Ark of the Lost Angels

Migrants boarding planes bound for Guantanamo Bay _{(Credit:Department of Homeland Security, courtesy of NPR)}

Immigrants are vitally important to America. Donald Trump’s hatred of them is un-American.

Immigrants are the lifeblood of America. This nation’s identity was built around immigration. When settlers from Europe arrived in the new world to explore for more land and resources to pillage, they established colonies and drove off the indigenous populations through warfare, disease, and treachery. Afterwards, America positioned itself as a new world where anyone could come and build a life.

This nation has no official language or religion because it was founded on the stated ideal that should be a place for everyone who wants to build a better future for themselves can put down roots. A nation without kings where anyone can, with hard work, see tremendous success. Of course, the American Dream is a fantasy, but it doesn’t mean that the principles guiding it can’t be a north star for the nation.

Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” at the base of the Statue of Liberty became the summary of America’s aspirations as a place for those from all over the world to build a better life in America.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

For the people arriving in New York harbor on boats that took them to the new world, there was no more welcome sight than Lady Liberty holding her torch aloft.

Historical Context

This nation was built off of European settlers arriving in mass numbers and destroying the indigenous population through warfare and conquest over the course of generations. The United States was built off a genocide. The pacification and extermination of native people is now correctly recognized as barbaric and cruel. In the time when the American colonies were founded, it was seen simply as the cost of doing business. In light of time offering new perspectives and growth as a society, the idea that the nation’s foundation rests on such a grave sin should only underscore the absolute necessity to do better with each generation.

America did not have immigration laws until 1875, when it was decided that immigration was a federal responsibility. The Great Wave occurred between 1900 and 1920, with nearly 24 million immigrants arriving in America with dreams of a better life. Around this time, many Irish, Italian, and Eastern European families came over laid the groundwork for much of what is considered quintessential American culture. Heroes of American culture in sports, film, literature, and music came from immigrant families. National quotas were introduced in 1920, and then done away with in 1965 with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

America should strive to be a place for all to come and live as they wish, with the liberties spoken of in the nation’s founding documents. After the original settlers came to America and they had children and grandchildren. they did not shut the door to newcomers. Strong levels of immigration continued until well after the American Revolution secured the independence of the New World. The 19^th and early 20^th centuries were marked by the expansion of America’s population through immigration. Great American cities were built off of the contributions of Irish and Italian and Polish and Greek and other nations’ immigrants who arrived on these shores to build a new life.

The attacks on September 11^th, 2001, are widely credited with being a flashpoint around which American society was altered in dramatic ways, and it is not different regarding immigration. In the wake of 9/11, anti-immigration sentiment took root in America at a level not seen before.

Crimes were committed against Muslims in America for the simple fact that they were the same religion as the attackers. Sikhs were also targeted in revenge attacks taken by vigilantes, despite being from a region of the world thousands of miles away from the homelands of the hijackers. Islamophobia was encouraged by many across America.

“Keeping America safe” became a convenient excuse to empower those who would demonize immigrants and tighten the restrictions around people coming here legally. At a time when America was being tested, immigrants were viewed with suspicion, and isolationism became a much more attractive rallying cry. In post-9/11 America, immigrants were seen as the enemy, because America was under attack.

It would dovetail into the Tea Party movement of the early 2010s which primed America for Donald Trump’s blatant lying on immigration on everything from illegal immigrants bringing drugs over the border with Mexico to President Barack Obama’s citizenship. Donald Trump’s presidency is a direct outgrowth of that Tea Party movement. The ouster of honest, earnest, intelligent conservatives in favor of demagogues who use cheap applause lines to play to the lowest common denominator gave American conservatives a winning playbook to take advantage of a population fearful of those from afar, in spite of many of their families immigrating in recent generations themselves. Facts began not to matter.

The Republican disdain for the truth caused the immigration problem in America to become so much worse.

Legal Immigration

The importance of immigrants to America isn’t a political issue, it’s a simple matter of reality. Even the face of American conservatism, Ronald Reagan, spoke of the importance of immigrants to America. Which is why it’s so disheartening that America today seems to view immigrants as something evil. It’s become a convenient shorthand for bigotry against race and religion. The points about keeping America ‘pure’ echo Nazi sentiments about the makeup of Germany and the need for Aryan purity, which resulted in eleven million people being exterminated simply for the crime of existing.

The discussion around illegal immigration brings out so much more vitriol to the point where it no longer feels like a policy debate but rather a discussion of treating other people humanely. Undocumented immigrants have been demonized to the point of abhorrence, while legal immigration becomes harder and harder. It is deemed acceptable for an individual to demonize someone who comes to this country without going through the hellish process of moving to America, even though the immigration system is horrendously broken. Reform needs to happen. People are forced to wait inordinate amounts of time, pay exorbitant amounts of money, and there is little transparency or sense from the federal government’s side.

After 9/11, the agency responsible for immigration moved from being under the Department of Justice to three new agencies under the new Department of Homeland Security. When the Immigration and Nationalization Service (INS) was split up, three new agencies were formed to take on its responsibilities: the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). USCIS now handles the visa, green card, and citizenship processes. ICE is responsible for tracking cross-border crime and stopping customs violations. CBP is primarily responsible for enforcing the borders of the United States.

There is a logical rationale behind separating out these responsibilities. It gives the new agencies much tighter focus, with fewer levels of management. The agency directors can make their reports directly to the Department Secretary and allow them to handle their missions more efficiently. However, the fact that all three agencies fall under the Department of Homeland Security signals a shift of immigration from being a legal matter to a security matter. Now, even legal immigrants become a security matter. It immediately casts them as the other, as a problem, and as a hostile force. Now, immigrants are something to protect the “Good Americans” from, not prospective Americans themselves.

This shift was coupled with the Bush Administration’s failure to pass substantial immigration reform, which only served to kick the can further down the street. Immigration reform has a number of idealistic and practical reasons behind it. From fulfilling the spirit of the American dream to maintaining the robust economy, there are reasons to support robust immigration in America. Due to the variety of differing opinions as to how to improve immigration, it is difficult to build a consensus on the best ways to reform immigration. However, the refusal to tackle the issue in any substantive manner at all is only prolonging the suffering of immigrants who are paying taxes, contributing to society, and becoming part of the rich tapestry that is the United States of America. By keeping the issue open, the conservative movement is able to demonize immigrants to win elections, preying on fears of a population which has been deliberately kept ignorant of the positive impact of immigrants on America.

While legal immigration is still so difficult, the concerns of people wishing to come to America are still real, and they are willing to risk being deported to countries with high rates of violence and other issues while they are scratching out the barest sense of a life here means illegal immigration will continue. By saying that people need to come here legally, while people with legitimate cases wait years, pay tens of thousands of dollars for their cases, and still remain trapped in limbo for years, the real message is that no immigrants are welcome here at all.

In the years between when these people file their cases and those cases are heard for the final decisions, they are busy living their lives and contributing to American society. The status quo is unacceptable and will lead to America falling behind its allies and rivals the most. Undocumented workers are brushed under the rug as they keep the American agricultural and manual labor industries moving forward. Farming, construction, and janitorial services all employ undocumented workers, not to mention restaurants and other important facets of American life.

Modern America only operates thanks to immigrants.  

Immigrants are Vital

Pragmatically speaking, immigrants are good for the economy. America’s economic dominance over the rest of the world is precisely because America is a place that people wish to move. In addition to the high performing jobs carried by many H1-B visa holders, particularly in the tech sector, other jobs such as manufacturing jobs, also require immigrants to function at current levels.

Without immigrants in the workforce, many American positions would not get filled. A large percentage of American agricultural workers are undocumented. Without these people picking fruits, tending to crops, and working fields, Americans do not eat. Local economies across the nation are devastated. Global trade is affected in horrific ways. It could easily help lead into a situation where the world goes to war, should other dominoes fall.

Agriculture and labor are not the only areas where immigrants are vital to the functions of the United States. Undocumented immigrants pay a substantial amount in taxes, which funds the United States government. Without the federal government overseeing various aspects of life in the United States, such as air traffic or national defense, the nation would crumble. If one were to use a genie’s wish to get rid of just the undocumented immigrants alone, then the healthcare system, manufacturing jobs for defense contracts, Social Security, and other functions of American society would collapse in a matter of weeks if not months.

Not just financial health would be impacted by the absence of undocumented immigrants. The results of deportations on communities can already be quantified, thanks to data from New York City which proves that immigrants being arrested and deported at such drastic rates directly impact community health. Immigrants fearing deportation will be less likely to call the police or fire departments in cases of emergencies, or to step foot into hospitals to receive treatment for diseases which may then spread throughout the communities. Children are especially at risk, since parents are often separated from their children during legal proceedings.

Simply put, undocumented immigrants are holding up American society and the privileged lifestyle enjoyed by many red-blooded, freedom-loving, patriotic Americans. Frankly, hatred of immigrants is acting against every US citizen’s self-interest. Furthermore, the heavy-handed tactics used to ‘fight back’ against illegal immigration merely treat these people making valuable contributions to American society as subhuman.

It’s illegal and morally repugnant.

Immigrants Are Human Too

It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump has been lying about immigrants for years. All three of his presidential campaigns have featured lies, fearmongering, and unbridled bigotry towards immigrants as cornerstones of his policy. It’s become the standard for the Republican party’s standards on immigration.

The Constitution does not separate out non-citizens from citizens in terms of who the laws apply to. As written, the protections of the law extend to visitors and permanent residents for most things except activities such as voting or running for political office. As such, non-citizen immigrants are afforded the same levels of legal protection as citizens. The presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, protections against illegal search and seizure, and so on all apply to those who do not have United States Passports but are here legally. In fact, many Constitutional rights apply to undocumented immigrants as well. Despite any arguments, the law as it is currently written provides citizens and noncitizens alike many of the same protections. A nation which structures itself that way should wear such a feat as a badge of honor, yet America’s actions as a country in recent years have been anything but honorable.  

This refusal to help people who flee violence and terror is one of many instances where the historically practiced values of America have been abandoned in favor of cheap political victories. To the point where a significant part of the population cheers on separating families at the border, keeping children in cages, and not keeping any records as to where those children came from. Not even mentioning the current administration’s use of lighthearted social media videos about people in restraints as they are deported.

These acts turn serious situations about national sovereignty into spectacles where people are treated as subhuman. The argument over border security is one thing, but the people being deported are still human.

The Department of Homeland Security has been used for suppression of domestic movements in ways antithetical to its stated missions. The Black Lives Matter protests were incredibly impactful in 2020. During these protests. DHS officers used unmarked vehicles to grab protestors in Portland. Many of those arrested were never charged with crimes, nor were the DHS officers within their jurisdiction to function in this capacity during these protests. The Border Patrol in the United States shows more cruelty than effectiveness in its mission. It would seem that the extreme measures taken in the name of national security, especially in the wake of 9/11, have failed in doing anything but building a security apparatus which encourages inhumane actions rather than effective methods to keep Americans safe. The Department of Homeland Security seems to have been politicized, tracking the activities of the Black Lives Matter movement in a way reminiscent of the FBI’s activities with COINTELPRO during the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-twentieth century.

In recent days, ICE is deporting advocates for speaking out. As established, the Constitution covers non-citizens. If the protections of the Constitution are no longer extended to non-citizens, they will selectively be extended to citizens as well. They become a tool to use in prosecuting the opposition, not to keep the country safe. For example, the current administration is eager to keep close ties to Israel and has taken to targeting pro-Palestine activists. Especially ones who are not American citizens. To that end, arresting a Tufts University doctoral student who co-authored an editorial on Palestine before voiding her student visa and deporting her is a blatant First Amendment violation. ICE detention forces people into horrific conditions. Beyond being a crime against human decency, such treatment does run afoul of the Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution which protects against “cruel and unusual punishments.”

Green card holders are fearful of being deported since many already have. A Green Card means someone who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States. While not full citizens, it means they are allowed to reside here and the United States is considered home. Even citizenship does not stop this, as American citizens are being arrested and targeted for deportation already.

The legal avenues for these efforts are being roundly ignored and circumvented, which is in line with the administration’s positions on a great many other issues. It is an affront to the ideas which America stands for and will hurt the United States in far more practical ways as well.

Closing Thoughts

The arguments against illegal immigration would make so much more sense if America had a set of sensical immigration laws on the books. However, with the process being so difficult and costly, many people who come here illegally have much more pressing concerns. It should be criminal that asylum processes which are supposed to take three months at maximum are extended out to ten years because of bureaucratic inefficiencies and the labyrinthian hell of American immigration law.

Moreover, it is a crime against humanity to detain immigrants in such fashions because it is a crime against humanity to detain anyone in such fashions. ICE is an agency of rogue actors who treat their responsibilities as a broad excuse to be as cruel as possible. Despite their legal status in the United States (to say nothing of the legal immigrants or visitors which ICE has been abusing), these people are still human and deserve to be treated as such.

Since 9/11 and the culture of fear descended upon America, the golden door has been nailed shut and the lamp has been illuminating a sign reading “Get lost.”

There is a way to clamp down on illegal immigration. There is a way to handle border security in an effective and humane way. However, this will not come with mass deportations, jackbooted raids on homes and businesses, and more militarized federal agents with shoot-to-kill orders in the south of the country. A wall will not protect the nation from illegal immigration, only comprehensive reform to make it easier to come legally will.

Until America is willing to accept the task ahead with the proper diligence and care, it should stop pretending that its stance on immigration is anything more than excusing cruelty and bigotry.