Robert Reich. (photo: Richard Morgenstein)
23 October 15
onald Trump has opened the floodgates to lies about immigration. Here are the myths, and the facts.
MYTH: Immigrants take away American jobs.
Wrong. Immigrants add to economic demand, and thereby push firms to create more jobs.
MYTH: We don’t need any more immigrants.
Baloney. The U.S. population is aging. Twenty-five
years ago, each retiree in America was matched by 5 workers. Now for
each retiree there are only 3 workers. Without more immigration, in 15
years the ratio will fall to 2 workers for every retiree, not nearly
enough to sustain our retiree population.
MYTH: Immigrants are a drain on public budgets.
Bull. Immigrants pay taxes! The Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy released a report this year showing undocumented
immigrants paid $11.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2012 and their
combined nationwide state and local tax contributions would increase by
$2.2 billion under comprehensive immigration reform.
MYTH: Legal and
illegal immigration is increasing.
Wrong again. The net rate of illegal immigration into
the U.S. is less than zero. The number of undocumented immigrants living
in the U.S. has declined from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.3 million now,
according to Pew Research Center.
Don’t listen to the demagogues who want to blame the
economic problems of the middle class and poor on new immigrants,
whether here legally or illegally. The real problem is the economic game
is rigged in favor of a handful at the top, who are doing the rigging.
We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, giving those who are undocumented a path to citizenship.
Scapegoating them and other immigrants is shameful.
And it’s just plain wrong.
Comments
+44
#
2015-10-23 13:42
Most of the
immigrants are now from Central America - we need to support democratic
regimes there - and free movement of people north and south.
South America is changing for better - hopefully this change will come North - all the way to USA.
We should do what Canada did - next election is our last chance.
South America is changing for better - hopefully this change will come North - all the way to USA.
We should do what Canada did - next election is our last chance.
+44
#
2015-10-23 17:20
Quoting Activista:
Yep; and guess who created, armed, trained and buttressed the oligarchic Banana Republics and death-squads that kept 'em in place for >half of the 20th Century, most recently Honduras, which is the source of the most recent rush of predominantly child refugees fleeing from the latest CIA-supported coup of Mauel Zelay's left-populist, overwhelmingly popularly-elect ed government, just as they did with Arbenz's Guatemalan regime in 1954 and have been doing consistently in C. America and around the world ever since.Most of the immigrants are now from Central America - we need to support democratic regimes there - and free movement of people north and south.
South America is changing for better - hopefully this change will come North - all the way to USA.
We should do what Canada did - next election is our last chance.
-36
#
2015-10-23 17:43
MYTH: Immigrants take away American jobs.
Wrong. Immigrants add to economic demand, and thereby push firms to create more jobs.
Obviously, more people means more demand, but Reich doesn't address the "myth."
Wrong. Immigrants add to economic demand, and thereby push firms to create more jobs.
Obviously, more people means more demand, but Reich doesn't address the "myth."
+4
#
2015-10-24 11:46
Faith is based in
faith and only faith. I am an old man and the only time I've ever heard
that immigrants take away American jobs is on RW TV.
+13
#
2015-10-23 17:47
This nation was
founded by immigrants and like today were determined to make a better
life. Immigrants are what makes America great'
The CIA's hand is around the world but who it represents is the question. The government, big business interests or the American people. The sins of our past will haunt us
The CIA's hand is around the world but who it represents is the question. The government, big business interests or the American people. The sins of our past will haunt us
+5
#
2015-10-24 11:51
Faith is based in
faith, mostly baseless faith. I keep hearing the same stuff I find in
history books from the civil war era about how the Irish are debasing
the nation and taking away jobs. Then it was the Asians, Catholics from
Italy, The Greeks, The Jews. Always it was an impending apocalypse
coming next month or next year.
+9
#
2015-10-23 19:11
lie! - # reiverpacific 2015-10-23 17:20
Quoting Activista:
"next election is our last chance."
- next election is the primaries - bernie is overall the most progressive dem - but in most areas, path to citizenship, women, unions, environment, trade deals that attack labor, so on, hill is just as progressive
my point is, for progressives, there is no last chance ever! there is only, for now, a better choice than hill - go bernie!
the sky is not falling - it has fallen - on us - congress does not regulate wall street; wall street regulates congress - it's time to get to work - our 1st chance is next year's primary, and, for each of us, wherever we live, it's not just about supporting a progressive for prez - it's about supporting progressives for state and local office too - go progressives!
Quoting Activista:
"next election is our last chance."
- next election is the primaries - bernie is overall the most progressive dem - but in most areas, path to citizenship, women, unions, environment, trade deals that attack labor, so on, hill is just as progressive
my point is, for progressives, there is no last chance ever! there is only, for now, a better choice than hill - go bernie!
the sky is not falling - it has fallen - on us - congress does not regulate wall street; wall street regulates congress - it's time to get to work - our 1st chance is next year's primary, and, for each of us, wherever we live, it's not just about supporting a progressive for prez - it's about supporting progressives for state and local office too - go progressives!
+4
#
2015-10-23 19:34
SOMEBODT please get
these lectures onto the desks of the déficit hawks in congress! I doublt
that any of them have studied economics.
+7
#
2015-10-23 19:35
Truth has a very
difficult time against racist hate and explicit bias fueled willful
ignorance. This is why Right Wing demagogues keep spewing their racist
lies, it works on the rubes and stokes their fears and preconceptions
against "the other", it is like shooting fish in a barrel. Trump the
carnival barker knows his audience...
