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ENTITY explains immigration.

When you hear Donald Trump talk about his plans to build a Mexico wall, it may sound like this barricade is the panacea America has been looking for. However, recent studies – and conversations with immigration experts – are finding more than a few holes in Trump’s claims.

How much illegal immigration from Mexico is really happening today? What effect could the wall have on America’s economy? And why is building the Mexico wall like putting a condom on after sex? ENTITY recently sat down with Douglas S. Massey – Princeton sociology professor specializing in migration and author of “Breaking Boundaries: Constructing Identity in Anti-Immigrant Times” – to find out what you really need to know about the Mexico wall.

Via Supernatural

1 Illegal immigration? That’s so 2008. No, really.

First, a troubling technicality: all immigration is not illegal immigration. It’s a simple point that’s easy to miss in the simplistic debates that “the right hates immigration” and “the left wants completely open borders.” It sounds dumb to have to say it, but look out for this blanketing of terms in angry arguments.

However, when you do talk about purely illegal immigration, the subject doesn’t get any less complicated. Douglas Massey argues that “illegal migration ended in 2008” because “the net inflow of illegal migrants [since 2008] has been zero or negative and the undocumented population is no longer growing.”

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In a way, Pew Research backs up Massey’s point. The U.S.’s illegal immigrant population of 11.1 million hasn’t changed since 2011, and Pew Research found that illegal immigration from Mexico has declined. However, they also found that unauthorized immigrants from Asia, Central America and the sub-Saharan Africa are making up for the decrease.

Entity shares what the media isn't telling you about illegal immigration and Trump's Mexico wall

Either way, there’s one clear takeaway: immigration, especially from Mexico (where this big wall is supposedly going to block), may not be the huge problem people keep saying it is.

2 Building a wall will break down the U.S. economy.

If you’ve been on Twitter or near a TV screen, you’ve heard of Trump’s plans to build an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall” between the US and Mexico to help prevent illegal immigration. You’ve probably also heard about the wall’s price tag, ranging from $10 billion (Trump’s estimate) to $25 billion (the Washington Post’s estimate). But Trump’s plan comes with more money problems than just that.

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“Access to immigrant labor also enables some important industries to continue in the United States rather than going oversees,” explains Massey. “Agriculture and food processing are totally dependent on an immigrant labor force, whose presence helps to preserve managerial and supervisory jobs for Americans in those industries.”

Entity shares what the media isn't telling you about illegal immigration and Trump's Mexico wall

New Mexico Governor Susan Martinez agrees, and even publicly critiqued Trump’s plans for a Mexico wall. “They are our trading partners,” said Martinez. “We have a lot of exports that go to Mexico, South America and Central America, and we want to maintain those relationships.”

There’s lots of talk on the Mexico wall’s sticker price, but an even bigger cost might be the hit taken by America’s trade and labor.

3 “Mexicans are crooks” isn’t just racist – it’s plain wrong.

How many times have you heard someone ranting against immigrants for simplistic reasons, like “Mexicans are taking our jobs,” or “Mexicans are criminals”? First of all, well, racist. Secondly, though, these arguments ignore the fact that all sorts of people take jobs and commit crimes.

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In fact, since 2006, the number of illegal immigrants working in the U.S. has stabilized at 8 million – meaning American citizens are reaping the benefits of any new job growth since. Not only that, but “we have 11 million undocumented residents living in the United States, and the overwhelming majority have no involvement with the criminal justice system,” says Massey. “Crimes rates are lower for immigrants than natives.” A 2007 report by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that one immigrant was incarcerated for every five native-born Americans. And, an analysis of the 2010 census found that 1.6 percent of immigrant males age 18 to 39 are incarcerated compared to 3.3 percent of native-born counterparts.

Basically…the old myth that immigrants are the source of all criminality and immorality in society is just that: a myth. So the next time your obnoxious neighbor throws those stereotypes out in an argument, now you have the real stats to enlighten them with!

4 We’re all from the same place…basically.

Now, a short history lesson: the greatest part about America is that none of us are from America.

As Massey explains, “Ultimately almost all human begins are descendant from migrants who began leaving East Africa around 100,000 years ago. Native Americans only arrived in North America around 12,000 years ago. Humans have always been a migratory species who adapt to changing circumstances and access opportunities by moving.”

Entity shares what the media isn't telling you about illegal immigration and Trump's Mexico wall

And, even if you do feel like you belong to a certain ethnicity or racial group, research is showing that your biological roots may not be as “pure” as you think. For instance, researchers discovered that a quarter of the average African-American is European, and that almost 4 percent of Europeans have some African ancestry. A person’s ethnic DNA can even depend on where their ancestors lived. Latinos from Louisiana boast the highest amount of African ancestry (around 20 percent) while Latinos in the Southwest often have more Native American roots.

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All of this goes to say that, when you yell that Mexicans aren’t from America, you probably aren’t 100% “from” America either…

5 Building a wall isn’t solving a problem – it’s building more.

And, finally the elephant (or huge wall) in the room: whether the Mexico wall is actually a good idea in the first place. Sure, lots of media sites are saying, “Hell nah!” for reasons that range from wasting money to harming international relations. But, there’s another problem analysts might be overlooking: building a wall “makes no sense,” according to Massey.

As he explains, the decrease (or death) of illegal immigration had “nothing to do with border enforcement. In the end, undocumented migration ultimately stopped because of Mexico’s demographic transition, as the nation shifted from a fertility rate of 7 children per woman in the 1960s to a figure of around 2.2 children per woman today. Given this drop in the birth rate, the number of people entering the labor force ages was plunging by the turn of the century, and, at this point, Mexico has turned a corner to become a rapidly aging society.” And, since people typically immigrate between the age of 16 and 30, there’s now fewer “age-eligible” candidates for international migration.

Combined with the facts that illegal immigration likely occurs more by air than land and that illegal immigration is rising more in Washington, Pennsylvania and New Jersey than Mexican border states, this wall won’t do much to counteract the overblown “flood” of illegal immigrants.

Entity shares what the media isn't telling you about illegal immigration and Trump's Mexico wall.

The only thing the wall will do? Disrupt America’s economy, hurt our country’s reputation…and keep dominating the media and most of the arguments we hear on a daily basis.

The Bottom Line

The truth is, sometimes arguments on hot topics like immigration go on too long because we’re afraid to ignore claims that are obviously irrational. And, sometimes, the arguments go on too long because people are so focused on one aspect of the subject that they miss others – like the actual prevalence of illegal immigration from Mexico today.

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What’s a girl to do? Stay aware of the arguments people don’t want to say and keep digging for new information. And, if you find yourself shouting at a wall (pun intended)…accept that some people’s minds can’t be opened, drop the argument and walk away.

Edited by Casey Cromwell

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