Since its inception, the United States has used immigration policy as a tool of oppression and appeasement. Immigrants (along with enslaved peoples of African descent) have been heartlessly taken advantage of in order to literally, and figuratively, build this country to what it is today. They are too often denied accessible pathways to citizenship, with full constitutional rights and privileges. Too often, they are made to live in a state of jeopardy and exploitation.

The first ever immigration law passed in the United States was the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, barring immigrants of Chinese descent for ten years. When gold became more difficult to find during the Gold Rush, people senselessly blamed Chinese immigrants, forcing them to live in communes and take up laborious and low wage work. In the 1870s, racist politicians targeted these immigrants as the cause of the declination of the economy. The legislation was renewed and later made permanent in 1902. Congress did not repeal the act until 1943.

For centuries, politicians have tried and succeeded to use groups of peoples as scapegoats for issues out of their control. Terrified of these peoples’ political power, they have used immigration policy to silence their potential.

For example, the Naturalization Act of 1798 permitted President John Adams “to deport foreigners deemed to be dangerous” and increase the residency requirements to 14 years, making it even more difficult for immigrants to become citizens. At the time, a predominant percentage of immigrants had voted for the opposing political party.

When the number of Catholic Irish immigrants grew, Protestants in the U.S. had the delusion that those people would allow the Pope to take control of U.S. society. As a result of their fear, they elected to a significant number of members of their anti-immigration group, the Know-Nothings, to Congress.

In 1965, after enacting the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments, which eliminated the discriminatory system of national-origin quotas, the chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee remarked,

“[T]he bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs.”

His assurances bear striking resemblances to contemporary immigration rhetoric and fears—Will they come in droves? Will they steal my job? Will they look like me? The people of this country have been fed toxic anti-immigrant propaganda since the very beginning and it is time to wean ourselves off of this toxicity.

In 2001, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act) was first introduced in the Senate by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch. Instead of granting citizenship to all undocumented immigrants, the DREAM Act was created as a centrist alternative. Though the legislation included problematic requirements of its beneficiaries, referred to as DREAMers, it was still viewed as a step in the right direction for immigration reform. It was meant to be a bill that provided pathways to permanent residency for qualifying undocumented minors, but it never came to fruition, failing to pass in 2001, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to change immigration laws and give undocumented immigrants a route to citizenship. However, two years into his first term and no such Obama-endorsed legislation surfaced in Congress. After winning his second term, in 2013, a bill was unveiled by the Senate. Unfortunately, it included many obstacles for undocumented peoples even before they could head towards citizenship. This bill stalled in the House when Republicans declined to bring it up for a vote, essentially killing it.

Lacking congressional support, in 2012 President Obama announced the creation of a different program, DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Though the program did not offer a path to citizenship as promised on the campaign trail, all it did was give young recipients protection from deportation and a work permit—the protections last two years, but are renewable for an additional $495. Though there are conditions, DACA recipients, after satisfying additional fees and application requirements, are also eligible to receive advance parole and travel abroad. (It should be noted that the conditions to travel and return to the U.S. do not include leisure.)

DACA beneficiaries hail from several countries, across different continents. Mexico is the top country of origin, with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and South Korea following closely behind. Other recipients’ listed countries of origin include, but are not limited to, Brazil, India, the Philippines, Jamaica, Tobago, Poland, Guyana, and Pakistan.

In November 2014, President Obama announced a series of changes to DACA, in attempts to expand the program. The changes included: opening up the program for any undocumented person that entered the country prior to 2010, removal of the age requirement (younger than 31 years old), and lengthen the renewable deferral period to two years. A month later, to no one’s surprise, 26 states, all with Republican governors, sued in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas. After moving through the courts, they eventually won.

The plan to end DACA was formally announced September 5, 2017 in an announcement by the Attorney General. The known racist went on to deface the program and defame the individuals in DACA for approximately ten minutes. The 45^th president of the United States later tweeted, “Congress, get ready to do your job - DACA!”

Hours later, he tweeted, “Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can’t, I will revisit the issue.” The compulsive liar’s tweet should not be taken very seriously, after all, he did promise to end the program “day one” of his presidency.

Do not put your trust in a man that has been outspoken about deporting millions of people.

Do not put your trust in a man that wants to roll back birthright citizenship.

Do not put your trust in a man that thinks building a wall is good immigration policy.

Do not put your trust in a man who has done nothing but further the agenda of white cishet supremacy.

Nothing will be enacted, nothing will change, unless we fight for it.

Don’t allow Congress to forget your anger, or placate it by passing another place holder program like DACA. We need long term immigration reform in this country, with policies that offer paths to citizenship and protect all 11 million undocumented immigrants, not just the 800,000 DACA recipients. You can’t cherry pick which immigrants you support and which you do not.

If the most vulnerable immigrant isn’t protected — someone who isn’t a “hero,” who isn’t in higher education, who isn’t boosting the economy, who doesn’t have a tragic backstory, someone that is simply trying to live their life and support their family — then who is?

We need to stop dehumanizing immigrants — they are not “illegal” and they are not “aliens”. Perhaps most importantly, we need to stop associating immigrants’ worth with how much money or capital they contribute to this country — they are not a commodity; their value is beyond dollars. Immigrants are people. Don’t use statistics and GDP projections to support your claims that immigrants deserve every right, every privilege that is available to any other U.S. citizen. People shouldn’t have to tell you how much money the U.S. will lose, how many jobs will be lost, or how many DACA recipients are donating organs in order to evoke your empathy so you'll support them.