25 Jul Anti-Immigrant Sentiment – A Recurring and Dangerous Pattern

As the United States enters the 2024 Election season, the topic of rising anti-immigrant sentiment has reentered into our society. Immigrants and their descendants play a huge role in who we are as a nation and are valuable members of our society. As a society, it’s necessary to understand the myths surrounding immigrants, the presence anti-immigrant rhetoric has historically played in American society, how politicians have weaponized it, and how to start calling out the use of this rhetoric.

Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Throughout History 

The notion that the United States is the “land of immigrants” and is a “melting pot of different peoples and cultures” is a way that the U.S. began thinking about immigration within the last century. Since the inception of the Republic, the U.S. has enacted nativist (meaning supporting policies of native-born peoples over immigrants) policies that have been directly anti-immigrant. 

The rise of anti-immigrant sentiment has contributed to the rise of legislation and political movements, such as the enactment of the Alien and Sedition Acts  in 1798 to target noncitizens for their potential support of France, the growth of the Know Nothing Party in the 1850s in response to the “threat” Roman Catholic immigration posed to the protestant nation, the signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1886 in response to increased Chinese immigration that threatened white workers, and signed the 1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration Act which established “National Quotas” that limited the number of immigrants from each continent. 

Despite the rampant anti-immigrant sentiments, the mid and late 20th Century represented a shift in immigration policies, as the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act under liberal Lyndon B. Johnson saw the abolition of the quota system, while the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act under conservative Ronald Reagan worked to arrest employers who hired undocumented immigrants.

Why Do People Use Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric? 

Within our society, we often hear the same type of arguments used against immigrants – “they are people who commit crimes”, “they take advantage of our social programs”, “they are taking the jobs of everyday Americans”, and “they are making the U.S. lose its ‘original’ culture”. 

However, many of these stereotypes are not accurate and only serve to diminish the role immigrants play in our society. Cities, where immigrants settle, tend to have less crime, immigrants actually are very limited in the social programs they can enroll in, immigrants often take jobs that everyday Americans do not fulfill, and the U.S. culture has always shifted to reflect the incorporation of different immigrant groups 

How Have Politicians Weaponized Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric? 

Despite the liberalizing reforms of the immigration systems of the 1960s and 1980s, there has been an increase in the use of anti-immigrant rhetoric since the 1990s. With the migration of immigrants from Latin America, different politicians have attempted to capitalize on anti immigrant sentiments. The 1990s saw the insurgent populist campaign of former White House staffer Pat Buchanan gain increasing popularity amongst the Republican Party. Buchanan, through his 1992, 1996, and 2000 Presidential runs campaigned on a platform of reduced immigration and the creation of a ‘Buchanan Wall’ along the Southern Border. Despite his rhetoric being rejected by people on both sides of the political spectrum, Buchanan’s views would become increasingly mainstream in 2016.

With an increased number of migrants entering from Latin America, the perceived dangers from the War on Terror, and the lack of action to change immigration policies by both President Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress, New York billionaire Donald Trump staked a new campaign built around explicit anti-immigrant rhetoric which echoed Buchanan’s policies. According to his own White House website, President Trump worked to create a border wall and drove funding away from cities who refused to comply with the new draconian immigration policies. 

Despite his loss in 2020, the inaction of the Democrats to reform the immigration system has seen a new wave of anti-immigrant sentiments, as Trump recently commented that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country”. 

How to Call Out Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric 

There are simple steps that can help us recognize and call out anti-immigrant rhetoric that ultimately help us as a society to prevent it’s usage 

1. Recognize the history – Anti-immigrant sentiments and rhetoric have often taken the same form throughout history, so understanding the history and how it has targeted different groups of people shows a deeper understanding of U.S. history
2. Remember our own history – Many people are either immigrants or descendent from immigrants. Communities who are not immigrants include Indigenous communities who are the first peoples of Turtle Island (the United States/Canada) as well as those communities and the ancestors of enslaved racialized folks kidnapped and forced to labor in the U.S. Everyone else has a shared history of immigration and remembering our ancestry and the opportunity we have to thrive in the U.S. due to our ancestors being allowed to immigrate (if we are not Indigenous or have enslaved ancestors).
3. Conduct deeper research on anti-immigrant myths – Rather than discuss the same talking points used against immigrants, it is critical to research the facts ad understand how anti-immigration rhetoric relies on myths
4. Call out inflammatory rhetoric – Whether it is in your job, grocery store, government forum, or even at home around the dinner table, confronting the use of anti-immigrant rhetoric allows for U.S. society to avoid repeating the same mistakes and ensure this type of rhetoric does not become the norm

If you’d like to learn more, check this out about debunking anti-immigration myths: 

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/spring-2011/ten-myths-about-immigration 

By Toby Keeler

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity, make sure to order a copy of Elmer Dixon’s powerful memoir DIE STANDING: From Black Panther Revolutionary to Global Diversity Consultant and check out what others have been saying about Elmer and his story. 

Check out these other opportunities to see what folks are saying about Elmer and his continued work. 

• See Elmer speak at Stories from the Revolutions’ Front Lines at his keynote at TEDxUTulsa. 
• Listen to Elmer talk on NPR’s The Jefferson Exchange .
• Read about Elmer’s story in a piece featured in The Seattle Times
• Listen to Elmer on The Medium