Local View: Immigrants can help a community
In the first six months of this year, Lincoln’s crime rate dropped a record 19 percent. One likely factor contributing to this improvement is the growing number of immigrants in our community.
Wait, you say, that can’t be! Doesn’t everybody know that more immigrants equals more crime?
There have been tragic individual instances of crimes that seem to confirm this common misperception. They stand out in the public’s mind, reinforcing the stereotype.
But study after study shows otherwise. A rise in immigration makes us safer.
Take California, the state with the greatest number of first-generation immigrants. Statistics on all men ages 18-39, the demographic most likely to be in prison, reveal that those who are native-born are 10 times more likely to be in jail than those who are immigrants. Research in Florida, Texas, Illinois and nationwide turns up similar results.
Lincoln mirrors what is happening across the country: the crime rate has been in steady decline since the early 1990s, the period marked by the most recent wave of increased immigration.
For those who make the effort to get to know these newcomers to our community, it’s not hard to see the reason they are having such a positive influence: So many are here to pursue the American dream. They are parents working hard to build a new life for their children or single people scrimping and saving to send money to help their families back in their native land. The last thing they want is an arrest to take away all they’re working for.
Our state’s cultural composition is changing, and change can be hard. In the first five years of this decade, the number of first-generation immigrants in Nebraska grew more than 34 percent. For some of our state’s towns, the difference is dramatic and has brought with it some real adjustment challenges not to be taken lightly.
In such a circumstance, it’s a common human response to react with fear of the change. Things look more positive, though, when we look at the facts and work together to find forward-looking solutions.
For example, it is a common misperception that immigrants who are living and working here without legal status don’t pay taxes and so are using social services without contributing their fair share.
The Social Security Administration estimates that actually three-quarters of these workers pay federal, state and local taxes through payroll deduction. They pay sales tax with each purchase. They also pay property tax, most often through rent.
How much do these taxes add up to? Each year just for Social Security, it comes to between $6 billion and $7 billion, with an additional $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes. Moreover, these workers will never get back the billions they put in because they are here without permission and are therefore unable to collect Social Security benefits. Federal law also prohibits them from receiving most other state, local or federal benefits except for public education and emergency medical care.
Their contribution is especially significant because while the native-born population in the United States is aging, most recent immigrants are in their prime productive years. Through their labor power and the taxes they pay, they make a significant and growing contribution to supporting the rest of us.
When I spent a summer in Mexico a few years ago, a lot of people I met there lamented the loss of a huge part of their most productive work force to the United States. Their loss has been our gain.
It shouldn’t be a surprise these newcomers are helping in unexpected ways. We are a nation of immigrants. Historically, each wave of immigration brought something new and positive to shaping our country despite the initial hostility they’ve faced.
If present patterns continue, in less than 35 years, ethnic and racial minorities will make up the majority of the U.S. population. This change is being fueled by the arrival of new immigrants and the higher birthrate among immigrant populations.
How will we Nebraskans from all backgrounds face this changing reality? Will we rise to the occasion, exhibit a spirit of grace and be a welcoming community? Will we learn the facts about the contribution immigrants are making and join together with our new neighbors to build a new America?
Or will we have a “circle the wagons” mentality, acting out of fear and anger based on stereotypical misperceptions?
Our children’s future, our country’s future, depends on how we answer that question.
Mark Weddleton, a Lincoln schoolteacher, encourages you to visit www.immigrationpolicy.org to learn the facts about immigration.
Wait, you say, that can’t be! Doesn’t everybody know that more immigrants equals more crime?
There have been tragic individual instances of crimes that seem to confirm this common misperception. They stand out in the public’s mind, reinforcing the stereotype.
But study after study shows otherwise. A rise in immigration makes us safer.
Take California, the state with the greatest number of first-generation immigrants. Statistics on all men ages 18-39, the demographic most likely to be in prison, reveal that those who are native-born are 10 times more likely to be in jail than those who are immigrants. Research in Florida, Texas, Illinois and nationwide turns up similar results.
Lincoln mirrors what is happening across the country: the crime rate has been in steady decline since the early 1990s, the period marked by the most recent wave of increased immigration.
For those who make the effort to get to know these newcomers to our community, it’s not hard to see the reason they are having such a positive influence: So many are here to pursue the American dream. They are parents working hard to build a new life for their children or single people scrimping and saving to send money to help their families back in their native land. The last thing they want is an arrest to take away all they’re working for.
Our state’s cultural composition is changing, and change can be hard. In the first five years of this decade, the number of first-generation immigrants in Nebraska grew more than 34 percent. For some of our state’s towns, the difference is dramatic and has brought with it some real adjustment challenges not to be taken lightly.
In such a circumstance, it’s a common human response to react with fear of the change. Things look more positive, though, when we look at the facts and work together to find forward-looking solutions.
For example, it is a common misperception that immigrants who are living and working here without legal status don’t pay taxes and so are using social services without contributing their fair share.
The Social Security Administration estimates that actually three-quarters of these workers pay federal, state and local taxes through payroll deduction. They pay sales tax with each purchase. They also pay property tax, most often through rent.
How much do these taxes add up to? Each year just for Social Security, it comes to between $6 billion and $7 billion, with an additional $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes. Moreover, these workers will never get back the billions they put in because they are here without permission and are therefore unable to collect Social Security benefits. Federal law also prohibits them from receiving most other state, local or federal benefits except for public education and emergency medical care.
Their contribution is especially significant because while the native-born population in the United States is aging, most recent immigrants are in their prime productive years. Through their labor power and the taxes they pay, they make a significant and growing contribution to supporting the rest of us.
When I spent a summer in Mexico a few years ago, a lot of people I met there lamented the loss of a huge part of their most productive work force to the United States. Their loss has been our gain.
It shouldn’t be a surprise these newcomers are helping in unexpected ways. We are a nation of immigrants. Historically, each wave of immigration brought something new and positive to shaping our country despite the initial hostility they’ve faced.
If present patterns continue, in less than 35 years, ethnic and racial minorities will make up the majority of the U.S. population. This change is being fueled by the arrival of new immigrants and the higher birthrate among immigrant populations.
How will we Nebraskans from all backgrounds face this changing reality? Will we rise to the occasion, exhibit a spirit of grace and be a welcoming community? Will we learn the facts about the contribution immigrants are making and join together with our new neighbors to build a new America?
Or will we have a “circle the wagons” mentality, acting out of fear and anger based on stereotypical misperceptions?
Our children’s future, our country’s future, depends on how we answer that question.
Mark Weddleton, a Lincoln schoolteacher, encourages you to visit www.immigrationpolicy.org to learn the facts about immigration.
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