By KATHLEEN E. CAREY | kcarey [at] delcotimes.com | delcotimes.com

May 11, 2024 at 7:45 a.m.

The League of Women Voters of Central Delaware County took on the issue of immigration on Friday as experts delved into the numbers and issues behind what drives immigrants to the United States.

“We’re in a very important moment in the history of immigration in the United States,” Exequiel “Zeke” Hernandez, one of the presenters, said. “There’s a widespread misunderstanding about just very basic facts about who immigrants are and what they do.”

Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers,” joined Steven Larin, deputy director of Nationalities Service Center to present on the Hot Topic discussion entitled, “Immigration Issues in Southeastern Pennsylvania — The Big Picture.”

Concerns about illegal immigration emerge during presidential election years as seen in campaign media this year and can also be seen locally as community members oppose Delco Woods or any county property being used to house illegal immigrants. County officials have denied that.

In delving into the topic of immigration, Hernandez compared the discussion to the story of blind men trying to describe an elephant from the part they feel on the animal. One tugs on the tail and says it’s like a rope. Another its side, and says it’s like a wall.

“It’s such a big issue that people have really different perceptions of it depending on what angle they’re looking at it, but no one is seeing the full animal, so to speak,” Hernandez said, explaining what motivated him to write his book.

“In this country, there are two dominant narratives about immigration and both of them are wrong,” he said.

One Hernandez called the villain narrative and forwards an idea “that immigrants hurt us because they steal our jobs, they undermine our security, they change our precious culture.”

The other emanates from the Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The New Colossus,” on the Statue of Liberty “that immigrants are the poor, huddled masses, the wretched refuges who deserve our compassion and help and it’s a really evocative, really nostalgic type of argument.”

 “The Emma Lazarus poem has done a lot of disservice to how we think about immigration because it then comes down to a narrative of ‘Well, immigrants are hurting us’ or ‘We need to be compassionate to them even if it costs us,’ ” Hernandez said.

He said they share a similar component.

“They’re both based on fear,” Hernandez said. “The villain narrative is about fear that immigrants will hurt us. The victim narrative is fear that we’re not doing enough to help the needy. But, the truth is neither of those narratives are correct.”

He offered a third view, one he called factual optimism.

“There’s a lot of reasons to be positive about immigration,” he said. “Immigrants are net positive contributors to everything that’s on your wish list for an economically prosperous and a socially vibrant community.”

Elements that could be on a community’s wish list include Investment; cultural vitality; job creation; low crime; innovation; security; consumption; artistic creation; tax revenue; demographic balance; talent; and a community that renews itself and doesn’t stay stagnant.

Immigrants are 80% more likely than natives to start a business and account for 36% of all patents, Hernandez said.

“Immigrants actually commit crimes at a much lower rate than natives, especially undocumented immigrants,” he said. “It turns out that the least likely to commit a crime are undocumented immigrants in this country.”

Plus, he added, “There are entire industries that would disappear were it not for the jobs and positions that immigrants fill because natives don’t want to take those positions.”

Larin talked about what is bringing immigrants to America’s borders.

December saw the largest numbers of migrants crossing the Mexican border with the Pew Research Center saying the number was 250,000. Larin said those numbers have since declined.

“So many of the people arriving at the border are seeking asylum, are seeking refuge and humanitarian assistance,” he said. “Worldwide, there’s nearly 110 million people who have been forcibly displaced.”

That’s doubled since 2012, he added.

“We see large numbers from Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Haiti,” Larin said. “All those issues that take place around the world present themselves at our borders and in our immigration policy.”

Along with that are unaccompanied minors. He said 122,732 unaccompanied children came to the United States in 2021.

There’s also a change in the type of immigrant coming.

“The numbers clearly indicate that more and more families as opposed to single men … continue to arrive at the border,” he said.

Larin also spoke about the immigration system.

“As they are fleeing dangerous situations, it becomes that they are asking for asylum or humanitarian relief at the border,” he said. “People have the right to seek asylum in the U.S. This is not unlawful immigrants in the country. They are lawfully presenting themselves and saying, ‘This is the relief we are asking for.’ And then, they’re in the U.S. to seek that process.”

Larin added that process takes time, from four to 26 years. He said the immigration court with 800 judges has a backlog of 3.5 million cases.

“It’s going to take years and years to get through those cases,” he said.

Larin noted there are cases where the United States has shown expedited support for immigrants, as in the case of those from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

“We don’t hear the same concern about, ‘Oh, too many immigrants from Ukraine are arriving in the U.S.,” he said.

Event Video: Hot Topic - Immigration Issues in SE Pennsylvania: The Big Picture (May 2024)