Immigration is a highly charged issue in American politics and recently has been used as a means to stir up fear and anger in the hope of garnering votes. “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats”, “They have an open border policy because they’re trying to destroy this nation”, “Our country is being invaded by murderers and rapists”, “Our cities are being overrun by violent gangs”, “They’re bringing disease”, “They are poisoning our blood”. Need it be said that these statements are outright lies?
It is telling that when asked in multiple interviews about such claims, Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance acknowledged that even though the claim that Haitian immigrants are eating the pets of their white neighbors in Ohio was a lie, it was a “useful lie” because it focused the media on the issue of immigration.
If candidates for President and Vice President are not competent, articulate or honest enough to address our country’s immigration problems by speaking truthfully about those issues, then it is fair to say that they are not competent enough to enact policies that will adequately address the problem, or for that matter, any problem. It is also fair to point out that their false claims about immigrants stem from the same racist talking points as “The Great Replacement Theory” and other Neo Nazi foolishness. Such assertions are beneath the dignity and intelligence of the American electorate.
In my almost 40 year career as a teacher, I found that most of my students of color knew something about their family’s immigration story. Black students often knew where in Africa their descendants came from. Some knew that they were the descendants of slaves. Latino / Latina students knew that their parents or grandparents had left their Latin American homeland because of war, violence, governmental corruption and crushing poverty. There was a Syrian brother and sister who could recount the story of their family’s escape from the tyranny of dictator Bashar, el-Assad. Conversely, my white students knew little or nothing about their family’s immigration stories. “I guess we’re from Ireland” was usually about the extent of their knowledge.
I happen to know my family’s immigration story. I am of Scottish / Welsh descent. My Scottish clan is Keith and my ancestors fought against English oppression from the time of William Wallace. The Keiths began immigrating to the Americas around 1683 due to religious persecution and the fact that they were being hunted by the English because they were Jacobites. They were, by any modern definition, refugees. Visiting my homeland and researching my family’s story has made me sympathetic toward folks who are trying to escape similar situations, regardless of where they come from.
Let us be truthful about immigration and who is responsible for immigration policy. The Constitution places that responsibility on the Congress of the United States. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution grants Congress “the power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof”. Long-standing Supreme Court precedent recognizes Congress as having plenary power over immigration, giving it almost complete authority to decide whether foreign nationals may enter or remain in the United States.
In an effort to fulfill its responsibility, a bipartisan congressional commission wrote what became known as, S.4361 – Border Act of 2024. Among other provisions, S.4361 would have provided over $20 billion for border security. Had the Act been passed into law it would have required the Department of State to establish refugee processing centers in Central America so that people could be screened and their refugee status accurately determined before they arrive at the border. This would have eliminated most of the practice known as “catch and release”, where undocumented immigrants are released from custody into the U.S. until court dates to determine refugee status can be convened. Under S.4361, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection sectors would have been required to increase the number of border protection agents and personnel to process immigrants who have already arrived at our border. The Department of State would have been required to implement a strategy to advance reforms in Central America and address key factors contributing to migration from that region to the United States. The bill would have established a process for noncitizens who could pass certain background checks and meet certain requirements, including being continually present in the United States from January of 2023, to be able to receive lawful permanent resident status after at least five years.
S.4361 had the support of the Border Patrol, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Texas Alliance of Cities and others, but was tanked because (allegedly) Donald Trump wanted to use immigration and border security issues to help his campaign for President. He chose to play political football with a national security issue because he believed it would benefit him.
Trump and Vance continue to repeat the claim that Vice President Harris was appointed “Border Czar”. This is another lie. The Department of Homeland Security manages migration and Harris has never been in charge of the border. Her immigration role for the Biden administration included boosting U.S. aid to Central America and working with both public and private sector entities, plus the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, to improve living conditions in those nations in the hope of lowering the odds that migrants would leave those countries because of poverty, gang violence and corruption. Migration from these three Central American countries during the Biden administration has fallen 35 percent, from about 683,890 to 447,270 in 2023. These numbers are lower than they were in 2019 under Trump. There are “push and pull” factors that explain why people leave their home countries to come to the United States. Some of the push factors include cartel violence, government corruption and poverty. Some of the pull factors are economic opportunity, safety and freedom. The Biden – Harris approach to immigration and border security shows a comprehensive approach at trying to deal with the multiplicity of issues that lead people to come to our border. While not perfect, their policies are stronger than what we have had in the past from multiple previous administrations.
The New York Times likened Trump’s immigration policy to being “Light on Details But Strong On Fury”. The central theme of Trump’s immigration policy is to “Build the Wall”. Regarding wall building, Trump’s claims about his accomplishments during his first term in reality equate to what George W. Bush called “fuzzy math”. A Customs and Border Protection report issued toward the end of the Trump administration indicates that 52 miles of new wall systems and 33 miles of new secondary wall systems were built where there were none before. Besides the new miles of border barriers, the Trump administration replaced 351 miles of primary barriers and 22 miles of secondary barriers that were smaller and were dilapidated. Maybe I’m missing something, but it looks like that adds up to 458 miles of border wall along a 2000 mile border. A significant amount of that construction was replacement for segments of wall that were no longer serviceable and Mexico didn’t pay for any of it. The need for a border wall is one thing, but walls by themselves will not make our borders secure. A more intelligent approach is needed. One that involves collaboration with transnational partners from across the region.
Trump states that if elected, he plans to round up undocumented immigrants, put them in detention centers and deport them. Like his “concept of a plan” for healthcare, his plan for immigration and border security shows lack of thought, nuance and the understanding needed to address what is clearly a complex geopolitical issue. We should be honest enough to call his plan what it is. Trump’s plan involves concentration camps and likely, ethnic cleansing. And let’s not forget the chaos at the border during his first term. Under Trump, the US government had a “zero-tolerance” policy that allowed authorities to deport adults who crossed the border without consideration for their refugee status. In some cases, parents were deported back to their home countries without their children. Children were placed in government custody and held in cages for weeks. At least 5 children died while in detention. Trump repeatedly defended – and continues to defend – the policy as a way to deter would-be migrants. At least 3,900 children were separated from their parents between 2017 and 2021. As of May of 2024, over 1000 migrant children had yet to be reunited with their families.
Border security is an important issue, as are effective policies around how refugees and migrants are treated. For decades, Congress has abdicated its responsibility to enact the needed reforms that will adequately address the current realities we face on our Southern border. This is a complex problem that demands an intelligent, thoughtful approach. We would do well to carefully consider whose policies best reflect our need for national security and what kinds of policies will effectively and justly govern a humane approach for processing refugees and immigrants. The face that America shows to the world is that we are a nation of immigrants who value the God given inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Is this still true or are these ideals in short supply? I believe we are smart enough to find solutions to the issues on our Southern border without resorting to concentration camps, mass arrests and ethnic cleansing. One candidate has endorsed border policies that look to bring a comprehensive approach to the issue. The other candidate’s approach is predicated on lies and seems about as insightful as, “I guess we’re from Ireland”.
Sources for this article include:
NPR.org: JD Vance spreads debunked claims about Haitian
Congress.gov: S.4361 – Border Act of 2024 118th Congress (2023-2024)
Sinema.Senate.gov: Bipartisan Border Security Package: Myth vs. Fact
Washington Post: What Kamala Harris did – and didn’t do – on immigration
New York Times: Trump’s Border Plans Are Light on Details but Strong on Fury
Washington Post: Years after immigration policy separated families, 1400
Reuters.com: Close to 1000 migrant children separated by Trump
Politifact.com: How many miles of border wall did Donald Trump build?
NPR.org: Deaths Of Migrant Children Haunt Former Official
