Maya Martin, Editor

On Jan. 30, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. La Salle’s Explorer Cafe Series shared another thought-provoking presentation with students. The Explorer Cafe Series is a program that allows students to learn and engage in different educational topics outside of the classroom. This series’ presenter was Professor Charles Gallagher of the sociology department.

The series was entitled “Our Nation of Immigrants: Demonized, Hated and Absolutely Essential to America’s Success.” The presentation described in depth how immigrants are not only alienated from society but also accused of falsehoods.

Professor Gallagher began by highlighting important quotes from American politicians that painted a detrimental picture of immigrants. Attached to the flier for this explorer series was also a quote from former-President Donald Trump which reads, “Immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.” As Gallagher explained, Hitler used this same terminology when speaking of the mixing of races.

Gallagher spoke about the importance of language and how the terms “illegal” and “alien” force you to paint a negative picture in your head. When these phrases are repeated by politicians and Americans, it forces them to come to fruition. So, in order to promote a heightened understanding of immigrants, Gallagher highlighted and disproved four prominent myths about immigrants.

The first myth Gallagher discussed was that immigrants take away jobs from the native population and hinder the economy. In his presentation, Gallagher explained that it is economically proven that immigration has an overall positive impact on economic growth. He admited that the only workers who are slightly affected by immigrant workers are white and Black workers who do not have a high school education. These workers are only affected by a small percentage, in contrast to the massive immigrant economic problem many Americans believe in.

The second myth Gallagher confronted was that immigrants take social welfare services, abuse and overuse them. However, typical immigrants pay more in taxes than they consume in government services, according to the Cato Institute. To access the social welfare services America has to offer, one must have knowledge of the system to access it, and an extra layer of difficulty is added for non-English speakers. In addition to this, as Gallagher described, working undocumented immigrants are paying taxes, but it is not connected to their name. Therefore, they will not be able to collect this money later in life and the current taxes they pay go to American citizens.

The third myth discussed is that immigrants are more prone to crime than the general population. According to Gallagher, 73% of Americans think that “more immigrants cause more crime,” meanwhile in actuality immigrants have lower crime rates than the native-born. He hypothesized that many immigrants come from countries in which they need to flee. This could result in fear getting kicked out of America and in turn a higher focus on abiding by the law.

Finally, the fourth myth busted in the presentation was that immigrants do not learn English and assimilate. Gallagher explained that 72% of Americans feel it is essential that immigrants living in the United States learn to speak English. However, in the twentieth century, more than 75% of immigrants speak English within the first five years of living in America. Even immigrants who do not learn to speak English in America are able to strive in society.

Gallagher concluded the presentation by showing quotes from famous politicians and presidents including Roosevelt, Reagan and Obama on how immigration should truly be recognized. The idea of a “typical American” is fictitious, and proper education needs to be spread about the importance of immigrants to our economy, population and well-being.