U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Undocumented immigrant children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas.
COMMENTARY: In a speech promoting comprehensive immigration reform in 2006, then-U.S. President George W. Bush made a plea for reason and respect in the national debate.
“We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain,” Bush said. “We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say.”
How far we’ve fallen.
Our current president speaks about immigrants who lack legal status like they’re roaches. He recently accused Democrats of wanting such immigrants to “infest our country.” He also claimed he’s “watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13,” as if the United States is being invaded. (It’s not.)
Heath Haussamen
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, in contrast, has a section on its website that promotes the contributions of immigrants and debunks myths with facts: Immigrants work hard; they’re responsible for a substantial portion of the U.S. labor force’s growth. They’re not taking American jobs; in fact, more immigrants are self-employed than native-born Americans. Those whose businesses have employees employ an average of 11 people.
And immigrants aren’t “taking over” the United States, the Bush website states: They account for about 13.5 percent of the population, “which is in line with historical norms.”
It’s also true that our economic system is squeezing more and more Americans. Our predominantly white middle class has been shrinking. Suicide and other deaths among white, middle-aged people are rising.
Many are blaming immigrants. As I’ve moderated social media discussions at NMPolitics.net about the crisis on our southern border in recent weeks, I’ve seen so many comments that essentially said, “Who cares? They broke the law. They took our jobs. Deport all immigrants. Close the border!”
One person posted “Womp womp” in response to an article about migrants who are fleeing violence. He was mimicking former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. During a recent television appearance, Lewandowski mocked a migrant child with Down Syndrome who’d been separated from her mother.
That lack of empathy is stunning.
Immigrants didn’t cause the great recession, the mortgage crisis, or so many other problems. We’re all victims of deep-rooted, oppressive systems that need reform and a government that is too corrupt and paralyzed to do it.
So many people in the United States are struggling to make ends meet. I feel that pain. I’m among those spending more under Obamacare for less health insurance coverage than I had before.
And there are so many people in other nations whose lives are in danger every day. Even as our president likens them to pests, they see the United States as a safer and better opportunity. So they keep coming.
“Our new immigrants are just what they’ve always been: people willing to risk everything for the dream of freedom,” Bush said in his 2006 speech. That was before the base of his party revolted, killed immigration reform, and made the GOP into a nativistic bunker for people with hardened hearts.
If we continue on this path, polarization will increase. Violence will intensify. And I fear for our future.
We can choose something better. It starts where Bush focused 12 years ago – on the American ideal that we are “one nation out of many peoples.” We are best when we work through our differences and come together.
It starts by choosing to have empathy for each other. It’s not too late.
Heath Haussamen is NMPolitics.net’s editor and publisher. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.