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Kathryn Elkins is one of the In Her Presence English language instructors and was part of the original team to help set up the English Acquisition Language Program. In Her Presence is a nonprofit organization serving immigrants in Maine.
Many Americans are withdrawing from watching the news. We must have literate voters who examine, question and fact check political statements on a regular basis. I support the immigrants’ positive impact and offer data to counter myths and fake news about negative impact.
Negative descriptions of immigrants are disturbing when fact checked against Maine Multicultural Center’s myths.
One myth is that immigration leads to increased crime rates and unsafe communities. For example, former President Donald Trump claims without evidence that migrants have caused a spike in violent crime in U.S. cities. He has said: “People are coming in and killing our citizens at a level like we’ve never seen before.” He said they’re coming from prisons and from mental institutions.
Trump called immigrants illegally in the United States “animals” and “not human” and sounds like Adolf Hitler: “illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of our nation.” “All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning,” Hitler wrote.
It’s a fact that immigration in the United States does not increase crime rates. The Pew Research Center reports a dramatic decline in U.S. violent crimes since the early 1990s. Stanford University economist Ran Abramitzky reports, “immigrants are 30 percent less likely to be incarcerated than are U.S.-born individuals who are white.”
Another myth is that immigrants are a drain on state, local and federal economies. Or, as Trump said, are taking jobs from Americans.
In fact, immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits.
Based on a 2023 Social Security trustees’ report, Alexia Campbell from the Center for Public Integrity wrote, “undocumented immigrants and those with legal status pay billions of dollars into the Social Security system through payroll taxes,” often without receiving benefits themselves. Campbell reported that immigrants will increase the gross domestic product by 2 percent and add an extra $7 trillion to the U.S. economy within the next decade based on the Congressional Budget Office prediction.
Andrew Moriarty, a U.S. immigration policy fellow at fwd.us, articulates the critical importance of immigrants on our economy: “The facts are clear: immigrants and immigration are good for America and all Americans. Immigrants help create jobs, raise wages, reduce inflation, and increase productivity and innovation. Immigrants … play particularly important roles in … healthcare, food production and agriculture, construction, and emerging fields like semiconductors and artificial intelligence.”
A report from the Joint Economic Committee, titled “Immigrants are Vital to US Economy,” found that foreign-born workers account for 38 percent of home health aides, 29 percent of physicians and 23 percent of pharmacists. Immigrants make up 22 percent of all workers in the U.S. food supply chain. Immigrants start approximately 25 percent of new firms in the U.S.
Data suggest that immigrants aren’t “taking” native-born workers’ jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that the unemployment rate for U.S.-born citizens remains near all-time lows: 3.8 percent in May.
We are a nation built by immigrants. Unfortunately, as Taylor McNeil of Tufts NOW describes, “From colonial times to today, the demonization of outsiders has existed alongside the idea of the U.S. as a nation built by immigrants.” We need to stop being afraid of those who are different, celebrate their cultural diversity and recognize their talents to enrich our communities. To do this, we must be willing to speak out against myths and cruel lies that cannot be supported by data.
When voting in November, choose candidates representing truthful facts. We must make our constitution actionable for the good of all, not just for one political or religious party.
