We have all been taught to believe that America is a land of opportunity, a place where, with hard work and persistence, anyone can succeed, find a job, start a business or a family.
Most of us come from immigrants and we’ve built a great country as immigrants.
But you wouldn’t know it by listening to MAGA Republicans talk.
Since he began running for president in 2015, Donald Trump has been whipping up false fears about immigration, contending that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
He continues to argue that immigration drives crime (it doesn’t) and that it takes jobs from Americans (it doesn’t).
His running mate, J. D. Vance, felt no remorse at publicizing a hateful and entirely untrue rumor that Haitian immigrants (who were legal residents) were eating their neighbors’ pets, saying essentially that if it gets him elected, he’s good with throwing his own constituents under the bus.
These lies get MAGA votes, but they come with a cost that was made all too clear in Springfield.
But the debacle and its aftermath of bomb threats and school closings did shine a light on the role of immigrants in urban renewal.
Haitian immigrants enabled Springfield to go from a dying rust belt city to a thriving community. We need to change our assumptions about immigration if America is to remain a land of opportunity.
Of course, we must recognize that the cost of social services for new immigrants has been unevenly distributed among the states.
But, as several commentators, including economist Paul Krugman, have demonstrated, immigration is economically beneficial for Americans.
Immigrants, regardless of class or educational background, fill essential jobs in farming and meat packing, but also electronics and medicine.
They also create jobs for Americans when they start new businesses and attract new investments to their communities.
Immigrants pay taxes; they will likely be essential to the continued health of Social Security and Medicare.
Accepting that immigrants lift other Americans as they climb, we should stop vilifying them and vote for lawmakers who will enact sensible laws and policies — like orderly entry into the U.S., a path to citizenship, and support for communities that absorb immigrants — that create opportunities for all.
Laurie Finke
Gambier, Ohio