Analysis of David Coles Five Myths of Immigration

David Cole’s “Five Myths about Immigration” draws an analogy between the alarmist attitude towards immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century and those towards immigration at the dawn of the 21st century. Most of us had ancestors who immigrated to this country as Cole does, and he reminds us that his forebears were immigrants in the 1860’s. A political movement Cole refers to as the “Know Nothings” have at one time or another blamed every wave of immigration for every problem in American society. The “We’s” that were already here blaming society’s problems on “Them” that entered until after a period of time the “Them’s” were “We’s” and a new crop of “Them’s” were responsible for our society woes. We are in the midst of another period where “We” are alarmed by “Them” who are immigrating and according to Cole we have always been a nation of immigrants and he lists the five myths that distort public debate and government policy concerning this new wave of immigrants.

The first myth is that we are being overrun with immigrants. According to Cole foreign- born people make up less of our population than prior immigrations. He states that 70-80 percent of those who immigrate are refugees or immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. What he fails to mention is how easy it is to claim refugee status compared to the past. We are in the midst of the third amnesty being considered for aliens who are here illegally. The two prior amnesties made all illegal aliens legal. Cole omitted that fact when he mentioned 70-80 percent being relatives of U.S. citizens. And how refreshing to find someone who really knows how many immigrants we actually have. He makes little or no distinction between legal or illegal immigrants.

Cole’s second myth is that there is virtually no evidence to support the allegation that immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens, in fact they create more jobs from U.S. citizens, and in fact they create more jobs than they fill. My International Economics teacher must have been mistaken when he taught us that when a poor economic nation assimilates with a more prosperous nation that the national average wage drops in the more affluent country, or that the second highest Gross Domestic Product of Mexico is money sent home by immigrants working in the United States. Cole didn’t mention what kinds of jobs were created. Is the $3.5 billion from federal programs meted out to states or is that actually net taxes from a large portion of immigrants who don’t even have a green card yet?

Immigrants are a drain on society’s resources is Cole’s third myth, and generate significantly more in taxes paid than they cost in services. These 1994 figures are in total contradiction with figures in which me and four other colleagues did for a research paper on immigration in 2005. Overcoming the language barrier alone cost a fortune in teachers and new schools. Cole’s statement those except for education, health care, and aid to poor women and children, immigrants are ineligible for social programs. To deny immigrants of these basic needs, when our own citizens lack for them is inhumanely callous according to Cole.

Cole’s fourth myth is that aliens refuse to assimilate, and are depriving us of our culture and political unity. His point is well made that this is not a legitimate reason to limit immigration. If racism by both sides can be eliminated I agree with Cole that this diversity of cultures for the most part enhance our lives. No figures or percentages are added to the material with little or no substantiation. He just makes a convincing argument to falsify the myth.

The last myth is that immigrants are not entitled to constitutional rights. No distinction is made between legal and illegal immigrants. Apparently Cole thinks that the U.S. should be the only country who grants full rights to a person residing in a country who is not a citizen.

Cole stated early in his essay that there have always been “Know Nothings” who were critical of every preceding wave of immigration, but with time the outsiders were accepted, and we were all the better off for it. But maybe the time has come where we have more people than resources. We still have legal means of immigration available to welcome a number of immigrants that we can successfully handle. Could we go to any of their native countries and enter in vast numbers and expect to have the same rights, education, and healthcare as their citizens? Cole sets no limits on immigration and seems to believe we can sustain it forever.