Full Description
Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes. They are eager to learn local languages. Immigration is not a burden on social services. Border walls do not work. There is no unmanageable refugee crisis. Yet many such misinformed assumptions and harmful misconceptions pervade conversations about immigration.
This timely book is a practical, evidence-based primer on immigrants and immigration. Each chapter debunks a frequently encountered claim and answers common questions. Presenting the latest findings and decades of interdisciplinary research in an accessible way, Ernesto Castañeda and Carina Cione emphasize the expert consensus that immigration is vital to the United States and many other countries around the world. Featuring original insights from research conducted in El Paso, Texas, Immigration Realities considers a wide range of places, ethnic groups, and historical eras. It provides the key data and context to understand how immigration affects economies, crime rates, and social welfare systems, and it sheds light on contentious issues such as the safety of the U.S.-Mexico border and the consequences of Brexit. This book is an indispensable guide for all readers who want to counter false claims about immigration and are interested in what the research shows.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Immigration as a History of Exclusion and Homemaking
1. The Southern Border Is Safe, but Border Enforcement Makes It Unsafe for Many
2. Border Walls Do Not Keep Immigrants Out of a Country
3. Immigrants Commit Less Crime than Native-Born People
4. Immigrants Want to, and Do, Learn the Local Language
5. Immigrants Do Not Depend on Welfare Programs More than Native-Born People
6. Remittances Do Not Drain Host Countries' Economies and Are Not Like Foreign Aid
7. There Is No Refugee Crisis
8. Globalization and Migration Are Independent Processes
9. Brexit Did Not Halt Immigration to the United Kingdom
10. Immigrants Can Integrate While Maintaining Their Identities
Notes
References
Index
