“THEY TAKE OUR JOBS!” and 20 other myths about immigration

CONTENTS

A Note on Terminology

PART ONE · IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMY

Myth 1. Immigrants take American jobs

Myth 2. Immigrants compete with low-skilled workers and drive down wages

Myth 3. Unions oppose immigration because it harms the working class

Myth 4. Immigrants don’t pay taxes

Myth 5. Immigrants are a drain on the economy

Myth 6. Immigrants send most of what they earn out of the country in the form of remittances

PART TWO · IMMIGRANTS AND THE LAW

Myth 7. The rules apply to everyone, so new immigrants need to follow them just as immigrants in the past did

Myth 8. The country is being overrun by illegal immigrants

Myth 9. The United States has a generous refugee policy

PART THREE · IMMIGRATION AND RACE

Myth 10. The United States is a melting pot that has always welcomed immigrants from all over the world

Myth 11. Since we are all the descendants of immigrants here, we all start on equal footing

Myth 12. Today’s immigrants threaten the national culture because they are not assimilating

Myth 13. Today’s immigrants are not learning English, and bilingual education just adds to the problem

PART FOUR · HOW HAVE U.S. POLICIES CREATED IMMIGRATION?

Myth 14. Immigrants only come here because they want to enjoy our higher standard of living

Case Study: The Philippines

PART FIVE · THE DEBATE AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM

Myth 15. The American public opposes immigration, and the debate in Congress reflects that

Myth 16. The overwhelming victory of Proposition 187 in California shows that the public opposes immigration

Myth 17. Immigration is a problem

Myth 18. Countries need to control who goes in and out

Myth 19. We need to protect our borders to prevent criminals and terrorists from entering the country

Myth 20. If people break our laws by immigrating illegally, they are criminals and should be deported

Myth 21. The problems this book raises are so huge that there’s nothing we can do about them

Acknowledgments