The undocumented immigrant. The danger at our border. The monster to our children.
The threat to our democracy… well, according to Fox News. Today, America has a big issue with immigrants.
The undocumented immigrant is the most antagonized person in the far-right news media. They are portrayed as the monsters every American should be afraid of today. However, the facts point out that they are not evil and secretly plotting against the United States. The far-right news media has changed
the way America sees immigrants, and
that change has become dangerous.
Here are the real facts:
They Don’t Commit the Most Crimes
According to the New York Times article, undocumented immigrants do not increase local crime rates. The Pew Research Center released an analysis of undocumented populations by metro area in 2019 in comparison to local FBI reports. The study found that crime decreased in these areas regardless of whether the undocumented immigration rose or fell. Next, according to a Cato Institute report, undocumented immigrants are 47 percent less likely to be incarcerated. Also, according to another report, undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than American-born citizens. The difference between someone who is a legal resident and who is undocumented does not matter if we want to determine who is a criminal.
The Facts on Immigration
If the issue is at the southern border, then it would be good for one to know the real facts. According to the 2019 CBS article, there is about 10.7 and 11.3 million undocumented immigrants, and only 1 in 3 of them come from the Mexican border. Also, according to Pew Research, unauthorized immigration hit a 12-year low in 2016. Unauthorized border crossings began to fall significantly in the 2000's. Now, the majority of undocumented people are rejected in applying for asylum at a 65 percentage rate. So, it is not the overwhelming, scary flood of migrants we should be worried about.
Even though Trump claimed, “many bring drugs,” they actually don’t. Only a small amount of heroin was found along the border between ports of entry. Cocaine, the DEA said rare to come across in large shipments and instead the drug is transported through commercial trucks or passenger vehicles. Fentayal enters the U.S through China via mail and by the southern border. Overall, not all illegal drugs come completely from undocumented immigrants at the border.
Also, undocumented immigrants don’t eat up the country’s welfare because they are ineligible for government benefits. Many of them, in fact, go to school and make a career out of themselves and contribute to society. Many of them are doctors and are scared about what will happen to DACA, the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals. The video below shows who they are:
The Majority of Undocumented People are not Mexican
Unfortunately, many undocumented are racially profiled for deportation and are identified as Hispanic, and mainly Mexican. However, according to Factank, Mexican-Americans are no longer the majority. In 2017, out of 10.5 million the undocumented, only 4.9 million are Mexicans. The number was declined because more have left the U.S than arrived. As the number of Mexicans decreased, unauthorized immigrants from other countries increased (Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, and other Latin countries). In 2017, there was 5.5 million undocumented immigrants. Many of these immigrants don’t cross the border, they overstay their foreign visa. In 2017, there was 700,000 DACA protected immigrants which are undocumented youth that came to the United States before the age of 16.
The typical undocumented immigrant has been living the United States for at least 15 years and only make up 4.6 percent of the labor force in 2017, so they not "stealing our jobs."
The undocumented are lacked the opportunity for freedom. They left their home country due to uncontrollable causes which leads them to live a life of desperation and hiding. Which is why we don't see most of them.
The process of getting a resident visa can take over 20 years. They don’t commit the most crimes because they don’t even commit the crimes. Without knowing it, many of them work at the restaurants we eat at, the hotels we sleep in, and schools we teach. They are not just one group of people. They can be Latin, white, black, or Asian, but most importantly, we have to remember they are human. They are people who have families and dreams. They are your unseen neighbor, not the danger to this country.
The danger to this country is the polarizing hatred towards them.
Check out the Living Undocumented series on Netflix to see the lives of these individuals.
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