“Undocumented Immigrant” “Illegal Alien”
Only one of those terms is correct.
When Convicted Felon Trump was separating mothers and babies at the border, I was asked to give a speech on “illegal aliens”. I immediately got SO excited – I was thinking Klingons, Vulcans, the Borg and Tribbles. Especially Tribbles.
They said no, they were thinking about HUMAN “illegal aliens”.
I ended up giving the speech and mentioning those Star Trek aliens – but I also pointed out that no human being can be illegal. An individual can undertake an act that is illegal (or as in the case of the Convicted Felon, 34 separate illegal crimes so far) but a human being cannot be illegal. Now, the term “alien” does mean someone who resides in a different country from where one is a citizen, but the term has come to be pejorative, and it shouldn’t be. With the exception of Native Americans, we are ALL immigrants, or our ancestors were. So, the ancestors of the current members of the DAR were all aliens: specifically British subjects, which is why they were all guilty of treason against the crown during the American Revolution.
Right now, post-pandemic, the American economy is better than any other economy in the world and is propping up the global economy.
America’s gross domestic product in 2022 was more than 40% greater than that of China, the world No. 2. Even more striking, U.S. GDP was over five times that of the next two largest economies, Japan and Germany.
One reason? Immigrants.
Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, made up 18.6% of all workers in 2023. The trend indicates that the numbers would be higher in 2024. BLS full numbers here, and here are a few facts about that:
Without those workers, our economy would not be as strong as it is, and is likely one of the factors that have kept us out of a recession. I know what you’re thinking: but prices are high. I will be posting on that at a later date.
Many of these immigrants pay income taxes, local taxes, and payroll taxes. They contribute to the economy by buying goods and services, thus keeping OTHER people employed. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term “multiplier effect”, here is a micro example. (Of note, the macro examples relate to overall production and GDP.)
A new road project employs 100 people working on laying the pavement, grading the surrounding area, taking care of the drainage, etc. Those people take their earnings and pay rent/mortgage, utilities, buy gas for their vehicles to commute to work, grab lunch at the local diner, etc., etc., etc. The micro multiplier effect in action is that that influx of workers eating at the local diner means the diner orders more food, which must be produced, and adds additional wait staff and cooks. This means that farms need to hire more workers, and manufacturers need to hire more workers to produce their goods, everything from chips to go with sandwiches, to paper napkins, dishwashing soap, and on and on. And then those people buy more goods and services. You get the idea.
Immigrants are GOOD for the economy. And since immigrants have historically come in waves, we all benefit from the contributions of immigrants from prior eras. I want you to think about how immigrants have improved the United States. At the most basic level, we’d all be eating turkey, corn and sweet potatoes as our standard diet – no pizza, no bagels, no General Tso’s chicken, no doughnuts, no hamburgers. Think about the types of music we listen to, the sports stars that enrich our teams, the discoveries made by immigrants that contribute to our lives on a daily basis. Some of those discoveries? Think basketball, telephones, Google, video games and blue jeans. ALL came from immigrants.
Currently, a large percentage of immigrants is coming across the Mexican border. Now, these folks are not just Mexican, but also Central and South American, Asian, African and European. In addition, there are people who arrive on student visas, tourist visas, or H-1B, H-2A, and other work visas. It turns out that most people are currently against these immigrants. 55% of people think immigration should be decreased. Honest.
MAGA and affiliates are going to come against Candidate Harris on the issue of immigration. They will say she was “in charge” of the Southern Border, the call her “The Border Czar”. These things are FALSE. Her role was solely diplomatic, to understand root causes of increased immigration (thank the Trump Administration for what they did to Venezuela) and to allocate some funding. Details here.
If you are out talking to voters, you will need to be able to answer to the immigration issue.
Here are some talking points:
Without immigrants, farmers cannot harvest crops. Think what scarcity does to food prices. If there IS food.
75% of all ag workers are immigrants.
Fun fact:
The United States’ agricultural sector depends almost entirely on foreign-born workers. To illustrate the problem: In 2011, an attempt to employ 6,500 farm workers was made in North Carolina — only a small number of Americans applied, fewer showed up for work and, of those, only seven worked through the full harvest season. Source.
Immigrants are FAR LESS LIKELY to commit crimes than native-born Americans. Source.
Bipartisan comprehensive reform of border legislation was stymied because Convicted Felon Trump said his minions should vote against it because it would hurt his election chances.
Learn about immigration. Think about immigration. Offer FACTS on immigration. People “know” too much false information.
And by the way: