Home Politics Immigrants

See President Reagan's Fairwell Address. Where he says "If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost."

Some Misinformation about Immigrants:

Immigrants are a major source of crime.:
Immigrants in the United States have had lower incarceration rates than the native-born population since at least 1870 (when such data were first recorded). In 2020, immigrants were 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated than the U.S. born, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
And though a 2021 Justice Department study points out prosecutions of immigrants increased between 1990 and 2018, nearly 90 percent were for violations of immigration-related laws. Notably, U.S.-born citizens were ten times more likely than immigrants to be incarcerated for committing weapons-related offenses, five times more likely for violent offenses, more than twice as likely for property crimes, and nearly twice as likely for drug offenses.

Immigrants are taking Jobs:
In 2024 we had 1.5 job openings for every immigrant.
In 2007 illegal immigrants were 0.27% of the labor force in 2022 they were 0.24%
We need workers in food services, construction, agriculture, landscaping,...
Workers spurs economic growth
Immigrants abuse the welfare state:
Immigrants have a higher workforce participation rate, 66% vs 63%.

Illegal Immigrants paid $66 billion in taxes in 2023.
Tax Compliance | budgetlab.yale.edu, 2025

Immigrants Used significantly Less Welfare than Native-Born ...
See: Immigrants and Public Benefits

Immigrants are drug traffickers:
Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other federal agencies show the vast majority of fentanyl comes through legal ports of entry. And the people bringing it into the country are native born Americans.

See also:
15 Myths About Immigration Debunked

Nearly 46 percent of all immigrants resident in the United States in 2022 arrived prior to 2000.

More than three-quarters are in the country legally.

There were 3 waves of immigrants:
1840-1889  North/West Europe 12 Million 82%
1890-1919  South/East Europe 11 Million 63%
1965-2024  Latin America     35 Million 49%
           South/East Asia   19 Million 27%

Quick Immigration Statistics: United States | Immigrant Learning Center
Above from: What the data says about immigrants in the U.S. Pew Research

ICE and a Farm Worker:

The U.S. agriculture industry is experiencing a significant farm labor shortage, with agricultural employment falling by 155,000 workers since March 2025, marking the largest labor shortfall in nearly a decade.
Immigration enforcement actions, including ICE raids, have exacerbated the labor shortage, especially in states like California and Florida, leading to unharvested crops and significant financial lossesÑover $13 million worth of crops reportedly rotted in California fields due to labor shortages following enforcement actions.
Approximately 68% of the U.S. agricultural workforce is foreign-born, with around 42% being unauthorized immigrants.

Immigrant Deportation. As of December 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that more than 605,000 immigrants had been deported. There have been an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations. Trump had planned to deport 1 million immigrants per year at an estimated cost of $88 billion annually, according to the American Immigration Council. As of November 30, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) held 65,735 individuals in detention facilities. Of these, 73.6% or 48,377 peopleÑhad no criminal convictions. As of 2023, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States reached a record high of 14 million, according to a Pew Research Center estimate based on the U.S. Census BureauÕs 2023 American Community Survey.

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Status of people living in the U.S.:

• Citizens:
  A US citizen is either a person who was born in the US or became a naturalized citizen following a period of three or five years as a resident in the country and passing a a civics test, where applicants must correctly answer six out of ten questions on US history and civics.

• Conditional and Permanent Residents:
  Conditional residents are individuals who receive their green card prior to completing two years of marriage. Immigrants and their spouses to jointly file to remove the condition before two years pass.
  Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) are immigrants who have obtained a green card and are authorized to live and work in the US permanently.
  It's possible to become a permanent resident by having an employer or family member sponsor the green card applicant, or if the immigrant becomes a permanent resident via refugee status.
• Non-Immigrant Status
  Individuals who are considered non-immigrants are legally living and working in the country on a temporary basis. Some examples of people with non-immigrant status could include students on an F-1 visa, fiancees on K-1 visas, tourists or business visitors on B1 or B2 visas, and others who are given temporary protected status.
  Typically, individuals with non-immigrant status don't intend to become residents. However, overstaying a visa, violating its terms, or obtaining a visa through fraudulent means could result in a change to undocumented status.
• Undocumented
  Undocumented immigrants are individuals who are in the country illegally or otherwise without permission, in which case they would be unable to live in the US temporarily or permanently. They are also unable to legally work in the US and won't have access to benefits accessible to residents, such as driver's licenses and health insurance.

  Undocumented individuals face deportation at any time. Individuals will be considered undocumented if they overstay a temporary legal visa or enter the US illegally and neglect to go through a port of entry.

See: Overview Of Types Of Immigration Status | State justice Institute - sji.gov

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Immigratuion was one of the top 2 issues in the 2024 election, along with inflation.


See the Immigration page for much more

See President Reagan's Fairwell Address. Where he says "If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost."

   
Asylum - criteria, screening,

Illegal

Ethnic exclusion

US Legal issues
   Build the wall
   Differentiation crossing at ports vs between ports
   We have 1,000 asylum screeners need 3-4,000

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Links:
Immigrant Help - Now your Rights (Conoce Tus Derechos) - What to do when confronted by ICE.
Spanish
Immigrant deportation
UC Davis Experts on Immigration, Labor and Human Trafficking Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States | Migration Policy.org
This Spotlight offers information about the approximately 46.2 million immigrants in the United States as of 2022, more than three-quarters of whom are in the country legally.

Is it legal to cross the U.S. border to seek asylum? | rescue.org