In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio on dispelling myths about immigration and the border, Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco is asked about President Trump’s case for the border wall and whether Trump’s characterization of immigrants today is correct. Suárez-Orozco responds:

“No they aren’t. … Immigrants are arriving in our country today, like they did 150 years ago when the Swedes settled in Minnesota, are not here to commit crimes. … Studies by the national research council, this is a nonpartisan research arm of the US Congress, concluded recently that overall immigrants are less likely to commit crime. …This is true both of legal immigrants as well as those immigrants who have no papers. …  The actual number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States is now at its lowest level in more than a decade…From 2007 to 2017 the unauthorized immigration population shrunk by 13 percent. Today there is net zero, meaning more folks are leaving than are coming into our country.”

Read more of the interview. And learn about Humanitarianism and Mass Migration: Confronting the World Crisis edited by Suárez-Orozco.

And read an excerpt from the book on the human rights of children.

Praise for Humanitarianism and Mass Migration: 

“Perhaps the most disturbing challenge to our consciences in these days is the massive refugee crisis, which will not go away and whose solution calls for a wisdom, a breadth of vision, and a humanitarian concern that go far beyond short-term political decisions. Conscious of the dimensions of this humanitarian crisis, these essays pay attention to its effects on children, families, and those who are most vulnerable in the face of exploitation.”—His Holiness Pope Francis

“The book will set the agenda for the next generation of researchers, policy makers, and concerned citizens—increasingly all of us—who are dedicated to addressing the great existential crisis of our times.”—Doris Sommer, Harvard University

 

 

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