The 2024 presidential campaign is taking off, bringing with it the traditional anti-immigrant rhetoric from Republican candidates. Eager for power and detached from common sense, they all call for mass deportations, with some even discussing amending the constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship. A Message to Republican Candidates: Immigrants Are Not the Enemy
Republican, they were in power and didn't do it
During his tenure, President Trump declared war against undocumented immigrants, characterizing them as criminals from his campaign onwards and actively promoting a policy that sought to separate immigrant children from their families.
In one of his first executive actions, Trump decreed cutting funds to sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants. He also made an irrational generalization of deportation priority categories, where practically all undocumented immigrants would be a priority, in addition to implementing operations to arrest undocumented workers. Similarly, he tried, without any legal basis, to eliminate DACA.
In the end, Trump deceived many unsuspecting anti-immigrants, as his policies were rejected by the courts for being illegal. And what about his failed promise to build a wall along the entire southern border and have Mexico pay for it?
Don't be fooled; mass deportations are not possible
Last week, candidate Trump asserted (just like in 2016) that he wants to deport 10 million undocumented immigrants. Would some Republican kindly explain to us in a substantiated manner (with figures), how deporting a worker, a family breadwinner with American citizen dependents, makes this country safer and more prosperous amid a labor shortage?
According to a comprehensive analysis by Ben Gitis, Director of Labor Market Policy for the conservative American Action Forum, if the United States were to deport around 6.8 million undocumented workers, there wouldn't be enough Americans or legal immigrants to fill all those positions. There would be at least four million vacancies. Under this scenario, without enough workers, employers would be forced to shrink their businesses.
Additionally, removing immigrants would generate an enormous cost for the country. The American Action Forum estimates that the government would have to spend between $400 billion and $600 billion to deport all undocumented workers and reinforce parts of the border.
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Prejudices can destroy the economy
If we combine the populist tendencies of presidential candidates with their open disregard for facts, we find the ideal ingredients for unleashing an economic crisis if they come to power. We hope this does not happen; we still have faith in the system because deporting undocumented workers would not only be an act of economic suicide but also a cowardly betrayal of the principles upon which this nation of immigrants was founded.
Dear Republican politicians, immigrants are not the enemy. They are not numbers to inflate during election campaigns; they are real people, parents, and family providers. They are young people with dreams and professionals contributing to the country's growth. Please do not use immigrants as a scapegoat to instill fear among your voters. Immigrants are not the enemy; prejudices and ignorance are.