This is the first of 4 articles about Immigration in the US. We originally posted this article as a single posting in January. http://issuesconnect.com/issues-to-connect/lies-about-immigration-told-by-trumps-true-believers
Trump and his true believers believe immigrants harm the U.S. Trumpers deny any evidence presented by economists and other experts that show immigration has a positive effect on the U.S. Specifically, Trump loyalists think immigrants lower the salaries of native workers and displace them from their jobs; increase the tax burden of public services and assistance; pose a threat to public health; and overwhelm the ability of the U.S. absorb so many “strangers.” They want to drastically reduce the absolute number of legal immigrants and refugees admitted to this country, eliminate family-based immigrants, and increase educational requirements for immigrants. And they want to build a wall, strengthen security measures, and stop undocumented immigrants from entering the country.
While anti-immigrant sentiments are present in many countries, it is less understandable in the U.S. The popular creed of the U.S. is that immigration is the foundation on which the country was built. Trump and his true believers acknowledge that the contributions of former immigrants, but believe that current immigrants take more from the U.S. and its citizens than they contribute. What caused this extreme reaction against immigration at this time? Have the conditions in the U.S. changed and is immigration thus more costly to the nation? Or, are the immigrants who are arriving in the U.S. different now than earlier?
Most importantly, although there may always be different opinions about how to address immigration, agreement is currently impossible because the US President and his followers are basing all of their positions on lies.