By Troy Cofie
Within the days of his second presidency Donald Trump made it clear that he’s implementing stricter and more militarized actions against undocumented migrants. By empowering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make sweeping arrests across the country while taking a unilateral, rather belligerent approach to deportations in order to make the country “safe.” President Trump is even going as far as to halt and suspend legal avenues for migrants coming in as refugees and asylum seekers.
With this in mind, this is a cruel and dubious approach to dealing with the increased flow of migrants. Undocumented and documented migrants play important roles in our economy and provide service to our communities. Many people who come here, whether legally or not, only want a better life for themselves and their families. To dehumanize these people and treat them as criminals only seeks to reinforce the political power of Donald Trump. Fear and over-policing don’t make us safe and these deportations can have long-term consequences.
Let’s cut to the chase: According to the Tax Policy Center, undocumented migrants have “paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022.” Undocumented migrants pay sales, excise, business income and property taxes in their communities and the states in which they reside. To further this point, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented across 40 states pay more in state and local taxes than the top one percent of households in those respective states.
Undocumented migrants also contribute to federal taxes by paying income tax. Based on information from the Tax Policy Center, migrants without any form of legal documentation file their income taxes on an “individual taxpayer identification number” (ITIN). However, undocumented migrants can’t even take Social Security or Medicare benefits or any form of federal benefits. These undocumented migrants pay $96.7 billion in Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance combined, yet they don’t have access since they don’t have a valid Social Security number. The narrative that migrants are leeches who exploit our system is not only factually wrong but incisively dangerous.
“To further this point, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented across 40 states pay more in state and local taxes than the top 1 percent of households in those respective states.”
Besides taxation, migrants play a dynamic and critical role in our economy. Undocumented migrants are important in sectors like agriculture, construction, maintenance, services, production, material moving and transportation, according to the Industrial and Labor Relations School (ILR) of Cornell University and the Council of Foreign Relations. Many of these undocumented migrants work in unsafe conditions and work long hours, which allows these sectors to be as productive as they are. Furthermore, a meta-analysis done by Dr. Giovanni Peri found that there’s no correlation between immigrants depressing the wages of native-born workers.
Rather, immigrants can boost the productivity of firms, and migrants can take jobs that native-born don’t want. Actually, according to this research, immigrants can increase business investment in the long run, which leads to increased employment and wages. The importance of migrants isn’t just limited to the American labor force but also plays a key role in entrepreneurship. Since 2022, 55% of companies that have been founded and had over $1 billion in value were founded by migrants, as stated by the Council of Foreign Council. To further this point, two-thirds of billion-dollar companies are “founded or cofounded” by children of migrants, according to the Council of Foreign Relations. Migrants, regardless of legal status, help keep our economy robust and help communities prosper.
Immigrants bring economic benefits to various communities around the United States. Unfortunately, they have been demonized to be the opposite. The President believes that the increased flow of migrants is increasing the crime rate in the United States. On the contrary, this is not the case at all. Now, is there an issue with criminal organizations trafficking drugs through the southern border? Yes. Should we deal with migrants who are criminals from their respective countries or commit heinous crimes in the US? Yes. However, this narrative dehumanizes migrants and seeks to criminalize them, which is extremely problematic. Based on the report of the American Immigration Council, multiple research results have shown that there’s no correlation between the increased immigrant population and an increase in crime.
Furthermore, sociological research has shown that undocumented migrants don’t increase the crime rate at all. Lastly, according to the American Immigration Council, stricter immigration enforcement does not reduce crime, nor do sanctuary cities’ policies of not collaborating with ICE increase the crime rate in those respective cities. The only thing that does stand on water is the exploitation of fear, distorting our perception of what’s actually happening.
This fear-mongering about migrants only seems to benefit President Trump and his allies in regard to political power. Not only just that, but our President–who opines about fixing our broken immigration system– is actively suspending programs that would bring people into the US legally. Trump has ended the Temporary Protection status for many Venezuelan migrants, suspended the CBP phone app that allowed migrants to legally enter through the southern border, and halted refugee programs for many people from unstable countries.
“Lastly, according to the American Immigration Council, stricter immigration enforcement does not reduce crime, nor do sanctuary cities’ policies of not collaborating with ICE increase the crime rate in those respective cities. The only thing that does stand on water is the exploitation of fear, distorting our perception of what’s actually happening.”
Trump has even decided to freeze humanitarian aid to many countries who need it and they are feeling the immediate effects of such policy change, according to a recent New York Times article. This would actually exacerbate the problem of migration, not solve it. There hasn't even been any substantial push to reform our immigration to process applications faster and more streamlined. Instead, we’re being constantly told of the supposed necessity of curbing programs that help other humans come to safer countries while demonizing them for not coming in the “right way.” Immigration isn’t just a political and legal problem but also a social problem. On Jan. 25, ICE agents raided Ocean Food Depot Restaurant to arrest undocumented workers, basing their info on a tip they received. According to Axios, the owner of the store mentioned that the ICE agents were only looking for specific groups of people, not interrogating any white workers. Even more problematic were the ICE agents interrogating a US military veteran who was Puerto Rican. This is only the beginning, where if you don’t look or act or speak a certain way, then you probably “don’t belong here.”
Undocumented migrants who have done no harm are being ratted out by their fellow community members simply because they don’t have legal documentation. Migrants are–nor should they be– defined by their legal status. They are human beings who simply want a better life in the United States. However, fear of the Other is running rampant in our nation, making us forget that these people are people. Over-criminalization won’t make us safe in the end; we’ve done it time and time again.
What’s important now is to be there for the migrants who toil for a better life. We shouldn’t forget their humanity, nor should we lose our empathy for them.
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