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- the selective memory of immigration
the selective memory of immigration
crossing the border from rhetoric to reality
Ben Lazaroff
September 01, 2024
In partnership with
introduction | edition #003
immigration is a subject best discussed in a forum of honest debate, where economic and humanitarian tradeoffs can be laid bare and a range of reasonable solutions proposed.
what’s the right number of people our country can safely take in each year?
what does “secure immigration” even look like?
what’s the economic plus-minus of immigration in general?
what are the housing and resource challenges faced by cities and states the nation over?
how do we properly measure success on immigration?
where does america even stand—where are we doing well and where are we struggling?
but honest forums are hard to find, let alone people willing to take part. and so modern americans are left suspended in a void of half-truths and poorly-framed realities—empty space surrounding one of our nation’s most important domestic policy issues.
and that void has been strategically identified by brand-name media outlets, who see our collective lack of education and know the sensationalist formula to siphon our votes in one direction or another.
the focus of this (much shorter) piece is an attempt to escape the selective memory employed by 21st-century media conglomerates — a memory conveniently constructed to omit critical components behind our nation’s founding, casting a thick bog over the history of immigration in today’s american conscience.
understanding where people are coming from (literally) and stepping beyond the political back-and-forth to a shared reality is essential for modern-day discourse—on contentious issues in particular.
sharing reality is the only kind of broth possible for staying human in a melting pot of hundreds of millions.
this week’s breakdown:
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the nations of anti-immigration | what kinds of countries keep immigration low?
the three lowest immigration rates worldwide
north korea isn’t far behind at 0.19%—what the three countries above have in common is that they’re all run by strict communist regimes (with authoritarian tendencies). given the rhetoric in nations like the united states, one would think “socialist” nations would be particularly welcoming to immigrants, given their over-emphasis on so-called “equality”. but this is not—and never has been—the case. the anti-immigrant link to communism and authoritarianism is born out in research tracing back to east and west germany:
“…individuals who have lived under an authoritarian, state socialist regime hold more negative attitudes toward immigration than individuals who have lived in a democratic, capitalist system…according to my preferred empirical specification, individuals exposed to state socialism are on average 15 percent more likely to be concerned about immigration.”
under the light of socioeconomics, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that recent “authoritarian” rhetoric percolating through american politics has bubbled up immigration-related fears in concert.
visualizing immigration | the patterns & composition of america’s population
immigration has returned to 1900 levels: the great second wave is very palpable, but it’s hardly unexpected — the “dip” in the middle of this chart is largely due to two world wars, the communist red scare, and further conflict in korea, vietnam and latin america. in greater peacetime, it’s only natural that a nation which offers significantly greater economic opportunity and keeps its borders open will incur immigration. it’s also worth remembering that massive waves of irish, italian, jewish and other ethnic groups flooded the united states in even greater proportion than today’s wave stemming in large part from latin america (~50%).
the waves of immigration
immigrants are returning to higher english literacy: there’s a great deal of unhelpful “speak english or go home” rhetoric in this country, but there’s been a clear uptick in literacy amongst immigrants in the past decade. it remains to be seen what the ceiling for immigrant literacy is, but this can only be a positive for native and foreign-born americans alike.
rising immigrant literacy
forgotten origins | if you were dropped on earth and landed in the 2024 news cycle, immigration sounds as if it’s predominantly a mexican-american phenomenon. but it’s worth recalling how definitionally immigrant this nation is — and how racially selective it is to forget our beginnings in the british isles.
1790 census data | % immigrant x state
the waves of immigration | three tectonic shifts in immigration have taken place in the history of the united states. and while recent surges are much larger in volume, they’re proportionally similar to waves we’ve experienced in previous centuries (given what was naturally a much smaller domestic population in america).
the united states’ changing composition of immigration
immigration is america’s #1 issue | as for today’s immigration rhetoric, it’s reaching a media-fueled zeitgeist of importance, polling as the most poignant issue leading up to this year’s presidential election:
Gallup polls immigration as top issue (first occurrence since 2019)
immigration is perceived as a threat | according to gallup, “a record-high 55% of U.S. adults, up eight points from last year, are saying ‘large numbers of immigrants entering the United States illegally’ is a critical threat to U.S. vital interests. The prior high was 50% in 2004.”
republicans are ~4x more scared than democrats | this uptick in fear towards immigration is unsurprisingly driven by republican votership—according to Gallup:
“The vast majority of Republicans already believed illegal immigration was a critical threat; 84% said so a year ago, but the percentage has now reached 90%. A larger increase, from 40% to 54%, has been seen among independents. Far fewer Democrats view illegal immigration as a critical threat, but that percentage is up from 20% in 2023 to 29%.”
immigration is perceived as a threat | and yet illegal immigration remains a much smaller fraction of total immigration — the vast majority of which is legal:
Pew Research
immigration trends are not correlated to which party holds the presidency | illegal immigration rose starkly under president clinton, and continued its steep incline through president bush’s administration — where it reached a natural peak in line with both previous immigration waves. illegal immigration tapered off and declined under president obama, began ticking back up under president trump, and has returned to similar levels seen in bush and obama’s administrations. pew research estimates that “the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population has likely grown” under president biden, though there are no indications yet it has reached it’s previous peak in 2006-2008.
quotes | from republican leadership on immigration
You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.
Rather than talking about putting up a fence, why don’t we work out some recognition of our mutual problems, and make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit.
In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.
The Democrats say, 'Please don't call them animals. They're humans.' I said, 'No, they're not humans, they're not humans, they're animals.
Our country is a country of laws, and we've got to enforce our laws. But we're also a nation of immigrants. And we've got to remember that proud tradition, as well, which has strengthened our country in many ways. These are not contradictory goals to remember our heritage and uphold our laws. America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time.
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final thought
perhaps what we should fear is not being a nation changed by yet another wave of immigrants, but a nation whose perception of immigration changes so much that we, in the greatest of ironies, forget where we came from.
Ben L. | Staying Human
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