There is No Immigrant Invasion

Like many other stories, impeachment has sucked the air out of the proverbial room when it comes to the news as such. In this case, immigration is something that has been not in the news as often just lately. Whatever happened to the big immigrant invasion America was threatened with? Whatever happened to the caravans of immigrants coming to destroy the country? I’ll tell you: there never was an immigrant invasion. It was a political ploy but one that works very well.

Habeas Corpus and Trump

One of the issues with the language of the immigrant invasion is that the word invasion implies a national emergency. Many things can happen in a national emergency. Marshall Law can be implemented rendering normal life non-existent and leaving the ability to move freely or speak freely to the whims of military commanders on the ground. Another right that can be taken away is the right to due process and speedy trial. In October, The Trump administration wouldn’t commit to not suspending habeas corpus and leaving thousands of immigrants in limbo with no right to see an immigration judge or have their case adjudicated in a timely manner. Their fate would rest in the hands of the Federal government under Trump with no recourse for the actions of that government. This has only happened once in US history: during the Civil War when Abraham Lincoln suspended the right so those confederate soldiers captured in battle could be kept as prisoners of war. The Trump administration may be considering a similar move so that they can continue to make life hard for immigrants and refugees from Central America fleeing violence and political turmoil.

Fear the Immigrant

Earlier I mentioned that immigration was a convenient political ploy for Trump. Immigrants are easy to fear and this fear is not new for this country. Since colonial days, people have feared immigrants and the problems that come with them. As recently as the early 20th century immigrants were viewed as dirty, wasteful, disease-ridden, and a scourge on a civilized society. Sound familiar? It should because the same arguments that Trump is making now created a nearly complete block on immigration in 1925 that lasted well into the 1960s with few exceptions. Immigrants have always been a convenient political scapegoat. After all, why address the real problems within society when it is far easier to blame a group of nearly defenseless people in a strange land they weren’t born in who often speak little of the language and largely can’t vote until they become citizens.

Why have a real debate about immigration and immigrants when fear can be the dominant narrative? Trump plays into this by creating the threat of immigrant invasions. The reality is that a few thousand people often will set out together looking to get to the border to ask for asylum. Many of them will be denied that asylum. Others still will cross illegally trying to navigate a new country without language skills and without papers.

Illegal crossing is one of the main causes of immigrant apprehension among many Americans. While it is a fact that many people who set out looking for asylum are turned down or denied this right, it is always possible to get legal assistance. An illegal immigrant or asylum seeker can always reach out to a local asylum lawyer for fair and just representation. Getting legal assistance is the best way to realize your hope of receiving asylum or legal immigrant status. 

American Nerves and Immigration

There is also a matter of exposure. Many Americans living in Republican-voting red states don’t have exposure to immigrant populations which tend to congregate in major cities where jobs are plentiful. Immigrants than become a feared other bringing with them strange religions and customs. In the past, society pushed for immigrants to become like the dominant Anglo-Saxon culture as fast as possible. This resulted in name changes, language loss, and much more. Many immigrants that come here just want to be American and enjoy the same opportunities that millions of others risked life and limb to enjoy.

Immigrants have always made Americans nervous. This is a narrative that many people forget. Congress banned Chinese immigration for 25 years in the late 19th century because so many Chinese immigrants were coming to the West Coast. Immigration restrictions based on the gender of that group were argued before the Supreme Court. The current threat of an immigration invasion is the same threat that comes up political every 30-40 years usually after a wave of immigration. It’s hard to believe that a republican president argued for and passed an amnesty in 1986, just 33 years ago.

There is No Invasion

The reality is far different. Most illegal immigrants come here via visa overstays, not walking up in large caravans. Thanks to the improvement in Mexico’s economy, most immigrants now come from Central America where our disastrous foreign policy has made shipwreck of their countries resulting in violence and revolutions that destroy any sense of stability these people might have had. Border crossings, until 2017 were at an all-time low and during the recession, there were net losses in migration. That means more people left American than came to it. Under Trump immigration has actually increased. The only invasion that is happening is the invasion of a dangerous narrative into the minds of Americans and the stoking of immigrant fears that always are laying around, just underneath society. America does not have an immigration policy because that means immigrants can’t be easily used as political ploys and pawns. Trump talks a good game about immigration reform but isn’t actually serious about doing anything about other than building a meaningless wall that will not stop most immigrants.

Want More?

If you’d like to read more stuff like this in a longer form with helpful sources in an easy to read fashion, then you need to buy my book. I’ve got plenty of essays discussing this and other topics and all the sections are broken out for easy reading and reference. All the essays stand-alone so you can jump to the topic that interests you the most!