Former President Donald Trump declared that immigrants arriving in the United States are “poisoning the blood of our country,” a comment that echoes the speech of other totalitarian figures throughout history. But where does this idea come from? And is this really what Americans think of immigrants?
Seeking to maintain “pure blood”
“They let — I think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country. When they do that, we got a lot of work to do. They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump told a crowd that erupted in applause in Durham, New Hampshire, on Saturday, December 16.
That same day, so that there was no doubt that it was a mistake, Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social, in capital letters, that “illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of our nation. They’re coming from prisons, from mental institutions — from all over the world.” Of course, he said this without offering any evidence.
This discourse is not new; it has been used throughout history to justify the ethnic superiority of one group over another. For example, it was Adolf Hitler himself who in his manifesto “Mein Kampf” mentioned the expression “blood poisoning” in reference to the presence of immigrants and the mixing of races.
“All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning,” Hitler wrote.
Do Americans believe the same thing as Trump?
Fortunately, not everyone shares the former president’s ideas of white supremacy. For example, Chris Christie, one of Trump’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, called these comments “disgusting” on CNN.
About two-thirds of Americans (66%) believe that immigrants strengthen our country “because of their hard work and talents,” while about a quarter (24%) say that immigrants place a burden on the country, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
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Do immigrants have “poison” in their blood?
If there is one thing that has characterized the United States throughout its history, it is precisely that it is a nation of immigrants. In fact, Trump is the son and grandson of immigrants: German on his father’s side and Scottish on his mother’s side. None of his grandparents, and only one of his parents, was born in the United States.
Today, the majority of immigrants (77%) are in the country legally, according to Pew estimates. As of 2017, about 29 million immigrants were working in the United States, representing about 17% of the total workforce. Legal immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce, with 21.2 million workers. Some 7.6 million immigrant workers were undocumented.
Are undocumented immigrants a burden?
There is extensive academic literature that refutes this. For example, a study published last year by the George W. Bush Presidential Center states that “cities experiencing a large, sudden influx of immigrant workers generally do not see downdrafts in wages earned by lower-skilled native-born workers.”
Conversely, cities who create obstacles for immigration and experience disproportionate drops in immigrant populations…have seen no sustained increase in low-skilled native-born wages.
Immigrants have shed their blood, sweat, and tears to make this nation great. Our blood does not contaminate; on the contrary, it enriches the culture, supports demographic growth, and strengthens our economy.
This speech by Trump is a justification for ignorance and prejudice. He seeks to normalize xenophobia and he goes against the historical values of this country. Be honest and ask yourself: can immigrants vote for a candidate who unjustifiably demonizes them?