Fear, lies, and immigration
Leaders who choose to rule by fear construct societies that crumble from within.
Dear friends: This past week journalists continued uncovering the story of people in Texas being tricked into flying to Martha’s Vineyard, being told they were being taken to a large city (Boston or New York) and would be given assistance in finding jobs and housing. No such plan was ever real. Instead, they were abandoned in a despicable effort to tell a false and ugly story of otherness as a problem, and a threat.
These people happened to be from Venezuela. Being from “not-here” appears to have been enough to put a target on them.
That target wasn’t placed by human smugglers working for profit. It was placed by a duly elected governor of another state.
Lest you think this stunt is only an act of political gamesmanship, consider the history. The current wave of southern governors deporting immigrants to states they consider “liberal” echoes similar acts during the Jim Crow years. Then, it was private individuals and groups organizing the deportations with a clearly racist message: they believed northern Whites would find Black people to be the same kind of “problem” the southerners perceived.
Now, elected officials believe themselves so impugn to the laws of the land, they are willing to use force and deception to send some of the most vulnerable of their fellow humans to other jurisdictions, to make the same point: “others” are a “problem.” These others are invariably non-White. (Consider a similar stunt being played out with Ukrainian refugees - it’s nearly unimaginable that White European refugees would be treated the way the Venezuelan folk were.)
Never mind that the data tell a different story. Immigrants are net contributors to the communities in which they settle - whether or not they have official documentation. In fact, undocumented workers often contribute payroll taxes, but cannot collect most benefits. Our neighbors from other countries and their children are less likely to commit crimes than our neighbors who were born here. White supremacist, nativist violence is a bigger threat than imported terrorism.
Throughout the history of the U.S., as one wave of European immigrants became established (often through the violent seizure of indigenous people’s territory and the exploitation of natural resources), the urge to close the door behind them has led to demonizing of other immigrants. Immigration law itself arose from the need to find an external enemy, in order to maintain control over land and resources.
So our “nation of immigrants” is suffering from a deep divide: an internal split, inside each of us, a place which demagogues and would-be tyrants can touch to trigger fear. Those of us who are descended from immigrants carry that history in our bones. We are quick to fear becoming the “other,” becoming the demonized. We know our species’ capacity for great violence against itself.
We also know the reality that humans have ever wandered the earth, seeking shelter, food, and community. We will continue to wander - hence the inclusion in most religious and spiritual practices of hospitality, welcoming the stranger, ensuring the bonds of community.
Leaders who choose to rule by fear construct societies that crumble from within. Consider this: if this despicable act does not generate enough fear that lasts long enough for its organizers to gain more power, what will they do next?
Sources are after the photo. Thank you, as always, for your company on this journey.
The lawsuits and criminal investigation re: the flight to Martha’s Vineyard: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/19/desantis-migrant-flights-texas-sheriff/
The history of immigration law in the U.S.:
View the first half-hour or so of “The Golden Door,” part of the new documentary on the U.S. and the Holocaust: https://www.pbs.org/video/us-holocaust-episode-1-the-golden-door/
Data on immigrant contributions in the U.S.: https://www.bushcenter.org/catalyst/north-american-century/benefits-of-immigration-outweigh-costs.html
https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/contributions-of-undocumented-immigrants-by-country/
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/topics/immigration-and-crime