Episode 8 Show Notes- A Real In-depth Analysis of Immigration

Apple iOS Users click here            Android Users click here               Spotify Users click here

Episode Description

In this episode, Professor Giordano provides a real analysis of the current immigration situation. Understanding the immigration history of the United States is key to understanding the current challenges. Unfortunately, the news media does not provide any depth or analysis, and simply reports through biased opinions and emotion. Professor Giordano will focus on the current problems, why the situation is unsustainable, dispel myths as it pertains to the immigration system, and provide solutions to solve the border crisis.

Intro

Welcome everyone to another episode of The PAS Report Weekly Roundup Podcast. This is your host Nick Giordano, and due to the outreach after my appearance on Tucker Carlson, I will go into depth about the current immigration problems we face. As always, if you want to see the show notes or my sourcing, go to https://pasreport.com.

The media does a major disservice when it comes to the immigration debate because many are clueless of immigration history. More importantly, they clearly show their biases and do not bring an honest approach when it comes to analyzing immigration. Even the politicians fail to speak with any real depth or honesty about the issue, and Congress is largely to blame for the immigration problems we see today as they have sat on their hands for decades.

Distinguishing between legal and illegal immigration

There are two main types of immigration- legal immigration and illegal immigration. Obviously, legal immigrants are the ones who follow the laws, do the paperwork, and what for approval to come to the United States. Illegal immigrants knowingly violate the laws and sovereignty of the United States and come to the U.S. under the radar.

There is a third category, and that is asylum seekers. This category encompasses both legal and illegal immigration.

Understanding the history of immigration

We constantly hear we are a nation built on immigrants, and that’s true. But when people speak about immigration today, they make it as if the U.S. was always a welcoming place for new immigrants, and they constantly refer to the screed on the Statue of Liberty as proof of how welcoming we are. There are two problems with this.

First, the Statue of Liberty was given to us by France as a gift for ending slavery in the United States. (National Park Service)

Secondly, instead of the Statue of Liberty reading, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…,” it should read “give us who we need.”

When we look at the earliest immigration from the founding of the country up to 1882 we see for a large part of this time period, immigration levels were relatively low and there was no real immigration policy. We did not see mass migration into the United States until the 1850’s. Even when mass migration began, it was not a problem absorbing these individuals as America was expanding rapidly during this period. The United States need labor and the immigrants and American citizens can provide this labor during the expansion period. Also, similar to today, immigration was based on economic conditions of the United States seeing drop-offs during economic downturns and the Civil War. Finally, immigrants had to fend for themselves when they arrived as there were no real government social programs available at the time. (Immigration in American Economic History)

The first time we really begin to restrict immigration is with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 where it provided a 10-year moratorium, and renewed in 1892 for another 10-year period. Some in the U.S. feared a large influx of Chinese laborers “endangered the good order” of the United States. (National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service) During this period, the California gold rush had ended and the transcontinental railroad was completed, so the need for labor was greatly reduced.

This also led to the Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885 and 1887 to be passed which further restricted immigration to the United States. As the need for cheap labor was declining, the government wanted to discourage the importation of foreign born laborers. One of the big proponents of this legislation was the Order of the Knights of Labor. This was a Union organization and the legislation was to promote unionization of skilled laborers and to prohibit contracting immigrants from being employed upon their arrival to the U.S. This was also a measure to end indentured servitude where immigrants would have to work off their debts for the cost of coming to the U.S. The only exceptions were those with specialized skills in short supply. (Library of Congress)

The Immigration Act of 1891 further limited immigrants by creating excludible classes including polygamists, persons convicted of public criminal offenses, idiots, those suffering from disease. It established the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration, and the immigrations stations including Ellis Island. (USCIS) Encouraging citizenship and assimilation became the focus in the early 1900’s encouraging the Americanization of immigrants.

The Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 placed a quota system on national origin with skills based needs. The flow of low-skilled immigrants dropped substantially in an effort to increase market competition. These quota systems remained in place until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 where the system shifted preference from national origin and skills based needs and was replaced with family ties to U.S. citizens, asylum seekers and employer sponsorship. (Immigration in American Economic History)

The last major immigration bill we saw was the Immigration Act of 1990 where preference categories were revised to family-sponsored, employment based, and a diversity visa lottery from countries with low immigration volumes in the U.S. (Congress)

Dispelling Myths: Reason immigrants came here and how they were treated upon arrival

Past immigrants had a very difficult time when trying to get into the United States. Many lacked the money and may not have had connections such as family and friends. In addition, Immigrants would be screened and given literacy tests to determine whether they could provide benefits to the United States. When being examined, if an official did not like the way someone looked, they would be denied access to the United States.

MYTH:

There is a myth that past immigrants came here to seek freedom and liberty in the land of opportunity. This is not true at all. While some did come escaping religious or political persecution, most came for economic purposes and had every intent on returning back to their native lands. These immigrants became known as the “birds of passage.” (Digital History)

Many wanted to escape the peasant life they came from so they came to the United States as they were told of long tales that they would be able to obtain enormous wealth. Many came to the United States with nothing only to find that the land where they would become “rich” did not really exist. They were now penniless, in a strange land, and would never be able to return to their native country.

MYTH:

America was always welcoming towards immigrants. This again is a myth that did not really exist. Every immigration class faced discrimination and was poorly treated including the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Japanese, etc.

Being of Italian descent, I focus a lot of attention on the Italian-American experience. While today many view Italians as white, this was not always the case. Early Italian immigrants were considered “undesirable,” and the real history the Italian-American experience is one of “indentured servitude, mass lynching’s, acts of terror by the KKK”, and the portrayal of Italians of nothing more than gangsters.  (CUNY: We Weren’t Always White: Race and Ethnicity in Italian/American Literature)

Many southern Italians have an olive complexion, and because of the proximity to Africa, Italians were seen as more African than European. Italians primarily settled in New York where they were relegated to the tenements that were overcrowded and where disease was rampant. There was also a large Italian population that settled in New Orleans. Italians were seen as racially suspect and “treated with the same contempt as black people.”

While Blacks were the first most lynched group, Italians were the second. On March 14, 1891, the New Orleans Police Chief, David Hennessy, was shot and before dying he was asked who did it. His response was “Dagoes.” Calling an Italian a dago is akin to calling a Black person the N word. Hundreds of Italians were arrested, and when nine were found not guilty, residents stormed the jail and slaughtered eleven men ripping apart their bodies. The New York Times even called the victim, ““desperate ruffians and murderers. These sneaking and cowardly Sicilians, the descendants of bandits and assassins…are to us a pest without mitigations.” (Library of Congress)

To truly understand the history of the Italian-American experience, I encourage you to watch Pane Amaro/Bitter Bread: The Italian American Journey from Despised Immigrants to Honored Citizens.

MYTH:

Early immigrants came here illegally too. There are numerous outlets that are saying that most immigrants came here illegally in the past. As I stated before, there were no real immigration policies prior to 1882. Immigration was relatively low, and so there was no need to develop policy. The immigration surges of the 1850’s and 1870’s illustrated a need for policy, and once those policies were developed, most followed those policies.

According to a Yale study, the illegal immigrant population stands between 20-22 million people as opposed to the 11-12 million people stated in the media and by politicians. (Yale) Illegal immigration has been growing exponentially from the late 1980’s to present day.

 Understanding today’s immigration problem

Understanding today’s immigration problem must be examined as the needs of the country have changed. Trying to compare our immigration system to the 1800’s or the early 1900’s doesn’t make any sense as the variables have changed so it’s comparing apples to oranges. Our immigration system, both legal and illegal, is broken and needs to be modernized. Unfortunately, Congress has been derelict in their duty to fix the problem.

Challenges in the legal immigrant system

There are many today that say the United States has become a more hostile place towards immigrants than ever before, and that our policies are not reflective of the Land of Immigrants. This couldn’t be further from the truth. America is still the most welcoming nation on the face of this Earth.

For those that say America isn’t welcoming, consider this:

• Grant citizenship to approximately 750,000 immigrants a year (USCIS)
• Grant Green Cards/legal permanent resident to over 1 million immigrants a year (DHS)
• Grant access to approximately 130,000-150,000 refugees and asylum seekers per year (DHS) (National Conference of State Legislators)

The fact is that the United States takes in more immigrants by an enormous margin each and every year. In fact, the United States accounts for 25% of the immigrant population out of 198 countries. (Pew)

Legal Immigration is not controversial

Legal immigration is not really controversial. Many believe the process should be simplified and work quicker for those who want to come to the United States. There are some minor reforms that should take place.

VISA Lottery Program

The diversity Visa Lottery program is useless and should be abolished. Basically, we grant visa’s to people from countries that have historically low rates of immigration to the United States. This program is not based on the merit, skill or ties to the United States, and it is basically pulling names out of a hat. (State Department)

Family Based Immigration

When immigrants have connections to the United States, it can result in a quicker assimilation process and reduce the dependency on government. However, this program is dramatically flawed and should be revised. I don’t believe any American would have a problem with a legal immigrant sponsoring their spouse and children into the United States.

But the problem with family-based immigration is that it’s not limited to just spouses and children which leads to the idea of chain migration where you can sponsor parents and siblings as well. So, a sibling is sponsored and then becomes a citizen, and now they sponsor wives and children. It can be every expanding list of people.

You can also sponsor your parents. Well, what if the immigrant’s parents are in their 70’s? What benefit do they bring to the United States? How productive will they be? Will they become a burden on society?

As a nation we should have a right to determine what benefit a person brings to the United States.

Merit Based Immigration

Merit should also be considered for legal immigrants. Why shouldn’t we have an immigration system based on the needs of the United States? Why can’t we give preference to immigrants with specialized skills? We also need to make sure that companies are not abusing the H-1B Visa system. Several companies including Disney and the tech giants have obtained H-1B Visas as a way to import cheap labor. Sadly, American citizens will train their h-1B counterparts and be subsequently laid off. (Center for Immigration Studies) We need to insure companies are not abusing the H-1B Visa program as a way to import cheap labor, and we need to protect the American worker.

Changes in immigration patterns and the current immigration crisis

When we talk about illegal immigration, there are many who want to silence you. They call you a racist or a bigot or a xenophobe. They say you hate Hispanics. These are the same people who commonly use the terms “tolerance” and say we need to have an “honest” conversation, but what they really want is you to sit down and shut up. It’s made increasingly worse when elected officials are fighting harder for the rights of illegal immigrants than those who elected them into these positions.

The PAS Report will never be silenced, and it is my commitment to present you with facts and provide an honest analysis. As I pointed out earlier, a Yale study stated there are between 20-22 million illegal immigrants. Having 10 million, 15 million or 20 million people living in the shadows is unacceptable and cannot provide many benefits. The impacts of illegal immigration are far-reaching. Many have tried to blur the lines between legal immigrants and illegal immigrants by lumping them into the same categories.

Over the years, illegal immigration has changed to create the myriad of problems we see today. While illegal immigration is a problem that dates back decades, the situation is dramatically different.

Single Males vs. Family Units

In the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, while females make up the majority of legal immigrants, and Using the 19080, 1990 and 2000 census’s, males dominated when it came to illegal immigration. (Pew Hispanic). When adult aged males cross the border illegally, it has less of an impact because the males would be able to sustain themselves and send money back to their families in the native countries. While the males were illegally living in the United States, the family unit in the native country would apply for legal status in the United States. Other people would simply come to work, and when they accumulated enough money to live comfortably, they would return back to their native lands.

In 2014, we began to see a shift in immigration. Instead of self-sustaining males, entire family units and unaccompanied children would now become the dominant majority entering the United States. This created a much more complex problem. As adult males may be self-sufficient, children are not and so government resources, paid for by taxpayers, will now be used. (CBP)

Asylum Seekers aren’t illegal immigrants

Many argue right now that the current caravans coming into the United States are immigrants that are doing it legally using the asylum laws. This is completely misleading because most who study this issue recognize the asylum laws are being abused. Asylum is supposed to be used on the basis of political or religious persecution, domestic violence, etc. In addition, according to international standard using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asylum should be claimed in the first country you enter. Under Article 14, it also states that while individuals have a right to seek asylum, it’s the right of the State to grant asylum. (The Concept of Country of First Asylum)

Another problem is that many of those seeking asylum have been coached on what needs to be said. No longer are they running away from Border Patrol, now they walk up requesting asylum and so they will be entitled to an asylum hearing. The problem is that most in the coming wave are really coming for economic purposes which is not a valid asylum claim, and so when it comes time for their hearing 90% of the recent asylum seekers are not showing up for their court dates thereby making them illegal. (National Review)

Social Benefits

Many people say illegal immigrants don’t qualify for government benefits. However, this is not necessarily true. Adult illegal immigrants may not qualify for federal social programs, but in 26 states they can qualify for State social programs including food benefits, healthcare, and even cash. (National Immigration Forum) These programs are funded by the taxpayers of the state.

Also, illegal immigrants do qualify for some federally funded programs included school meal programs, WIC, Head Start and emergency Medicaid. (Econofact) The issue also gets further muddled when some residents of the household are citizens and others are not. According to the Center of Immigration Studies, 63% of households headed by a non-citizen reported that they used at least one welfare program. (Center for Immigration Studies) It’s important to note that it may not be an illegal immigrant receiving the benefit, it could be their child who may be a legal U.S. citizen.

 Visa Overstays

While the southern border is a major crisis situation, people are paying little attention to the amount of Visa overstays in the United States. Nearly half of the illegal immigrant population came here legally on a Visa, and did not leave once the Visa expired thereby making them illegal. (Center for Immigration Studies) Sadly, the Department of Homeland Security has stated that it does not have the technology, capability or manpower to track Visa overstays. (DHS)

Assimilation

Assimilation into American culture is an important component in the immigration system. The idea that you shed some of your traditions and cultures in order to adopt the American political concepts of liberty and accept the Tenets of the American Creed. The assimilation process works over the course of three generations. The first generation comes to the United States for specific reasons, they largely keep the customs and traditions of the native country. They still mostly speak the language of the native culture, and their loyalty is conflicted between the native country and the United States. The second generation will learn many of the customs and traditions, and may speak and/or understand some of the native language, but their loyalty is more to the United States than the native country. By the third generation, the assimilation process is complete. The person still adopts some of the customs and traditions, but those customs and traditions also become Americanized. They are unable to speak or understand their native language, and loyalty is absolute to the United States.

We have seen a push to say the melting pot and the idea of assimilation are racist concepts. In fact, some Universities have declared the concept of the melting pot as a racial microaggression. (University of Minnesota) According to the University of Minnesota, saying America is a melting pot denies a “person’s racial/ethnic experiences” and denies the individual as a racial/cultural being.”

Teddy Roosevelt remarked, ““There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts “native” before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as anyone else. The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.” (Free Republic)

• Aren’t hyphens racist in and of themselves.

If those coming here don’t get an appreciation of American customs and values, how do we expect them to be loyal to the United States? Rather than put country above culture, we are sending the message that culture is above country. Identity politics is the key to constantly dividing people, and when you consistently say everything is about recognizing the special and unique cultures over the United States, you are creating a tribal society that pits one culture over another. It hasn’t worked out well for countries like Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, and it won’t work out well for the United States.

When assimilation doesn’t exist, the results can be dangerous if not outright catastrophic. Europe is a good example of the lack of assimilation. Europe will take people from place A put them in place B with all people similar to the people in place A. In order to assimilate into a society, you must be immersed into that culture. You must understand the history of the country. You must learn the language of the country. If you take people from one country and put them in another country with the same people they were with in the native country, they will never gain an appreciation of the new country they are in. Europe is still a very discriminatory place where the family your born into will likely determine your outcome in life. There is little chance for social mobility. And so, many immigrants do not gain a sense of loyalty, identity, or nationalism to the new country they’re in.

The United States was always the opposite (give Missouri example). However, the assimilation process is becoming difficult here as well. Due to technological advancements, you are not surrounded by the English language. In fact, you can use the computer in any language, and out of 2000 channels, you can watch television in any language. Our government provides translation services for any language you can imagine, and many businesses will have several languages available. Not learning a countries language leads to exclusion and can prevent the person from assimilating in the country.

Promoting culture at the expense of promoting country

Another problem with today’s immigrants is something that has actually nothing to do with what they did, but with what the morons we elect into office have done. St. Louis Park, Minnesota is a great example. The city council passed an ordinance that banned the Pledge of Allegiance at city council meetings. They stated that they wanted to create “a more welcoming environment” and the Pledge of Allegiance can be insensitive to those who are not citizens. (Washington Examiner)

If you are an immigrant in this country and you find that the pledge is insulting, then why live here. If we are such a horrible country, why not find a place they you believe is better. I can guarantee that most immigrants would agree with me over the city council. The city council has reversed course due to the backlash, but they have done more harm to immigrants because this is the type of stuff that really aggravates citizens.

New type of immigrant

Everyone has seen images of caravans marching towards the United States. They are not carrying the American Flag, rather they carry the flags of their native countries. (LA Times) America is an open and tolerant place, but when you are coming to this country and demanding access saying that you have a right to enter, you should display the flag of your native country. Some will say that’s racist and you’re not allowed to say that, but that’s nonsense. You are leaving your native country for a reason and you want to come to the United States for a reason. Have respect for the country you want to go to. This also raises a host of loyalty concerns. If we grant you access to the United States, will you be loyal to the United States over your native country?

 Burden to the most vulnerable populations

Illegal immigrants provide the biggest burden to state and local governments especially in the communities that are most vulnerable. Let’s be honest. Asylum seekers and illegal immigrants are not coming here with $30,000 in the bank where they can fully sustain themselves. Many are coming with the clothes on their backs. These immigrants will be placed and settle in communities that are already struggling.

These economically disadvantaged communities, which encompass blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians, are already facing a crumbling infrastructure. Their education system has already collapsed. Their resources are stretched thin. Introducing more people into these communities exacerbate the problems they already face, and the federal government does not provide assistance to these local governments to try and ease the burden even though it is the failures of the federal government that are leading to the problem. In addition, these individuals are now going to directly challenge American citizens for jobs thereby suppressing the wages.

Wage Suppression

While many will say that illegal immigrants don’t suppress wages, a simple understanding of economics undermines their argument. Supply vs. Demand is a simple concept to understand. The more supply of workers you have, the more wages will decline. In addition, the most vulnerable citizens are the ones who bear the brunt of illegal immigration. Those without college degrees or high school diplomas will have to compete with illegal immigrants and accept lower paying jobs. You would think that labor unions would be screaming about this, but their silence is deafening. Many economists believe that while there may be some wage suppression, it can also lead to higher profits where wealth is redistributed. (Politico)

The reality is that illegal immigrants will take jobs at lower wages, and many businesses will look to this cheap labor as a way to increase profits. It’s not rocket science. Another problem we see is that it is very difficult for a business to compete with another business using an illegal labor force. Complying with all the laws, regulations, payroll taxes, and insurance is expensive. So, when a business takes a risk to hire illegal immigrants, there overhead drops dramatically allowing them to undercut the market. Construction is a good example.

The elitist view citizens as the problem

The elected officials, the pundit class, and the so-called elites explain that we, as citizens, are too ignorant; therefore, they must go against the will of the people. Non-citizens settle in communities that are already having difficulties and do not have the capabilities or resources to take care of their American citizens.

Here in New York, we have a Governor wrote an op-ed on June 16, 2018 stating New York will be a safe haven for illegal immigrants. (NY Daily News) Since then, Governor Cuomo has forged forward with efforts to use taxpayer dollars for programs and benefits including legal aid to illegal immigrants. This from the same governor that stated conservatives, who are U.S. citizens and have a fundamental right to their opinions, “have no place in the State of New York.” (The Guardian)

American citizens in need are getting shafted

Does it seem fair that a single parent, who is a citizen, and whose child wants to go to college in California, will pay three times the tuition rate than an undocumented immigrant living in California? Does it seem fair that most illegal immigrants will settle in poor communities already struggling rather than the elite zip codes that have the resources and abilities to take care of this population?

The powers that be demonize and dictate to the citizenry that we have an obligation, a fundamental duty, to accept any people looking for better opportunities. Ironically, these same people are quick to exploit the illegal class of people as it is the noncitizen that serve many in those elite communities.

Other States are also creating a worsening situation. By offering social benefits including legal services, you are serving as a magnet for the illegal population at the expense of the taxpayers of the state. For example, California announced it would provide healthcare to illegal immigrants. (The Hill) What about the 7-10% of California citizens that don’t have health insurance? Why don’t they matter? Many in these caravans are coming here thinking they are going to be receiving all these benefits.

What about the Angel Families- those who lost loved ones and were victimized by illegal immigrants? They cannot sue the government because of the idea of Sovereign Immunity where the government cannot be held accountable for everyone’s actions, and they cannot be responsible for everything that goes wrong in society. Yet, the asylum seekers that were separated at the border are now suing the Trump administration (essentially the American people) for $3 million per family because of emotional distress. (Washington Times) How is that fair when you have Sanctuary cities that have been negligent and uncooperative with immigration officials?

Elected officials should be held accountable

If the rhetoric continues, and American citizens continue to be pushed aside, this will not end well as there are only two possible outcomes. The first outcome is the erosion of the concept of citizenship. This degrades any concept of loyalty to our country. It will also be the downfall of the nation-state as we will enter a period of a borderless world. The second outcome is that citizens will begin to grow resentful of the non-citizen population, and the government as a whole. They will become detached from a political system they do not have a stake in, and they will create an environment that is ripe for conflict.

To reverse course, we need to recognize that most Americans have no problem with legal immigration, and the United States legalizes more immigrants in one year than nearly every other country combined. We need to emphasize that the United States is still the most generous and welcoming nation to immigrants even if we enforce the laws already codified and implement additional border and visa security measures. We need to remind the elected officials that their primary obligation is to represent the interests of American citizens before anyone and anything else, and if they don’t, they must be held accountable.

Final Thoughts

It is time we start calling out those who demonize law enforcement including ICE agents as thugs and Nazis. It is time to start calling those out who try to silence debate by hurling invectives such as racist, bigot and xenophobe in an effort to silence those who disagree with them. There is nothing that I said that is untrue. I present you with facts and you can come to your own conclusion of where you stand on the issue.

The haters will try to label me and silence me, but I have done more for immigrants than most of them. I am someone who is sympathetic to those who came here at the age of 2 and are now 20. 50% of my students are immigrants, and many are illegal. They are good kids. I have written letters for many on their behalf attesting to their character. I have helped them when they sought advice on immigration issues. So I understand their plight and have done more for them than the big mouth elitists who tell us what horrible people we are.

However, the current trajectory is unsustainable, and we must tackle this problem together. You cannot have unfettered immigration where millions upon millions of people can just walk into the United States. You cannot have a system that begins to put illegal immigrants needs above the needs of the citizenry. You cannot have a system that works against the people, both citizens and legal immigrants.

Closing

I want to thank you for joining us and this is an important issue we will stay on top of. As always, if there is a topic you would like me to analyze, send an email to podcast@pasreport.com. If you want to see the show notes or see my sourcing, visit https://pasreport.com. As our movement continues to grow, common-sense change will come to the United States. As I say, by using education and facts, we win the arguments. If you believe in the message and find the value in this podcast, please share this episode with others. Thank you for joining us, stay safe, and I’ll be back next week.

Follow Nicholas Giordano

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•