To put it lightly, and especially euphemistically, this year’s election has created a lot of buzz surrounding immigrants. Because of this, I wanted to write an article giving the reader a glimpse into the opinion of a white immigrant living in the wake of Trump’s America. Being a British citizen living in the U.S. for 14 years now, I wanted to talk about all the ways in which I feared for my own deportation -- and of course the deportation of non-white immigrants. I’m technically a permanent resident, but considering I still haven’t applied for citizenship, I could be booted from the country at any moment. I wanted to talk about how I empathize with those who are forced to enter the country illegally. I wanted to give a perspective from the other side- one an American may never have the opportunity to see. I wanted to humanize the issue.
So, as any logical journalist does, I began to do a bit of researching to ensure I was using the right terms and wasn’t putting any words into our president elect’s mouth (although, anything I claim he said would probably be better than what he actually said). Doing so, I wound up on www.donaldtrump.com reading his “Immigration” page. And this is when my idea for an article completely flipped.
Yo. Before I talk to you about why you should care about an immigrant’s opinion, we need to set some things straight.
On Mr. Trump’s “Immigration” page, you’ll see he’s listed his “vision,” including his “10 Point Plan to Put America First.” We’re going to talk about a few of these visions. I limited myself to three so I don’t go on forever, but I’m sure you’ll catch my drift by the time you’re done reading.
Trump plans to “Prioritize the jobs, wages, and security of the American people,” as well as “Establish new immigration controls to boost wages and to ensure that open jobs are offered to American workers first.” So, this is literally how legal immigration happens, as is. When my parents and I moved here, my dad applied on an H1B visa. Put simply, this meant he was applying on a work visa, meaning an American company had to sponsor him to come to America. In order to do this, the specific American company needs to post the job opening for a minimum of 3 months, and if any American candidate more qualified than my father applies, they are required to give the job to that American citizen. America already prioritizes the American people over immigrants, and we can see this in so many issues other than just applying for jobs.
Trump also states he will “Protect the economic well-being of the lawful immigrants already living here by curbing uncontrolled foreign worker admissions.” Subpoint: “Select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in the U.S. and their ability to be financially self-sufficient.” Call me a broken record, but this is literally how legal immigration works. First and foremost, unless Trump plans to drastically reduce the financial burdens placed on legal immigrants (which I doubt he does), he has no way to protect the economic well-being of immigrants. After our immigration struggle, my parents not only had to file for bankruptcy, but we lived in a rat-infested, one-room apartment for years because my dad simply could not afford to provide for us in America. And this all boils down to the fact that once you get here, “The American Dream” becomes every immigrants’ burden. There are no protections available to foster economic prosperity- not for citizens and especially not for immigrants. But second, and most importantly to my point, the current U.S. immigration system does select immigrants based on their success and ability to be self-sufficient. This is not a willy-nilly process in which anyone who wants to emigrate can do so. There is a step-by-step process, and an incredibly expensive and classist process at that, which dictates who can enter the U.S. and who cannot. Each different type of visa is based on a different type of role the immigrant will fill, and they have to jump through hoops just to apply for it. There are applications, waiting periods, horrendous fees, and many lawyers involved when trying to move to America. This is not an easy task, and Trump seems to have no idea how it actually works.
And finally, on Trump’s 10 Point Plan he claims he will, “Reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers, keeping immigration levels within historic norms.” However, on March 11th, President Obama told the Austin Democratic National Committee, “Illegal immigration is lower than it’s been in forty years.” Plus, Politifact of March 17th, 2016 confirmed this statement, and added that over the last fifteen years due to an increased investment in border security, apprehensions are the lowest they’ve been since 1972. It’s obvious that Trump is completely ignoring these statistics in order to appeal to an audience who researches just as much as he does. Immigration levels have been decreasing for decades, so what kind of “historic norms” is Trump referring to? Tying these points together, Trump needs to see that we don't have an immigration problem in this country. The real problem falls on the immigrants themselves in the fact that it is extremely difficult to thrive in America. The system itself is doing its job, so let's stop acting like it isn't.
This article was never intended to start any sort argumentation, but I really want you to think about what I've said. I’ve picked three examples from Trump's list of promises, and none of them add up. It’s like reading a high school book report when the kid clearly didn’t read the book. We can’t change the fact that in January, Donald Trump, a man completely unqualified for the job, will become the next president of the United States. What we can do, however, is fact check. Research. Don’t take what he says at face value. Immigration is about so much more than just politics; it’s people. Don't forget that.
