{"id":401,"date":"2026-02-10T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/we-have-work-to-do-on-immigration\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:00:00","slug":"we-have-work-to-do-on-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/we-have-work-to-do-on-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"We Have Work To Do On Immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Nicholas Johnson reads from his book Columns of Democracy at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City March 30, 2019. photo: Trish Nelson<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The Constitution\u2019s 14th Amendment requirements of \u201cdue process\u201d and \u201cequal protection of the laws\u201d apply to \u201cany person,\u201d not just citizens.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For those fleeing persecution, and can prove it, international and U.S. law provide they are entitled to seek \u201casylum\u201d \u2014 requiring the U.S. accept them.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Guest Column originally posted on Cedar Rapids Green Gazette<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

by Nicholas Johnson<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Unless you are listed on one of the tribal rolls of our 574 Indian Tribes, you are either an immigrant or the beneficiary of an immigrating ancestor. In short, when we talk about \u201cimmigrants\u201d we are talking about ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

One list of \u201cFamous U.S. Immigrants\u201d lists about 100 (including the president\u2019s wife) whose names and \u201cAmerican accomplishments\u201d you\u2019ll recognize.<\/span><\/p>\n

The less famous are equally essential to our economy. Last year the total number called \u201cimmigrants\u201d was 53.3 million foreignborn residents. Jobs with the highest percentage of \u201cimmigrants\u201d include agriculture, construction, cleaning and maintenance, food preparation and personal care (80 percent of all manicurists and pedicurists).<\/span><\/p>\n

For me, diversity makes a more interesting city: 60 languages in Iowa City schools, the variety of birthplaces of Uber drivers, those I encounter during neighborhood walks, and the range of our restaurants\u2019 cuisine. All for much less than the $5,000 or more it would cost for a round trip to even one of their countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, speaking of painted fingernails, some Americans have preferences of skin color and foreign accents that suppresses their interest in \u201cimmigrants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Given that we are all immigrants, and given their essential role in our economy, it is odd that some individuals still emphasize, without evidence, immigrants\u2019 criminal records. More than one study has found that \u201cundocumented immigrants are arrested at less than \u2026 a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Crime rates have been declining. But even if some states and federal agencies select fighting crime as their top priority, what\u2019s the rationale for putting more emphasis on immigrants than on those responsible for most crime?<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, the U.S. power to welcome, or exclude, potential immigrants has limits. The Constitution\u2019s 14th Amendment requirements of \u201cdue process\u201d and \u201cequal protection of the laws\u201d apply to \u201cany person,\u201d not just citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those fleeing persecution, and can prove it, international and U.S. law provide they are entitled to seek \u201casylum\u201d \u2014 requiring the U.S. accept them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe the issue should be, not who is coming but how many. How many immigrants per year is the right number? As America\u2019s most popular comedian, Nate Bargatze, might say, \u201cNobody knows.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Or should our question be, not how many knock on our door, but how many leave home and why. For example, it may cost more to abandon the USAID program than to increase it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t often dig around in the Hoover Institution\u2019s files, but while John Cochrane\u2019s analysis may not be surprising it is intriguing. With only a half-tongue in cheek he explains why we can handle up to at least one billion more immigrants, and that \u201cquotas\u201d are a \u201ccalamitous waste.\u201d \u201cFor every objection to open immigration, it\u2019s easy enough to find terms of the deal to resolve the matter. The right terms will allow the optimal amount of immigration to settle itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGive me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free\u201d We have work to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicholas Johnson can be reached at mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org<\/a><\/span><\/em>
\nWebsite: <\/span><\/em>nicholasjohnson.org<\/a><\/p>\r\n
Source link blogforiowa.com<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicholas Johnson reads from his book Columns of Democracy at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City March 30, 2019. photo: Trish Nelson The Constitution\u2019s 14th Amendment requirements of \u201cdue process\u201d and \u201cequal protection of the laws\u201d apply to \u201cany person,\u201d not just citizens. For those fleeing persecution, and can prove it, international and U.S. law provide they are entitled to…","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":74,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}