Every few years, the common law concept of jus soli — or birthright citizenship — comes back into the news.
This time, it was thrust onto the stage by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who just unveiled an immigration plan. One of his proposals is to stop automatically giving citizenship to most people born on U.S. soil. Rival GOP candidate Scott Walker issued a similar call.
The concept of jus soli has a storied history in the United States that dates to the late 1800s.
allowing more legal immigrants to come to the U.S. to work year-round is an issue that’s very much alive for employers, who are looking to fill hard manual-labor jobs that they say they can’t find Americans to do, now that the economy’s firing on all cylinders again.
Most anti-immigration arguments I hear are variations on the Lump of Labor Fallacy. That immigrant has a job. If he didn’t have that job, somebody else, somebody born here, would have it. This argument is wrong, or at least wildly oversimplified. But it feels so correct, so logical. And it’s not just people like my grandfather making that argument. Our government policy is rooted in it.
A record seven-in-ten (69%) Hispanic high school graduates in the class of 2012 enrolled in college that fall, two percentage points higher than the rate (67%) among their white counterparts,1 according to a Pew Research Center analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.2
This milestone is the result of a long-term increase in Hispanic college-going that accelerated with the onset of the recession in 2008 (Fry and Lopez, 2012). The rate among white high school graduates, by contrast, has declined slightly since 2008.
MYTH: Immigrants abuse public benefits. American citizens are paying for their social well-being.
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Fact: Undocumented immigrants DO pay taxes. In 2007, unauthorized immigrants in Indiana paid roughly $255.9 million in taxes. Additionally, authorized immigrants who were not U.S. citizens paid $901.7 million in taxes, and naturalized immigrants paid $1.2 billion in taxes.
-Source: Immigration Policy Center
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Fact: If all unauthorized immigrants left Indiana, the state would lose $2.8 billion in economic activity, $1.3 billion in gross state product, and approximately 16,739 jobs, even after the market had time to readjust.
-Source: The Perryman Group
Myths about immigration and immigrants are common. Here are a few of the most frequently heard misconceptions along with information to help you and your students separate fact from fear.
When students make statements that are mistaken or inaccurate, one response is to simply ask, “How do you know that’s true?” Whatever the answer—even if it’s “That’s what my parents say”—probe a little more to get at the source. Ask, “Where do you think they got that information?” or “That sounds like it might be an opinion and not a fact.” Guide students to find a reliable source and help them figure out how to check the facts.
10 Myths About Immigration | Teaching Tolerance
Myths about immigration and immigrants are common. Here are a few of the most frequently heard misconceptions along with information to help you and your students separate fact from fear.
When students make statements that are mistaken or inaccurate, one response is to simply ask, “How do you know that’s true?” Whatever the answer—even if it’s “That’s what my parents say”—probe a little more to get at the source. Ask, “Where do you think they got that information?” or “That sounds like it might be an opinion and not a fact.” Guide students to find a reliable source and help them figure out how to check the facts.
10 Myths About Immigration | Teaching Tolerance
-U.S.-born men age 18-39 are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than male immigrants of the same age.
-Data from the 1980, 1990 and 2000 census reports show that for every ethnic group, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants, even those who are least educated and least acculturated.
-The number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. doubled from 1994 to 2005, but during that time period violent crime actually decreased by 34.2%. At the same time, property crimes also decreased by 26.4%.
Source: Immigration Policy Center Report Immigrants and Crime: Are They Connected? A Century of Research Finds that Crime Rates for Immigrants are Lower than for the Native-Born
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC’s mission is to shape a rational conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. IPC, formed in 2003 is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.-U.S.-born men age 18-39 are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than male immigrants of the same age.
-Data from the 1980, 1990 and 2000 census reports show that for every ethnic group, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants, even those who are least educated and least acculturated.
-The number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. doubled from 1994 to 2005, but during that time period violent crime actually decreased by 34.2%. At the same time, property crimes also decreased by 26.4%.
Source: Immigration Policy Center Report Immigrants and Crime: Are They Connected? A Century of Research Finds that Crime Rates for Immigrants are Lower than for the Native-Born
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC’s mission is to shape a rational conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. IPC, formed in 2003 is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.
WRONG.
Fact: Eliminating undocumented immigrants from the workforce in the U.S. would not help the economy; in fact, the average loss of 3% of all jobs country-wide would cost the U.S. over $651.5 billion dollars in yearly economic output, as well as $1.757 trillion in annual spending.
-Source: Report from the The Perryman Group
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Fact: Overall, the cost to state and national economies would be astronomical if undocumented workers were removed from the workforce; and this cost would come on top of the cost of litigating and implementing labor laws seeking to remove undocumented immigrants from the workforce.
–Source: The Immigration Policy Center report: “The Economics of Immigration Reform: Legalizing Undocumented Immigrants Would Benefit All U.S. Workers and Businesses.
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Fact: The costliness of enforcing local immigration laws has already been exemplified by the following case studies.
-ARIZONA: S.B. 1070 led to a boycott of Arizona’s tourism and convention industry that will ultimately cost the state $253 million in economic output and upwards of $86 million in lost wages over the next 2-3 years.
–HAZELTON, PENNSYLVANIA: Currently has an immigration control ordinance undergoing litigation. The litigation has already cost $2.8 million, and it is estimated the cost could exceed $5 million.
–RIVERSIDE, NEW JERSEY: The town briefly enacted its own immigration law. During its brief enactment, Riverside spent $82,000 and lost commercial tax revenues because of business closings. Riverside reversed the law in hopes of bringing immigrants back to the town to help refuel the economy.
–FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS (a small Dallas suburb): This suburb has already spent $4 million defending its immigration ordinance. Legal fees are estimated to hit $5 million.
–Source: Center for American Progress
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About the Sources…
–The Perryman Group is an economic and financial analysis firm. The firm was founded by Dr. M. Ray Perryman, a widely accredited economist. Although TPG’s founder Dr. Perryman has been acknowledged by the U.S. Congress and the Texas Legislature, he does not openly express any political ties that would have biased this information.
-This particular study was conducted for Americans for Immigration Reform, the Business community’s voice on sensible immigration reform.
–The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC’s mission is to shape a rational conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. IPC, formed in 2003 is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.
-The IPC is responsible for the American Immigration Council’s research. The American Immigration Council (formerly the American Immigration Law Foundation) was established in 1987 as an IRS designated 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, not-for-profit educational, charitable organization.
–Center for American Progress: The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a self-described “progressive” organization. It openly admits that it is critical of conservative policymaking. Nonetheless, the Center for American Progress Action Fund is a non-profit, non-partisan organization.
Myth: Immigrants take jobs away from Americans.
Fact: Nothing could be further from the truth. Studies have shown that quite the opposite is true: Immigrants create jobs. Specifically various recent studies have shown that: Immigrants are more likely to be self-employed and start new businesses. Small businesses, 18 percent of which are started by immigrants, account for up to 80 percent of the new jobs available in the United States each year. Slightly more than 10 percent of the U.S. industrial workforce, or roughly 2.2 million Americans, are employed by foreign companies doing business in the United States. Additionally, the top 105 multinational corporations doing business here have U.S. affiliates that are so large they would qualify for the Fortune 500 list solely on the basis of their stateside operations.
