Immigration

For Conservatives

Viewpoint: Liberals typically support a more lenient immigration policy than do conservatives, arguing that the United States has a moral obligation to allow those living under corrupt and dangerous governments in other countries through its borders. Additionally, they generally advocate for the implementation of a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that have illegally entered the United States in the past. 

Reasoning: There is some variation in liberals’ beliefs about just how open the border of the United States should be, but as a whole, liberals oppose President Donald Trump’s famous advocacy of a wall along the southern border to prevent illegal crossings. Their justification for such a viewpoint originates from a sense that the wall is an immoral symbol that demonstrates Americans’ racism toward minority migrants, as well as their ignorance of the vital role that immigrants play in improving American society. Liberals also feel that the Trump Administration’s strict policies toward immigration have resulted in an abhorrent system in which illegal immigrants are treated inhumanely. They view the wall as a wasteful and cost-ineffective response to the flaws in the United States’ immigration system. 

Liberals’ moral argument against strict immigration policies is based largely on the idea that the United States, as a place that encourages freedom and economic opportunity, has a role to play in aiding those from countries in which citizens live under corrupt governments and do not have access to the basic necessities of life. While conservatives, and the Trump Administration in particular, often adopt the mentality of “America first,” liberals feel that the United States has a moral obligation to extend its resources to those from less-fortunate foreign countries. Many liberals object to the idea that we must choose between prioritizing American citizens and providing for all those who want to cross into the United States, arguing that these options are of equal importance and are not mutually exclusive.

When we see families seeking refuge, we don’t see criminals, or an invasion, or a threat to national security. We see kids. We see parents. We see people. We see people first. Because we are people first. And it’s time for an immigration policy that puts people first. ~ Julián Castro

Beyond objecting morally to the adoption of rigid policies against illegal immigration, liberals argue that President Trump’s proposal of a wall on the southern border is far from a viable solution. Trump often justifies the wall by pointing to the fact that it will prevent the entrance of drugs and violent criminals into the United States. However, the Drug Enforcement Agency has found that it is actually through legal ports of entry that most illegal drugs from Mexico are smuggled into the country. Another study by the Marshall Project has presented evidence that the presence of undocumented immigrants in a series of metropolitan areas did not impact rates of violent crime in those areas from 2007 to 2016. As a result, liberals feel not only that the wall will do nothing to counteract the entrance of criminals and drugs into the United States, but also that President Trump is falsely painting immigrants that simply want a better life as perpetrators of violence. 

The strength of our union has never been found in the walls we build; it’s in our diversity and our unity and that is our power. ~ Kamala Harris

The immigration policies that liberals wish to see implemented vary, but they follow the general theme of increased leniency for those who cross the border illegally and who are currently living in the United States without proof of citizenship. In the leadup to the 2020 presidential election, many Democratic candidates for president supported a change that would make entering the country at locations other than legal ports of entry a civil rather than criminal infraction. If enacted, this shift in policy would mean that rather than being put in jail and given the option to either seek asylum or be deported, undocumented immigrants would simply be made to pay a fine and would be allowed to remain in the country. This potential policy change was likely inspired in part by the widely-publicized separation of children from their parents at the border, a phenomenon that was caused by the fact that children cannot legally be sent to jail. As a result, under current law, when their parents are sent to jail after illegally crossing the border, children are reclassified as “unaccompanied minors” and are kept in federal shelters until being sent to foster care or to family members living in the United States. Liberals reacted to the publicity surrounding this separation with outrage, believing that the division of families was immoral and contradicted the American commitment to helping the less-fortunate and incorporating immigrants into American society. 

Liberals do not all advocate the same measures to address immigration. While some support entirely open borders, others feel that there must be some regulation of immigration but that current policies are far too harsh. As a whole, however, liberals tend to look kindly upon those who seek to enter the United States, and they hope to find a humane solution that does not exclude immigrants from being welcomed into the country. 

Sources:

Not all walls are immoral. But this one is. – Anchorage Daily News

Is There a Connection Between Undocumented Immigrants and Crime? – The Marshall Project

What happens when immigrant families cross the border outside a port of entry – The Texas Tribune

For Liberals

Viewpoint: Conservatives, in general, believe that the United States must have borders and that the enforcement of its borders is vital for the country to function. While most conservatives support legal immigration, they feel that allowing unchecked illegal immigration is dangerous for the country and its citizens and undermines the efforts of the millions who migrate to the United States legally. 

Reasoning: Most conservatives feel sympathy for those who suffer unbearable conditions in their home countries and want to immigrate to the United States to find a better life. However, conservatives believe that there are several reasons why it is not tenable to allow all those who approach the border into the country. 

First, conservatives object inherently to allowing those who break American laws to enjoy all the rights and opportunities of American citizens. While they are not necessarily against any and all changes to immigration policy, they believe that a country needs well-defined laws to function, and that the United States should not set the precedent that it will reward unlawful behavior. 

Additionally, the United States cannot possibly support every person currently living under a corrupt and violent government. Conservatives argue that when the country adopts lenient immigration policies, it encourages more people to attempt to cross the border, a trend that would overwhelm immigration facilities in the United States. Already, people in border patrol facilities are suffering from dangerous conditions due to overcrowding. In May 2019, a member of the United States Department of Homeland Security found that adults being detained in a facility in Texas had so little room that they were forced to stand for days or weeks straight. At another border patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, detainees were seen sleeping outside and making shelters with reflective blankets. Conservatives feel that because such inhumane conditions would only be exacerbated by an increase in rates of illegal immigration, the United States must adopt stricter immigration policies that would dissuade people from attempting to travel to the border in the first place. Of course, conservatives acknowledge that there are many asylum-seekers who are fleeing unlivable conditions in their home countries, and thus the option to apply for asylum at legal ports of entry should be preserved. However, the United States simply does not have the resources to take care of all those who set foot onto American land, and it also has an obligation to ensure that it is not allowing violent criminals into the country. That precaution is impossible to take when people are permitted to cross the border in between ports of entry with no vetting process. Therefore, conservatives believe that the borders of the United States must be enforced, and some support the wall that President Trump proposed along the southern border as a means to do so. 

Conservatives also feel that leniency toward illegal immigration undermines legal immigration. The legal immigration process can take years, and if illegal immigrants are rewarded with citizenship, it calls to question the value of putting in the effort to enter legally. Additionally, conservatives often argue that increasing rates of illegal immigration hurt American workers, particularly those in low-skilled jobs. According to George J. Borjas, a professor of economics and social policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, when the number of workers of a particular skill set increases by 10 percent, the demand for workers falls, and, as such, the workers’ wages decrease by at least three percent. As a result, because most immigrants would be classified as low-skilled, similarly low-skilled Americans would suffer most from an influx of immigrants into the country. In addition, many immigrants are willing to work for very cheap wages, thus becoming desirable to employers and filling up jobs that might otherwise be occupied by natives. Many conservatives object to this trend, feeling that the encouragement of illegal immigration results in an unfair system in which a large group of American citizens are left behind. 

Immigration redistributes wealth from those who compete with immigrants to those who use immigrants—from the employee to the employer. ~ George J. Borjas

Conservatives vary in the methods that they support to handle the millions of undocumented immigrants that currently reside in the United States. Some conservatives lean toward deportation of illegal immigrants, particularly those who have committed crimes while in the country. Other conservatives reject the idea of deportation, arguing instead that illegal immigrants should be given the option to legally stay in the country without being granted citizenship. Further, some conservatives believe in the implementation of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who do not have any criminal activity and are willing to pay taxes and assimilate into American society. In fact, according to American National Election Studies, in 2016, 56.9 percent of conservatives supported a pathway to citizenship. Although there remains no uniform conservative belief about the optimal way to address the millions of illegal immigrants in the country, most conservatives would object to granting undocumented immigrants automatic citizenship, instead supporting a variety of stricter policies in order to dissuade illegal immigration in the future.

There is, of course, a balance to be struck between providing for those fleeing abhorrent conditions and preserving and protecting the laws and people already present in the United States. However, conservatives feel that many liberals’ advocacy of a completely lenient immigration system ignores the many problems that would arise if illegal immigration proceeds unchecked. As such, conservatives see the preservation and reinforcement of the borders, and therefore the national security, of the United States as imperative to the functioning of the country. 

Sources:

Government watchdog finds ‘dangerous overcrowding’ at U.S. border facility – Reuters

Yes, Immigration Hurts American Workers – Politico Magazine

Americans are not as divided or conservative on immigration as you might think – The Conversation