more cavalier about their existence, taking advantage of a broken immigration system so that they can live out a lawless lifestyle.
• MYTH: Immigration has created no hardship for border states; this is an invention of power-hungry politicians. Border towns and border states have carried the lion’s share of the burden of immigration. States like Arizona have experienced increased costs and hardships because of the current form of illegal immigration. (In addition, there are many problems associated with a porous border that go beyond immigration)
• MYTH: The number of Mexicans entering the United States illegally is on the rise. While people of Mexican descent make up nearly 60% of the undocumented workers in the U.S., their numbers are dropping. Between 2007 and 2010, over 200,000 Mexicans entered the U.S. illegally. In the same period, over 800,00 that were here illegally returned to Mexico. There are many possible explanations for that, with the most likely being the economic downturn in the United States, harsh new immigration laws at the state level, and increased deportations by the federal government.
• MYTH: Illegal immigration is almost exclusively a result of the lack of secure borders.This is far from true. Almost half of all undocumented immigrants entered the United States with a legal visa, then stayed after their visa expired.

Finally, if you’ve got about 5 minutes, you might like to listen to a video about immigration myths. Jason Riley, of the Wall Street Journal, explains why he (and the Journal) favors a loosening of immigration restrictions. Along the way, he assails several of the myths that we talked about yesterday:

Even though I should know better, I feel the need to address some of the myths about immigration. Throughout history, when called on to choose between siding with the powerful or siding with the marginalized, God’s people were called to stand up for the weakest in society. It feels right to continue to do so.

So let’s explode a few myths:

• MYTH: Our ancestors came here legally; others should do the same. A small percentage of our population can make such claims. Most of us are descended from people who came at a time when immigration was open. You could say they came here legally; you could also say they came here without visas and work permits. We’re comparing two very different things.
  And important elements in our nation’s heritage came without respecting the authority wielded by local leaders.
  We also need to recognize that most of our ancestors came as unskilled workers. They would have almost no chance of immigrating legally today.
• MYTH: Those who immigrate illegally are line jumpers, not willing to wait their turn in the process. Actually, they have no turn in the process. Current limits allow 5000 unskilled workers to immigrate legally each year. As many as 10,000 per day entered via Ellis Island back in the day, many of them unskilled workers. (An estimated 40% of our population has an ancestor who immigrated via Ellis Island) The quotas are unrealistic both in terms of demand abroad and in terms of the need for workers in this country.
• MYTH: Immigrants are a drain on our network of social services. Most undocumented workers pay taxes and Social Security, yet are ineligible for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, etc. One government study estimated that the average immigrant will pay in $80,000 more than they will ever receive back in services.
• MYTH: Undocumented workers damage our economy. Research strongly suggests otherwise. In 2007, President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers concluded “immigrants not only help fuel the Nation’s economic growth, but also have an overall positive effect on the American economy as a whole and on the income of native-born American workers.”¹ The Pew Research Center found “there was a positive correlation between the increase in the foreign-born population and the employment of native-born workers in 27 states and the District of Columbia.”² Political rhetoric aside, there’s no basis for the claim that immigrants are “stealing jobs” and “hurting our economy.”
  Immigration has decreased in the last few years and deportations are on the rise. Tougher immigration laws have scared immigrants away from some areas. Time will tell, but initial data suggest a negative impact on U.S. agricultural production (see this study by the Georgia state government, for example). Americans aren’t lining up to become farm workers; they aren’t interested in taking the jobs the immigrants are leaving vacant.
• MYTH: Immigrants bring crime to the United States. Again, statistics say otherwise. Realizing that run-ins with the law will lead to deportation, most immigrants are especially eager to avoid being involved in crime. According to a 2000 report prepared for the U.S. Department of Justice, immigrants maintain low crime rates even when faced with adverse social conditions such as low income and low levels of education.³

Christians have no excuses for any lack of hospitality toward immigrants. Let the politicians fight this one out. Let me end with something I wrote in answer to a question by Ed Heida in yesterday’s comment section about what our response should be:

Ed,

I think we take advantage of the opportunities God is bringing us, as he brings the world to our doorstep. We operate with compassion above all and Christian charity in everything.

We reject politics, like the Tea Party skubalon that somebody posted here before (and yes, there is Democratic skubalon and Republican skubalon and Libertarian skubalon…). We reject the labeling of people as “illegal,” especially people that are only trying to provide for their families in an unjust world.

We deal with people as people, not as political pawns. We don’t look to the courthouse nor the statehouse to solve these problems; instead we open our own house to the stranger and the alien.

If the people of this nation object, we remind them of the words engraved on the Statue in New York Harbor:
“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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

No one can claim to want to restore the values of the United States and seek to oppress the immigrant. And certainly none can claim citizenship in the Kingdom and participate in any such oppression.

 

1. Council of Economic Advisers. Executive Office of the President. “Immigration’s Economic Impact,” Washington, D.C. June 20, 2007.

2. Pew Hispanic Center. “Growth in the Foreign-Born Workforce and Employment of the Native Born,” Rakesh Kochhar, August 10, 2006.

3. National Institute of Justice, an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. “On Immigration and Crime,” Ramiro Martinez, Jr., and Matthew T. Lee, July 2000.

Getting back to last week’s discussion…. Believe it or not, my intention was not to discuss immigration. See what power Kitchen commenters have? I had mentioned it, so it was certainly open to discussion. I’m having my doubts about going too far with that subject at this time, given the heightened political tone of the moment. Immigration becomes a partisan issue, and I don’t want to get caught up in that.

Still, I want to share some thoughts on how I think Christians should look at immigration issues. I’d like to hear your reaction to these ideas:

• First and foremost, Christians should seek what’s good for the Kingdom. While that should be obvious, it rarely seems to come up in discussions among Christians. Our goal is not the continued welfare and prosperity of the United States, though American Christians too often conflate that with the welfare and prosperity of the Kingdom. Our priority is not our own personal safety nor economic security. Above all, we seek what’s good for the Kingdom. Granted, that’s not always easily defined, but it needs to be at the forefront of our conversations.
• Our response to immigrants and our thoughts on overall immigration policy can differ. That is, even if you think there should be stricter controls on immigration, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat immigrants as “your neighbor,” in the biblical sense.
• Our views on immigration and border security can differ. We need to recognize that most of the problems at the border are not caused by immigrants coming to work in the U.S. We also need to remember that a large number of illegal immigrants to the United States enter by legal means, then remain in this country illegally. Immigration and border security are not the same question.
• Our views on immigration must be bathed in compassion. Personally, I find that leading me to some interesting places. For example, I believe the United States should secure the southern border, limiting and eliminating illegal crossings. Immigrants face great risks when crossing illegally: risks from the elements when making a desert crossing; risks from kidnappers, extortionists, drug traffickers; even risks from run-ins with authorities. Compassion will also lead me to help look after their needs once here, even when it’s inconvenient or even harmful to my own situation.
• Our attitude toward aliens should be shaped by the fact that we ourselves are strangers and aliens in this world. We should take the opportunity to learn from the immigrant, lest we forget and begin to feel ourselves at home.

Those are some initial thoughts. What would you throw into the mix? Which of these points would you choose to disagree with?

Interestingly enough, an article appeared in my newsreader yesterday which is closely related to what we’re discussing in the Kitchen this week. Called What’s So Unfair About Trade?, it takes a look at how international economics affect immigration to the U.S. I’d highly encourage you to take the time to read the article… but I also recognize that many of you won’t, so I’ll summarize some of the points here:

The author, David Schmidt, points out that the immigration debate rarely touches on the causes of immigration. He notes:
Immigrants are treated as if they had materialized out of nowhere. Indeed, the dehumanizing term “alien” may be strangely appropriate for the way many native-born citizens view people who come from other countries—immigrants are discussed as if they dropped out of the sky. All that’s missing is the flying saucer.

He then goes on to discuss three myths in the immigration discussion:

• The myth of the American biosphere—This is the idea that this country is some sort of isolated, fenced-off environment that immigrants enter from a place totally removed from ours. The myth acts as if immigrants first became a part of the U.S. economic system when they crossed the border. It ignores any effects that U.S. politics have outside of the physical limits of this country.
• The “Their Country” sucks myth (sorry… that’s Schmidt’s term, not mine)—This is the rather ethnocentric idea that immigrants are damaging “our” economy because “they” can’t get things together back home. Other countries are considered corrupt, dysfunctional and backwards. Another article that was brought to my attention yesterday (with more profanity than I care to read… you have been warned) is called 10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America. The author notes:
  

  If there’s one constant in my travels over the past three years, it has been that almost every place I’ve visited (especially in Asia and South America) is much nicer and safer than I expected it to be. Singapore is pristine. Hong Kong makes Manhattan look like a suburb. My neighborhood in Colombia is nicer than the one I lived in in Boston (and cheaper).

  As Americans, we have this naïve assumption that people all over the world are struggling and way behind us. They’re not. Sweden and South Korea have more advanced high speed internet networks. Japan has the most advanced trains and transportation systems. Norwegians make more money. The biggest and most advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. The tallest buildings in the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai.

  Schmidt’s point is that we need to understand that “developed” nations bear some responsibility for conditions in other countries. Like yesterday’s post tried to point out, we can’t just have an “I got mine, tough luck for you” attitude.

• The myth of amnesty—To my mind, this was Schmidt’s weakest argument, though that may be changed in future articles in this series. He basically says “Immigration is just, therefore it’s not a crime, therefore amnesty can’t exist.” I’d like to hear further reasoning on that one.

Still, I like the idea of looking at the causes of immigration and beginning that search by looking in the mirror. If you didn’t read the article I recommended yesterday, now would be a good time to do so. The days of isolationism ended a century ago. We’re in a global economy. Immigrant-sending countries and immigrant-receiving countries are two sides of the same coin.

We’ll talk more about that next week. I’d like to hear some reactions to Schmidt’s ideas.

photo by Octavio Lopez