Can We Reassert the Value of Immigration?

A Saturday prompt

Over the next month, we are likely to hear incessantly from Donald Trump that immigrants who illegally entered the country are destroying America. We will hear grossly exaggerated numbers (even as border crossings have fallen sharply). We will hear more horrific tales of criminality (even as crime by immigrants is less common than from the native born). We will hear (without evidence) that these immigrants are taking jobs away from citizens. Just yesterday, with good and unexpected news of robust employment growth of 254,000 new jobs in September, I’m reminded that Trump has ridiculously and repeatedly lied that “100 percent of the jobs created” under the Biden-Harris administration have been taken by “illegal migrants.”

In poll after poll, immigration has become a main topic of concern, even among voters who live nowhere near the Southern border. It’s unsurprising that voters—half of whom describe immigration as a “critical threat”—give the Republicans the edge in dealing with the problem, despite the fact that Trump has focused on exploiting and lying about the issue rather than solving it. The high percentage of Americans who support mass deportation—including 85 percent of Republicans—is a testimony to this repetitive exploitation and overblown attention. And it’s to Vice President Kamala Harris’ credit that she has chosen to lean into the issue of illegal border crossings and a broken immigration system rather than avoid it by offering sensible solutions. We are still paying the price for the failure of administration after administration, Republican and Democrat, to propose and pass comprehensive immigration reform.

But here’s the thing: While the system is broken, the reality of immigrants coming to—and yearning to come to—America remains one of the nation’s fundamental strengths. This diversity of people who arrive with new ideas and new culture and a readiness to work hard to get ahead has always been a critical driver of American economic growth, including more innovation, a better educated workforce and higher productivity. Moreover, nearly every one of us need not dig very deep into our backgrounds to recount proud stories from our own families of a relative who came to America from another land.

Sadly, these stories, this positive thinking about immigrants and immigration, have been poisoned by the non-stop condemnation of migrants. And I dearly hope the reality of this core American strength—amid all the challenges—can reassert itself. I see this as one antidote to the extreme grievance and determination to demonize our fellow humans and convince Americans that closing our country off from the world is realistic and good.

A decade ago, a friend of mine from Pittsburgh who was a newspaper editorial page editor, talked to me about the challenges his city faced because of an aging and declining population. Rather than look askance at migration, he told me, “You could solve a lot of the problems of the place with another 50,000 people.” That observation has been on my mind as hard-working Haitian immigrants, who have helped bolster Springfield, Ohio, have been unfairly and viciously villainized by Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.

So what do you think? Can we reassert the value of immigration? Or do you think Trump has so successfully poisoned the debate that this anti-immigrant mindset will continue to haunt and divide us for a long time? Do you worry that, as climate-related migration expands globally, this domestic conflict will grow worse? In turn, perhaps you’d like to share a positive story of an immigrant you know or an immigrant in your family’s history.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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*Photo by VM via Getty Images.