Migration

Immigration Issues are coming to the fore
and these links will provide updates
and ways you can take action.

Just click on the links below and sign up for email updates:

As you have conversations with friends and neighbors about immigration, here are some information that may help,
thanks to the Franciscan Network.

Mythbusting

Myth: Immigrants are taking Americans’ jobs

● According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the decrease in native-born employment is due to non-labor force activities (i.e. retirement, enrolling in school, and entering disability). The unemployment rate (the percent of the population out of work but actively looking for a job) for native- and foreign-born is about the same.

● Additionally, the native-born population is more likely to work in higher-wage and higher-skill industries. The disproportionately native-born industries carry an average annual salary of $50,000, compared to $36,000 in the predominantly foreign-born industries1.

○ Some may argue that the lower wages are due to immigration, however 54% of the occupations in disproportionately native-born industries require at least a BA, compared to just 6% in the disproportionately foreign-born industries2

Myth: Immigrants increase the crime rate/criminal activity

● From The American Immigration Council: Studies have shown that there is either no connection between immigration and crime or, if there is one, immigration actually decreases crime

○ Holds true with undocumented immigration as well

● Immigrants also have lower felony and lower incarceration rates than US-born citizens3

● Stricter immigration control does not correlate to lower rates of violent crime, property crime, or murder4

Myth: Immigrants come in illegally because they don’t want to wait
in line for legal immigration and/or have something to hide

● There is no ‘line’ or legal pathway for the overwhelming majority of undocumented immigrants. Most of them do not have the necessary family or employment relationships and cannot access humanitarian protection, such as refugee or asylum status, which means that regardless of how long they’ve been in the country, most undocumented immigrants have no way of achieving legal status.5

● Many undocumented immigrants are barred from obtaining legal status while inside the US, so they would have to leave the country and then come back once they have the green card. That being said, “any person who has been out of status for more than 180 days but less than 1 year, is barred from being re-admitted or re-entering the United States for three years.”6

Myth: People coming into the US illegally are responsible for fentanyl                 and other illegal drugs pouring over the border.

● According to the National Immigration Forum and data from the CBP and US Sentencing Commission, fentanyl is primarily brought to the US by American citizens through legal ports of entry.

○ In 2022, 88% of fentanyl trafficking offenders were US citizens, & 86% of    fentanyl trafficking convictions were for US citizens.

● According to the Cato Institute, in 2023, 93% of fentanyl seizures occurred at legal crossing points or interior vehicle checkpoints, not on illegal migration routes.

○ Drugs coming through a port of entry are at least 96% less likely to be interdicted than a person coming between ports of entry.

○ 0.009% of people arrested by Border Control for crossing illegally possessed any fentanyl whatsoever (less than 150 of the 1.7 million Border Patrol arrests).

● In 2020 and 2021, when the government banned most legal travel, fentanyl seizures quadrupled, and it went from a third of combined heroin and fentanyl seizures to 90%.7

7 U.S. Citizens Were 89% of Convicted Fentanyl Traffickers in 2022 | Cato at Liberty Blog American
6 Immigration Council – Why Don’t Immigrants Apply for Citizenship?
5 American Immigration Council – Why Don’t Immigrants Apply for Citizenship?
4 American Immigration Council – Debunking the Myths of Immigration and Crime
3 American Immigration Council – Debunking the Myths of Immigration and Crime
2 Bipartisan Policy Center
1 Bipartisan Policy Center

You might want to read an article from a recent America magazine and/or the article by WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America):

The Migrant Caravan Through the Eyes of Catholic Social Teaching

9 Questions (and Answers) About the Central American Migrant Caravan

One of our concerns is protection of the rights of immigrants within our country. Below are documents both in English and Spanish outlining steps parents can take now to protect their children in case of immigration enforcement:

7-Steps-for-Parents-English-CMS

7-Steps-for-Parents-Spanish-CMS