The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide an analysis of the election’s impact on the U.S. immigration system.
When the Trump administration deported Goula Ndiai, he had lived in the United States for 20 years, ran his own business as an electrician, served as the primary breadwinner for his three U.S. daughters, and was a member of a church in Ohio. He was also an active member. For 10 years, Mr. Gula regularly went to the Immigration Bureau for immigration inspections as needed, but he was never arrested for any crime under the criminal legal system. Nevertheless, in 2017, he faced sudden deportation to the northwest African country of Mauritania, where he faced death.
President-elect Trump’s mass deportation plan will target thousands of others like Gula, who have made significant contributions to their families, communities, and local economies for decades. Trump and his advisers claim to start with “criminal immigration,” but their plan includes the same utter danger to public safety that we saw during his first administration. This would include millions of people who are not exposed to
That’s because more than 90% of the approximately 13 million illegal immigrants living in this country have no criminal record. Studies show that illegal immigrants have significantly lower conviction rates than U.S.-born people. Additionally, the government’s own data shows that among illegal immigrants with criminal records, most have committed offenses related to traffic and immigration violations.
In other words, the vast majority of the millions of illegal aliens living here in the United States, with or without criminal records, do not pose a threat to our public safety. So when Trump and his advisers threaten to deport millions of people, there is no doubt that people like Gula will be prioritized and targeted.
Yet Trump and his advisers continue to exploit fears of crime and sell mass deportation to Americans. We all want to be safe, but constantly hearing about similar violent crimes committed by immigrants distracts us from the facts and data that emphasize that immigrants are the exception. But manipulating individual crime cases to make inaccurate generalizations is an old political trick that leads to policy failure.
In the 1988 presidential election, a candidate ran a political ad that dramatically featured a violent crime committed by a black man named Willie Horton in an effort to drum up support for his fight against crime and the war on drugs. This ad uses his illegal activities to incite public fear, build racist stereotypes, and ultimately target black men for non-violent drug crimes and expand the criminal incarceration system. convinced the American public that spending billions of dollars was necessary for security. Many of the politicians who supported this policy later argued that its failures led to a waste of resources, racist outcomes, the largest system of mass incarceration in the developed world, and little improvement in safety. I will admit that.
President-elect Trump is working to create a similar illusion, when the reality is the drain on taxpayers’ money, the devastating impact on the U.S. economy, and the resolution of a fairer immigration system to ensure a secure immigration system. They claim that deportation will lead to safety, even though funds are being poured into developing countermeasures. The well-being, family, and economy of people seeking safety.
The tools his administration plans to use to carry out “mass deportations” have been proven to actually undermine public safety. When local police are asked to do the job of federal immigration authorities, which is to turn basic traffic stops into immigration arrests, immigrants stop trusting local police officers and stop reporting crimes. This chilling effect leaves many in our communities more vulnerable to crime, including victims of domestic violence.
A strong body of research also highlights that immigration is correlated with reductions in violent and property crimes. The social capital and deep social networks that many immigrant communities bring increases social cohesion and is a key driver of crime reduction.
President Trump’s marketing of mass deportations also ignores that the U.S. immigration system treats immigrants with already criminal records disproportionately harshly. For example, a person who commits an “aggravated felony” (this term does not necessarily include “aggravated” or “felony” crimes) is ineligible for most forms of immigration relief and cannot be avoided. They face deportation and have little access to due process. Permanent banishment. To the average person, this legal jargon means that the immigrant committed a serious or violent crime, but “aggravated felonies” also include minor crimes like shoplifting and fraudulent checks.
The U.S. system is also one of the few in the world that deports lawful permanent residents based on nonviolent crimes committed decades ago. This is in stark contrast to the criminal legal system, where basic statutes of limitations prohibit prosecutors from bringing drug offenses beyond five to seven years. But under the immigration system, even people who have already paid their debt to society can be deported for non-violent crimes committed 30 years ago.
Howard Bailey, a US veteran who served in Desert Storm, was thus deported. After serving in the Navy, Howard bought a home with a VA loan, ran his own trucking company, and raised two American children as a proud Virginian. However, when he went through the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, he unexpectedly ended up being deported for a marijuana violation from 10 years ago. It is the only violation on his record, and one that was pardoned by the Governor of Virginia.
Howard fought for 10 years for a chance to return home, and when he did, he was celebrated by members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, along with the immigration officials tasked with deporting him. Common sense tells us that deporting people like Howard and Gola is unjust, a waste of scarce resources, and does nothing to keep us safe.
Their stories, facts, and data serve as a reality check as we prepare for President-elect Trump’s mass deportation plan. There are far smarter ways to enforce immigration laws that meet our collective need for safety within our communities while ensuring that community members are not unfairly targeted. We can and must do better.
Submitted by: Deportation, Donald Trump, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
