EDITORIAL: Voting the antidote to immigration fear-mongers
Recent news events here and around the world have placed immigration in the spotlight of this year’s presidential elections.
Stateside, the deadlocked 4-4 vote by the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of President Obama’s immigration executive orders has eliminated any chance for immigration reform for the remainder of his administration. Internationally, stemming immigration was at the core of the recent UK referendum voting in majority to leave the European Union, driven largely by fear of competition from trade and immigration from the 27 other members of the EU.
Globalization – the free movement of people and goods between countries – is gradually being threatened by nationalism and isolationism. As people from several nations continue to experience unemployment and general economic uncertainty, there’s less enthusiasm to welcome immigrants to compete with them for scarce jobs. This is even evident in the Caribbean, with some Trinidad and Tobago citizens resisting immigrants from Jamaica.
In the last weeks of the UK referendum, referred to as “Brexit,” the “leave the EU” campaign played the immigration card, stoking fear that should the UK remain in the EU, people would lose jobs to immigrants, and face national security threats by refugees from war-torn nations like Syria.
This fear stoked in the UK is similar to the fear being stoked by immigration opponents in the U.S. As the current election cycle unfold, fear mongers claim growing national security threats of refugees from Islamic-majority nations, as well as further jobs loss caused by immigrants generally. Anti-immigration rhetoric in the U.S. isn’t only targeted at the over 11 million undocumented immigrants, but seemingly targeted against the general immigrant community, making some feel marginalized.
Lost in the argument is the fact that the nation is one of immigrants. Except for the small minority of Americans who are descendants of native Americans, the overwhelming majority of American citizens are descendants of immigrants. It’s these immigrants who built America to its current grand status, and continue to do so.
Yet, the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, persists in arguing Americans need to “take back the country” from immigrants. His first comment on the Brexit vote was the British had taken their country back because they wanted independence from European immigrants. To take America back from immigrants, the presumptive nominee plans to build walls, and generally make it difficult for immigrants to enter the country.
Arguments against immigration reform in the U.S. include those from legal immigrants critical of the 11 million who are here illegally. These legal immigrants argue they “waited in line,” patiently enduring the tedious application process to become legal immigrants. They also argue that there are millions worldwide who embarked on the legal route to migrate to the U.S. and were denied, plus millions are still waiting, so why should preferential status be given to the 11 million?
Whether this argument is valid or not, it doesn’t give much consideration to the estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants who either came to America as infant children of illegal immigrants; born in America to illegal immigrants; or are undocumented parents of children under age-18 legally born here. These are the people Obama was trying to avoid deportation for when he signed the now doomed executive order in 2014.
For these 5 million undocumented immigrants, other undocumented immigrants, and legal immigrants who aren’t yet U.S. citizens, the stakes of the presidential elections keep getting higher as immigration opponents continue to stoke fear. As evidenced in the UK referendum, fear can trump logic and good sense, making people react in ways they wouldn’t normally. When voters are anxious and fearful, opportunistic politicians will desperately prey on that anxiety.
The immigrant community, including the Caribbean-American community, must remain steadfast against the fear-mongers. America will continue to need immigrants in various fields. The community cannot let fear coerce them into voting along lines that will compromise its future, or the future of other immigrants who although here illegally are nonetheless in demand to fill job vacancies American citizens are reluctant to fill.
The actions of the U.S. Supreme Court and Brexit are reasons for more legal immigrants to seek citizenship, register to vote, and participate in the elections this in November. The surest way to counter the anti-immigration fear is to vote for a president and congressional representatives who will make sensible immigration reform an urgent priority.
