07 OCT 2021
Republican Propaganda Falsely Equates Migrants with Crime
This week, Immigration Hub will expose five of the most egregious and pervasive myths about immigration perpetuated by Republican and right-wing actors. Today, we debunk the myth that broadly paints migrants at our southern border as criminals.
Washington, DC — MYTH: Migrants are criminals and rapists, bringing drugs into our communities and endangering our families. The party of Trump, including right-wing elected officials and other actors, hope to win political points by sowing fear and distrust of immigrants, a strategy that stirs voters into action through misinformation and dangerous, outright lies. This offensive rhetoric has very real and violent repercussions in communities across the United States and tears at our democracy. Yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz showed exactly how laser-focused the Republican rhetoric is on scapegoating immigrants when he callously pivoted from extending his hope for the survival of the victims of the Timberview High School shooting to blaming the "Biden Border Crisis". Senator Cruz revealed the political calculations Republicans are making to distract from their failures on kitchen-table issues and, once again, stoke fear against immigrants to score political points.
@NRCC: Cartels are recruiting minors to traffic illegal immigrants across the US-Mexico border because the US Justice Department won't prosecute Mexican minors for smuggling migrants. The Biden Admin has ceded control of the border to cartels. #BidenBorderCrisis
@StephenM: Biden’s anti-border policies are killing our communities with fentanyl. But to our morally defective elites, it’s just more collateral damage in their ruthless open borders crusade.
@StephenM: We have a wide-open border, deadly drugs and contraband streaming through unimpeded, record-smashing numbers of illegal migrants, catastrophic overcrowding in the heart of a pandemic, and Team Biden’s response is to…ban horses.
FACT: Immigrants, including migrants at our border, come to the U.S. for safety, freedom, and opportunity. Our country has reveled in the idea of an American Dream; immigrants seek the opportunity to participate.
Republicans have long employed the trope of criminalizing immigrants and people of color. Going as far back as 1968, then-candidate Richard Nixon employed the “Southern strategy: a campaign that used fear of crime and lawlessness to tap into white Southern voters’ opposition to racial integration and equality without using overtly racist language.” Trump would build upon this strategy every election cycle — from 2016’s “bad hombres” to 2018’s “migrant caravan” of criminals to 2020’s “radical left” allowing chaos into local communities. Even today, the GOP and right-wing actors and media continue to peddle this rhetoric. Ultimately, this is the official Republican political playbook.
Migrants are often victims of crime and vulnerable to exploitation. Migrants, including families and children, are often forced into dangerous and untenable situations that force them to leave behind their community, family, sources of income, and culture in search of safety and opportunity. Many are fleeing violence, hunger, natural disasters, and too often a government that has turned its back on the needs of its people. According to a UNICEF/UNHCR survey, “death threats, gang recruitment, extortion and other forms of targeted violence are driving more families in northern Central America to flee their homes and seek safety in other countries.” Migrants also fall prey to smugglers and human traffickers falsely offering a path to safety, leading to dangerous journeys, robberies, and even death as they journey to find safety in the U.S.
Immigrants strengthen our nation. The U.S. as a whole benefits from the contributions of immigrants. During the pandemic, undocumented immigrants have disproportionately taken on essential frontline roles, including in healthcare and agriculture. They also contribute through their small businesses, the more than $30.6 billion in taxes they pay, and their more than $214.8 billion in spending power.
Other debunked myths include racist scapegoating of immigrants for the spread of COVID-19 and baseless claims that immigration hurts the American economy.
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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.