Canada recently announced a plan to increase its intake of immigrants by 13 percent to address labor shortfalls. In August, responding to a question on immigration policy from a U.S. senator, Federal Reserve chairman and Trump appointee Jerome Powell said that reducing immigration could slow the economy over the long run by limiting growth in the U.S. labor force. He stated further that immigration accounts for about one-half of our population growth annually.
The placement of U.S. troops at our southern border to protect us from a caravan of families wanting to apply for entry into our country, unfortunately, made Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and our military look like midterm election pawns for the president’s dog whistle border actions. But are immigrants really more prone to criminal behavior than native-born Americans?
According to a study by the Cato Institute, the criminal conviction rate of people living in Texas in 2015 varied by group. The study showed that for every 100,000 illegal immigrants living in Texas, 899 had criminal convictions; legal immigrants had a lower rate at 611. The criminal conviction rate for native-born Americans in Texas was 1,797, almost twice the rate of illegal immigrants and three times that of legal immigrants.
Immigration control is difficult and requires strict enforcement, but that shouldn’t include having our president terrorizing families to gain political points. We still have children needlessly separated from parents. According to a report in the Guardian, the number of Americans with immigrant parents seeking asylum in Canada in 2017 spiked six-fold from 2016.
Refugees and other immigrants will appreciate a better life here and help our economy. The president should be using his deal-making skills to provide leadership to Congress for comprehensive immigration reforms that strengthen border security and protect our economy by increasing our work force.
Fred Egan
York Harbor
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