I have reported from the front lines of crime for much of my life. I agree that immigrants/migrants carry a heavy load as they try to fit into an existing society. But I also have come to believe that real social dynamics are at work in the process of diversity/assimilation. Do new immigrant workers suppress wages of indigenous laborers? Plenty of evidence says yes and common sense would seem to support that idea. Are there real friction points between existing cultures and new arrivals. Of course there are. And here's an idea that makes sense to me: The "othering" by the majority population causes an encapsulation of the community of unassimilated people who can be easily exploited by existing criminal elements from "the old country." That's how the Black Hand Societies from Sicily and other Italian regions got a foothold in the US. The foothold became a wedge for a time, from the late 19th to the middle 20th centuries, and La Cosa Nostra became a very significant and dangerous force in the entire country. Also called the Mafia, LCN was a coherent organization that finally forced J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI to rescind a policy of staying out of urban vice and corruption cases. The same is true to some extent with today's Mexican criminal trafficking cartels. They have made millions by using old smuggling routes and methods to bring illegal immigrants across the border. That's exploitation at its most degrading. Often leaders of the involved immigrant community will feel forced to ignore those real problems out of defensiveness. In the case of the Italian community, assimilation and acceptance came about at the same time the US government was dismantling the Mafia infrastructure that Mob turncoat Joe Valachi called "the second government of the United States." The highpoint of LCN influence seems to have been the early 1970s, when multiple mobsters began to turn informant at the same time "The Godfather" became part of the popular culture mythology of the country. Immigrant cartel crime hasn't coalesced in the way the Italian crime families did, not yet at least. But pretending that there are not criminal elements inside immigrant communities will not do much to eradicate the negative images of immigrants the hard-right loves to float. MAGA is a combination of nationalism and techno-optimism, somebody recently remarked. Softening that ideologies sharp edges needs to be done and maybe the way to do it is to accept the realties that are ignored or denounced by the leaders who welcome the millions, literally, of new potential citizens.
A large number of immigrants can undoubtedly pose challenges. As you point out, some of these have to do with how to help them feel a sense of belonging and how to welcome them so that a real, strong community can exist. I do think that sometimes there are friction points. Sometimes, these points can help the receiving community to question, adapt, and be different. Other times, the friction points can be tricky to resolve and even close to impossible to reconcile with specific values. For example, the "west" has largely a set of non-negotiables.
I agree that vulnerable immigrants are even more of a challenge as these groups can be exploited and coerced. Dr Orlando Patterson, at Harvard, has done great work exposing how there are forms of modern slavery that offer people the chance to emigrate, only to coerce them once they arrive in a new place.
I agree that there are criminals among those who immigrate (both legally and illegally). It matters what proportion of those immigrating have been found to partake in these activities. We also have to think about what kinds of systems and structures would make it less likely for them to join such groups, making them less likely to be exploited by criminal elements who share their nationality/language, etc. It is also interesting to think about what kinds of crime are discussed. There could be more discussion about petty crime, but corruption and other kinds of white-collar crime get ignored.
I do not think that we claimed that immigrants commit no crimes but rather spoke about the discourse about immigrants and crime. Immigration is a very complex subject and there is only so much we can cover. What we find interesting here is how the same kinds of arguments resurfaces periodically.
For all the reasons you've mentioned—and many others—we're witnessing a troubling resurgence of the "othering" of immigrants in numerous countries today. It's alarming how predictable the arguments have become, almost as if their proponents simply dusted off old ideologies and revived them with renewed fervor against immigrants.
I remember, back in the U.S. during the 2000s and 2010s, while there were certainly sporadic hate crimes and incidents targeting Muslims/South Asians in the wake of the War on Terror, there was still a clear societal effort to prevent the slide into such harmful "othering" rhetoric.
Fast forward to 2012-present, and it has become increasingly acceptable for people to vocalize their so-called "truths" about immigrants. Over time, these voices have grown louder, coalescing into a political force that is now on the verge of influencing policy.
As the saying goes, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Sadly, we may be heading in that very direction.
I agree that we are going through a rough time. Discourse seems to be ever more polarized, and things that were not being said, are once again being said. I worry about what this may develop into.
I have reported from the front lines of crime for much of my life. I agree that immigrants/migrants carry a heavy load as they try to fit into an existing society. But I also have come to believe that real social dynamics are at work in the process of diversity/assimilation. Do new immigrant workers suppress wages of indigenous laborers? Plenty of evidence says yes and common sense would seem to support that idea. Are there real friction points between existing cultures and new arrivals. Of course there are. And here's an idea that makes sense to me: The "othering" by the majority population causes an encapsulation of the community of unassimilated people who can be easily exploited by existing criminal elements from "the old country." That's how the Black Hand Societies from Sicily and other Italian regions got a foothold in the US. The foothold became a wedge for a time, from the late 19th to the middle 20th centuries, and La Cosa Nostra became a very significant and dangerous force in the entire country. Also called the Mafia, LCN was a coherent organization that finally forced J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI to rescind a policy of staying out of urban vice and corruption cases. The same is true to some extent with today's Mexican criminal trafficking cartels. They have made millions by using old smuggling routes and methods to bring illegal immigrants across the border. That's exploitation at its most degrading. Often leaders of the involved immigrant community will feel forced to ignore those real problems out of defensiveness. In the case of the Italian community, assimilation and acceptance came about at the same time the US government was dismantling the Mafia infrastructure that Mob turncoat Joe Valachi called "the second government of the United States." The highpoint of LCN influence seems to have been the early 1970s, when multiple mobsters began to turn informant at the same time "The Godfather" became part of the popular culture mythology of the country. Immigrant cartel crime hasn't coalesced in the way the Italian crime families did, not yet at least. But pretending that there are not criminal elements inside immigrant communities will not do much to eradicate the negative images of immigrants the hard-right loves to float. MAGA is a combination of nationalism and techno-optimism, somebody recently remarked. Softening that ideologies sharp edges needs to be done and maybe the way to do it is to accept the realties that are ignored or denounced by the leaders who welcome the millions, literally, of new potential citizens.
Hi Evan,
Thank you for reading and your comments.
A large number of immigrants can undoubtedly pose challenges. As you point out, some of these have to do with how to help them feel a sense of belonging and how to welcome them so that a real, strong community can exist. I do think that sometimes there are friction points. Sometimes, these points can help the receiving community to question, adapt, and be different. Other times, the friction points can be tricky to resolve and even close to impossible to reconcile with specific values. For example, the "west" has largely a set of non-negotiables.
I agree that vulnerable immigrants are even more of a challenge as these groups can be exploited and coerced. Dr Orlando Patterson, at Harvard, has done great work exposing how there are forms of modern slavery that offer people the chance to emigrate, only to coerce them once they arrive in a new place.
I agree that there are criminals among those who immigrate (both legally and illegally). It matters what proportion of those immigrating have been found to partake in these activities. We also have to think about what kinds of systems and structures would make it less likely for them to join such groups, making them less likely to be exploited by criminal elements who share their nationality/language, etc. It is also interesting to think about what kinds of crime are discussed. There could be more discussion about petty crime, but corruption and other kinds of white-collar crime get ignored.
I do not think that we claimed that immigrants commit no crimes but rather spoke about the discourse about immigrants and crime. Immigration is a very complex subject and there is only so much we can cover. What we find interesting here is how the same kinds of arguments resurfaces periodically.
For all the reasons you've mentioned—and many others—we're witnessing a troubling resurgence of the "othering" of immigrants in numerous countries today. It's alarming how predictable the arguments have become, almost as if their proponents simply dusted off old ideologies and revived them with renewed fervor against immigrants.
I remember, back in the U.S. during the 2000s and 2010s, while there were certainly sporadic hate crimes and incidents targeting Muslims/South Asians in the wake of the War on Terror, there was still a clear societal effort to prevent the slide into such harmful "othering" rhetoric.
Fast forward to 2012-present, and it has become increasingly acceptable for people to vocalize their so-called "truths" about immigrants. Over time, these voices have grown louder, coalescing into a political force that is now on the verge of influencing policy.
As the saying goes, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Sadly, we may be heading in that very direction.
I agree that we are going through a rough time. Discourse seems to be ever more polarized, and things that were not being said, are once again being said. I worry about what this may develop into.