Immigrants Make America Great

“America is for Americans, and Americans only.”

--Stephen Miller, at the Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, October 27, 2024

If this were true, I would not exist. I am the proud son of an immigrant from Guatemala who came to this country to study in the 1950s, got a job, married and had a family, became a citizen, and contributed to America's greatness. He was not American but was welcomed here. It is a story repeated millions of times by immigrants who have enriched this country, given back to it, and made it what it is today.

But you won't hear anything like that this year on the campaign trail. Former President Trump has made cracking down on immigration the central issue of his campaign. Vice President Harris has correctly pointed out that it was Trump himself who spiked the most important immigration enforcement bill in decades, and she has spoken of her immigrant parents. It's a good start, but she could do even more.

Harris should go further and remind the nation why immigration makes America great.

Some would have you believe the current election debate is only about the Southern border problem. However, this cannot explain the rhetoric we hear from Trump, Miller, and others. They portray all immigrants -- even legal ones -- as frightening invaders or even as pet-eating hordes who "swamp" and "overwhelm" idyllic small-town America.

No, this election is about something far more fundamental and consequential than the number of illegal border crossings. We are choosing between two very contrasting ideas about what America is.

On one side is Trump's pessimistic populism, which is based on a rabid fear of foreigners. His worldview manifests in many ways. For example, he believes that all foreigners cheat, so he seeks a universal tariff against all imports, whether we produce similar goods domestically or not. In the same vein, he threatens to deport immigrants -- again, even legal ones -- because they "poison the blood" of the nation. Watch a Trump rally: almost every problem is blamed on imports, immigrants, or both. Tariffs and mass deportations are his answers to everything.

Contrast this worldview with that of a very different kind of politician. Maybe you could call Ronald Reagan an "IMAG Republican" who embraced the optimism of American economic openness rooted in trade and immigration. In his farewell speech, Reagan spoke of America as a shining city on a hill, "built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here."

Vice President Harris should embrace this optimistic vision of America, a belief that America’s openness is the secret ingredient in our national recipe... the special sauce that sets us apart from so many others. 

It is America's openness that gives us a leg up – we are stronger as a nation precisely because we welcome the world’s products, ideas, investment, and people to our shores. 

Our openness to trade gives us access to the world’s products at affordable prices, keeps us on our competitive toes, and creates new markets for our exports. Being open to foreign investment capital lubricates the American economic engine. Our receptivity to foreign ideas, students, and scientists makes us a global hub for innovation. Hard-working immigrants eager to make a new life in our country continuously revitalize our nation. 

It is probably too much to expect a presidential candidate to make this case in the closing days of a campaign. But can we at least have some more aggressive myth-busting of Trump's nativist claims? Here are three facts the Harris campaign could emphasize:

1. Immigrants are not stealing American jobs. They primarily do jobs that Americans don't want or cannot do. In recent years, immigrants have filled critical labor shortages in health and home care, agricultural production, and the construction industry. For example, immigrant farmworkers comprise an estimated 73% of agriculture workers in the United States. High-skilled immigrants fill critical gaps in America's workforce and contribute to our leadership in vital technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing.
2. Immigrants are not bringing crime to our shores. They commit far fewer crimes than native-born Americans. Trump frequently cites stories of horrific crimes committed by illegal migrants. But the plural of anecdote is not data. In fact, a study by the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes and at a quarter the rate for property crimes.
3. Immigrants do not poison the blood of the nation. They enrich and embolden America. Immigrants often bring entrepreneurial spirit and leadership, starting new businesses that create jobs and drive economic growth. Think of the immigrants who lead Google, Microsoft, IBM, Robinhood, Instacart, and others. It's not just founders and CEOs; more than one in six small business owners in the United States is an immigrant, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Immigrants comprise 18 percent of small business owners, even though they constitute 13 percent of the population.

Sadly, the lies of Mr. Trump's pessimistic populism have dominated this election season. Indeed, it was crystal clear from the rally in Madison Square Garden this week that we Latinos will be high-priority targets if there is a second Trump term.

Since my last name ends in a vowel, I guess I'll have to start carrying my passport around when the mass deportations begin.

Listen to what was said: Latinos are rapists, criminals, and profligate baby-makers from floating garbage dumps. As Ricky Martin put it, "esto es lo que piensan de nosotros" (this is what they think of us). It is a dark and hateful vision of America.

Perhaps in my lifetime, we will again see a national leader ready to speak optimistically, as Reagan did, of immigration and trade as unique sources of America's strength—of its economic vitality, for sure—but more than that, as essential elements of the American creed.