“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark,” writes poet Warsan Shire. Immigration is rarely a choice of comfort — Often, it’s an act of survival. The process can take decades, navigating complex paperwork, financial uncertainty and ever-shifting political landscapes. Immigrants founded the United States, and yet, they remain vilified. While some argue undocumented immigrants burden our nation, evidence shows they are essential — economically, culturally and morally — all while being denied basic human rights.
According to Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service, when El Salvador’s homicide rate reduced in 2022, the number of Salvadorans attempting to cross the U.S. border dropped by over 50%. Simply put: Less violence — gang-related homicides and assault — means fewer undocumented migrants. While individuals calculate whether they are safer at home or risking a trek to the U.S., we must recognize what is at stake. We have legal immigration processes, but the argument that someone threatened by violence should wait years while their life hangs in the balance is more than just impractical — It’s inhumane.
The persistent narrative is that undocumented immigrants drain resources and steal jobs from Americans. While they work in roles that citizens could theoretically fill, positions in agriculture, construction and service industries are rarely sought by native-born citizens. We’ve built entire industries that rely on undocumented labor, only to fault these same workers for our economic problems. According to the U.S. House of Representatives, undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022 and pay higher tax rates than the wealthiest Americans in 40 states. The uncomfortable truth is that the United States benefits from this arrangement. When someone’s job is uncertain or wages are stagnant, undocumented immigrants become a convenient target — Easier to blame than to reckon with systemic inequality, policy failures and government inaction.
Undocumented immigrants, like any population, include people who commit crimes. But here is what also matters: Undocumented immigrants commit crimes at significantly lower rates than native-born citizens. According to CNN, 92% of detainees have no violent criminal record, while the most common criminal offense for these individuals are traffic offenses. Despite the data, they’re treated as a criminal class. We’ve taken isolated cases — tragic as they are — to condemn millions of innocent people. That’s not justice — It’s scapegoating. Only those few people should face prosecution or deportation, not all undocumented immigrants. Many have been here for decades, working and raising families, and deserve due process — not raids or indefinite detention.
The irony is that those who contribute so much receive so little. They can not access SNAP, Medicare and cash assistance, despite their contributions in funding those systems. Instead, they live in constant fear of ICE raids in cities, like San Francisco, Oakland and Chicago. Reports of detention centers detail spoiled food, limited hygiene supplies, and denial of translators or religiously appropriate meals. This is the reality we have created: We extract immigrant labor, dehumanize them and call it law and order.
These are our neighbors — working jobs, paying taxes, raising kids and building lives. Immigration is not a threat to the American dream — It is the embodiment of it. But why won’t we treat these neighbors with the dignity every human deserves?
With contributions from Aleeya Baqai, Evelyn Fox, Ximena Jimenez and Claire Nguyen.
