Immigration has always proven to be a polarizing topic in the US, from the nativist “Know-Nothing” party of the 1850s which opposed Catholic immigrants to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which halted virtually all Chinese people from immigrating to the US and the Immigration Act of 1924 which established a quota system that favored Northern Europeans, as well as the poorly named “Operation Wetback,” which sought to forcibly expel all Mexican immigrants, including some US citizens. Today, immigration yet again proves to be controversial and polarizing, especially with the new policies of the Trump administration.
A Polarizing Topic
Regarding illegal immigration, most Americans are in agreement that illegal immigration is something that must be addressed. Seeing that most Americans agree that it must be curtailed, then surely it must be among the least polarizing issues? Ironically, no. What makes illegal immigration such a polarizing issue is how to handle it. Some propose that naturalizing those already in the United States and then easing the legal process would be the best means of curtailing illegal immigration, whereas others believe that mass expulsion of all undocumented immigrants through mass deportation is the best means. Some even go as far as to propose deporting legal immigrants.
Fears & Truth
By far the largest fear regarding illegal immigration is that the undocumented bring crime and make cities unsafe. Another fear is that by spending on caring for immigrants, the US loses money, and risks bankrupting welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicare due to spending on immigrants. The fear of immigrants voting in elections has also been heavily propagated by the Republican Party. Other times, even racist talking points, such as claims that Haitians were “eating dogs,” were mentioned by President Trump.
Yet do these fears actually come true?
Although it is commonly repeated by politicians that immigrants bring crime, destruction, and drugs to American cities, the truth is actually that immigrants have a lower crime rate than American citizens. A study by Oxford Academic in 2021 showed that immigrants “are 33% less likely to be institutionalized” than natives.
Regarding immigrants voting in elections, non-citizens cannot vote in elections, and face criminal charges if they do. Voter registration is also regularly reviewed, with those ineligible to vote being removed from voting registries. In a 2017 study, the Brennan Center for Justice analyzed 42 jurisdictions in 12 states, and of over 20 million voters, there were only 30 cases of non-citizens attempting to vote. In other words, 0.0001%, and those who attempted to vote were arrested. The idea that undocumented immigrants are voting and swaying the results of elections is an irrational one.
Economic Fears
Another repeated claim about undocumented immigration is that they are a drain on the American economy. It is frequently stated that undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes, are a complete drain on resources, all while reaping countless benefits like social security. Perhaps the most common saying is “They’re taking our jobs.” However, the opposite is true.
In regards to taxes, although undocumented immigrants lack a social security number, they are eligible for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which is universally applicable regardless of immigration status. According to a July 2024 report by the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid almost $97B in taxes. As mentioned earlier, undocumented immigrants lack a social security number, meaning they cannot receive benefits such as this. While some do use fake social security numbers to find work, as these are not real in the first place, they do not receive the benefits of Social Security. In other words, undocumented immigrants contribute to the American economy.
If undocumented immigrants were offered a clear path to naturalization, the earnings of these individuals would increase, thus increasing consumption, and by extension increasing the US gross GDP. Undocumented immigrants currently consume 40% less than documented immigrants due to their lower income, according to University College London. The reason is that employers of undocumented immigrants often engage in exploitative practices such as paying awful wages and providing undesirable working conditions. Such exploitation would be prevented through naturalization of immigrants and passing laws to ensure the protection of worker’s rights, including the right to unionize.
Although a testimony before the House Budget Committee stated that illegal immigration costs the American citizen taxpayer over $150B, their way of determining this was by including things such as education, emergency services, and other things that are essentially universal in the United States and are not specifically directed towards illegal immigration. If anything, financing President Trump’s mass deportation plan would see a far larger cost. If all 13 million undocumented immigrants were deported, it could very well cost as much as a trillion dollars.
What About Legal Immigrants?
Many believe that by “rewarding” undocumented immigrants with the right to remain in the United States, it increases illegal immigration and is unfair to legal immigrants. There is also the question of “Why don’t they just come legally?” These claims are why the causes of illegal immigration and the actual circumstances must be understood.
First a truth must be accepted- that undocumented immigrants would immigrate legally if they could. As it turns out, however, many do not have the means to do so. Most undocumented immigrants do not hold advanced degrees, and most do not have familial connections in the United States. As for refugee status, the United States currently caps refugees at 125,000 per year. The truth is that the US legal immigration process can be summarized as being so long, so bureaucratic, even at times predatory, that illegal immigration becomes inevitable. At times, even legal immigrants are deemed undocumented immigrants as seen with the Trump Administration revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans and Venezuelans fleeing totalitarian governments.
Considering this, clearly the United States immigration system as a whole is in need of a revamp or modifications to ease the process in order to de-incentivize illegal immigration through means that are humane and moral, as opposed to treating these individuals as if they are sub-human like how organizations like ICE do. How such a revamp is to be done remains to be seen.