Immigration must be stopped before newcomers overwhelmĀ our generous welfare system, producing babies with full citizenship rights whoĀ add even more strain on social services. So goes a familiar argument forĀ sealing the borders of the United States.
āIn aĀ lot of respects we have the discussion about immigration and the economyĀ exactly reversed,ā says , associate professor of history at 91ĢĘ²®»¢ University. āThereās a way thatĀ Americans often talk about immigration as if theyāre doing this enormous favorĀ to immigrants by letting them in. In fact, immigrants play a crucial role inĀ the U.S. economy and subsidize American consumer society with their labor,Ā their consumption and the taxes they pay.Ā āOften,Ā they canāt receive those taxes back in benefits.ā
Kramer hasĀ written about immigration and border issues for the New Yorker and Slate, andĀ been featured on National Public Radio. He has spent the last decade studyingĀ U.S. immigration history, and heās working on a book about the forces that pushĀ people into leaving their home countries and immigrating, including the UnitedĀ Statesā influence.
It’s economics
āIn aĀ globalized economy, people are trying to make their way and put food on theĀ table for their families in places where often the local economies arenāt ableĀ to do that for them,ā Kramer says. āOften this is the result of dictatorship orĀ post-dictatorship societies, where predatory political forces have made itĀ impossible for people to survive and thrive where they live. So theyāve been
uprooted.Ā āIn someĀ cases the United States has been behindĀ some of those dictatorships.ā
Immigration numbers exaggerated
Much ofĀ the angst Americans are experiencing today over immigration has been felt by previousĀ generations, Kramer says. For example, there are those who warn thatĀ immigration numbers are at a dangerous all-time high.
āThatāsĀ simply not true,ā Kramer says. āWeāre definitely at a high moment, but thereĀ have been other high moments. Weāre more or less about where we were at theĀ turn of the century, that fabled era of European immigration between roughlyĀ 1880 and the mid-1920s. Weāre certainly not being overrun.ā
Birthright citizenship an American tradition
BirthrightĀ citizenship has emerged as an issue in the Republican presidential primaryĀ race, a sign that concern over immigration has reached a new plateau, KramerĀ says.
TheĀ Republican Party was largely responsible for the passing of the 14thĀ Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born on American soil. DuringĀ Reconstruction after the Civil War, birthright citizenship was a tool to buildĀ a more inclusive population and move toward equal rights.
āBirthright citizenship is atĀ this point a venerable American legal tradition,ā Kramer says. āItās one thatĀ sets the United States apart from most other societies, who often have muchĀ more rigid and exclusionary definitions of who gets to be a citizen.ā
Racism at core
Race is really whatās at theĀ heart of a lot of the current antipathy to immigrants, Kramer says.
āWhen people talk aboutĀ āillegalsā itāsā¦ not Canadians crossing into Maine,ā Kramer says. āTheyāreĀ talking about black and brown migrants whom many Americans are uneasy with.ā¦Ā The fact that thereās that legal kind of cover for racism is a really importantĀ part of its success.ā
Picking on immigrants can beĀ done without much risk because of their need to stay in the shadows. āThey canĀ and do fight back, but the formal avenues available to non-citizens areĀ limited, thus making them likely scapegoats,ā Kramer says.
But he says immigrants areĀ going to keep coming no matter what.
āThe question for me is notĀ whether the United States can or should stop immigration,ā Kramer says.Ā āImmigration is going to continue to happen because the United States doesnātĀ exist apart from the rest of the world.
āThe question is whetherĀ U.S. immigration policy is going to punish and stigmatize and marginalizeĀ people who come here or whether itās going to treat the people arriving here inĀ the spirit of justice.ā