Communities of immigrants scattered throughout the United States are overwhelmed with silent desperation as Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, fast approaches. The uncertainty is palpable amongst families with varying legal statuses, recipients of DACA worry about the revocation of their privileged status, holders of Temporary Protected Status anticipate negative changes, and asylum seekers brace for the worst. If the anti-immigrant policy, Project 2025, is enacted to its full extent, the hauntings of family separation that blighted 2018 during Trump’s initial administration would seem insignificant compared to what lies ahead.
The key narrative that has taken root from the 2024 presidential elections is the growing collective frustration of citizens regarding upheavals caused by immigration. This led them to elect a leader who assured resolute action on this matter. Electoral polls evidenced the importance of immigration, held by probable voters as either the primary issue, or second only to economic concerns.
The disquieting silence surrounding the surge in public dissatisfaction with immigration and the potential attack on immigrant rights by Trump’s administration is that it stems in part from the precedents set by the Biden administration. Through the creation and subsequent manipulation of a ‘migrant crisis,’ Biden inadvertently armed Trump with a weapon that he catapulted all the way to the White House. Going beyond mere policy improvement, there is a need to reshape the narrative around immigration and its practitioners to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable individuals as political fodder every election cycle.
Gallup polls have observed a significant surge in national immigration-related stress during Biden’s four-year tenure as president. As a reality check, the proportion of Americans advocating for decreased immigration, which has shown a gradual decline over the years, hitting close to 30 percent, experienced an upward shift, reaching 55 percent by 2024. It might be easy to attribute this tendency to a misplaced view of the situation, borne out of effective propagandizing and Trump’s relentless accusations that Biden welcomed a deluge of unauthorized immigrants.
However, numerous credible nationwide reports, both from small-town America and bustling urban centres, indicate a genuine struggle in accommodating large numbers of people from foreign lands. These realities only enhanced the perception of uncontrolled immigration and lent truth to Trump’s misinformation regarding immigrants. What has been left unsaid is how migrants from non-Caucasian countries were intentionally relocated to cities and towns without any strategic plan for their careful integration— a stark juxtaposition to the manner in which Ukrainian immigrants were handled during the Biden administration.
Both Ukrainian migrants and immigrants from Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia were present in similar proportions in various cities and towns, but their settlement process was often strikingly different. For Ukrainians, there were no restrictions on seeking employment immediately upon arrival, whereas subsequent batches of immigrants were denied the right to work, leading to their reliance on government benefits and subsequent demonization.
Another key point of departure was the well-orchestrated settlement of Ukrainian refugees, coordinated with local authorities to ensure proper assimilation, a courtesy not extended towards those crossing the Southern border. Consequently, local leaders could politicize migrants, throttling the apparent anarchy these migrants supposedly brought with them and implementing policies that amplified the negative portrayal of immigration. A comparable level of federal support and impartiality in treating all migrants would have possibly lessened the influence of Trump’s misguided commentary.
The previous Trump administration tried to dismantle the existing system by creating a disarray to blame those seeking asylum, instead of allowing them to make their case systematically. This approach was regrettably allowed to persist by the Biden administration. The truth is, compared to 2007 levels, the population of undocumented immigrants in the U.S, it rose by only 800,000 between 2019 and 2022. How can immigrants, who represent less than a quarter of a percent of the total population of 335 million, be the cause of such a multitude of problems as claimed by Trump?
Contrary to popular belief fueled by skewed narratives, Americans are not anti-immigrant; they are proponents of controlled immigration. The distorted view that Americans are opposed to immigration occurs because they are bathed in narratives of unruly masses breaking laws, fostering chaos, committing crimes and usurping jobs. Both Trump and Biden are contributive to this state of affairs.
Migration involves more than the mere shift of population—it encapsulates the plight of vulnerable groups escaping war-torn homelands, poverty, religious persecution, and climate transformations. Given the opportunity to legally enter a land of refuge, it is only natural that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers would exhaust all efforts to abide by the rules. There is a need to question why they would intentionally jeopardize their hard-won security.
The irony of the situation is how the system has been manipulated not to offer a concrete solution, but to stage a crisis that would allow politicians to flaunt their stern stance on immigration. As it stands, the United States desperately needs an influx of immigrant labor. The demand is not limited to low-wage work fields, but extends into specialized vocations like medicine where immigrants constitute a significant part.
Today the US faces a nationwide shortage of health care staff, including doctors, nurses, technicians and caregivers. This void could be filled by proficient immigrants. As the American population ages and the birth rates drops, immigrants have stepped in to provide care, contribute taxes, and fund services, while being denied access to those same benefits.
We must consider the ‘brain drain’ effect that has left many originating countries in the global south grappling with the flight of their most talented citizens to developed western nations. The narrative spun around immigrants has fostered an unfounded sense of alarm within the United States. We shouldn’t count on Trump to rectify the system he once aimed to dismantle.
We need honest representations around immigrants before the next elections. Key among these truths are the intentional orchestration of a migrant crisis; a legal immigration system purposely crippled for political leverage; individuals forced into impossible situations; and acknowledgment and acceptance of the need of immigrants by the USA.
In sum, it is pivotal to understand that immigrants need the United States as much, if not more, the U.S. needs them. The real challenge lies in challenging and transforming the narratives that have caused unnecessary panic and fear within the nation. It’s high time we addressed this, accepting immigrants as part of our evolving narrative rather than a threat to our way of life.