Nancy Qian

Opinion | Why heated rhetoric over US immigration imperils Americans’ future

While immigration is an important topic in US politics, the simplistic rhetoric used around a complex issue only further stokes fear and anger

If US politicians are serious about serving the American people’s interests, they will abandon the overheated rhetoric and work to maximise the benefits of immigration while minimising its costs

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An immigrant faces coils of razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States on March 17 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Texas National Guard troops have fortified Eagle Pass with vast amounts of razor wire as part of Governor Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” to deter migrants from crossing into Texas. Photo: AFP

Nancy Qian

Published: 8:30pm, 19 Mar 2024

It is becoming increasingly apparent that immigration will be a major issue for voters in this year’s US presidential election. Since US President Joe Biden took office in 2021, more than 6.2 million people who did not have permission to enter the United States have attempted to cross the border from Mexico, and more than 2 million have been allowed to remain while they await an immigration hearing.

This marked increase from previous years has become a source of controversy. While Biden’s critics claim – dubiously – that immigrants are driving up crime rates and taking Americans’ jobs, some Democrats are doubling down on calls to decriminalise illegal border crossings altogether. The first group accuses the second of undermining national security, while advocates of decriminalisation accuse immigration hardliners of racism and xenophobia.

With Americans arguably more divided than at any time since the civil war, US politicians are peddling simplistic rhetoric about an immensely complex issue to stoke fear and anger, deepening the country’s political polarisation.

But there is good news for the American people: The truth about immigration is far less frightening than what some politicians and media figures want you to believe. For starters, immigrants are much less likely to commit crime than US citizens. Nationwide, illegal immigrants tend to be incarcerated at a much lower rate than native-born Americans.

In Texas, for example, illegal immigrants, in 2018, were 45 per cent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans. And the crime and incarceration rates for legal immigrants are even lower.

Republicans often point to a 2021 US Department of Justice report showing that federal arrests of non-US citizens increased by 234 per cent between 1998 and 2018, while those of US citizens rose by only 10 per cent. But this increase was driven entirely by arrests for immigration-related offences.