Answers
From looking at cable news, one would be forgiven for thinking that immigration is a binary topic: the left is in favor, the right is against. But as with most political issues, there’s a lot more nuance. On the political right, there are competing beliefs, but one of the strongest is the pro-business affirmation that immigration, for America as a whole, is a benefit to the nation.
Perhaps no group on the right argues that belief more strongly than the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank that on other issues disagrees vehemently with the political left.
Alex Nowrasteh (Cato Institute)
Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst with the organization, is a southern California native. While he is not an immigrant or child of immigrants himself, he recalls that he did grow up in a region that was enriched by immigration. The Cato Institute has consistently posited its support of immigration, saying that the numbers are clear: immigration is a net benefit to the United States across the board and that there is no evidence of any crime wave linked to immigrants, documented or undocumented.
Nowrasteh spoke to Smithsonian Second Opinon about immigration, history, and the hard numbers. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What is an immigrant?
An immigrant is somebody who is born in one country and then voluntarily moves to another country to live there, and intends to stay there permanently.
What if they don’t intend to stay permanently? What’s the nomenclature?
It either makes them a migrant or a sojourner, another word. Migrant is also used for people who move inside the United States, to a different area or location. Temporary migrant, guest worker, there are sort of a lot of different phrases that people use to describe the temporary movers.
What do the numbers show on immigration to the United States?
Whether you look at it economically or you take at issues of public safety, criminality, terrorism — the upside for native-born Americans is positive and if you include the immigrants, if you include the new Americans, the upside is tremendous. It’s gargantuan basically no matter how you measure it.
People can disagree on things like culture, right? I mean, that’s subjective. If you think it’s good or bad to have different food options — I think it’s good, some people think it’s bad, that’s subjective, you can’t really argue that — generally, though, people do tend to like more options. They like more wealth, they like more employment opportunities, they like more choices, and immigration brings all of those things.
So where do these stories about immigrant crime come from? Why is it so easy to demonize new Americans?
If a native-born American commits a crime, it’s not really news. But for some reason, if a foreigner commits a crime, that gets a lot more attention. People are interested in that. They say, well that crime didn’t necessarily have to happen, because that person didn’t necessarily have to be here.
But people have a bias. I think this is everybody, in every country, or in every place throughout history — people just don't like foreigners that much. They hold foreigners to a different standard, to a higher standard. They're more likely to assume nefarious motives and deeds to people from outside your tribe.
I think it’s because of our psychology: having evolved in small bands, having evolved in small bands and tribes that for the most part were homogeneous, linguistically, ethnically, racially, culturally homogenous. Now we live in a modern society that's better materially in every way, but of course the psychology is still the same because evolution is very slow, so here we are. We have the mindset of hunter-gatherers, living in a modern capitalist cosmopolitan world.
How prevalent are these views?
I don’t want to exaggerate how many people think this. But you take a look at Gallup polls, over time, they’ve been taking this survey since the 1960s. They ask people if they want more or less or the same amount of immigration. And the amount that wanted less immigration peaked in the mid-1990s, and it since has basically halved. It’s gone down to about 38 percent from about 66 percent during that time period.
Meanwhile the group that wants more legal immigration has gone from about 7 to about 25 percent during that time period, while those who want the same has increased as well. So, I don't think we’re in a particularly nativist time when you take a look at the opinions of the average American or the median American voter.
