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© 2015 Zalmaï for Human Rights Watch |
But, why don’t they just come here legally like everyone else?
Yeah, that’s not as easy as it sounds. It is universally agreed upon that our immigration system is broken. The system has lacked reform for such a long time, that the pathway to citizenship is wrought with roadblocks forcing many into undocumented status not because they want to be, but because there is no other option. Millions are contributing positively to society and the economy and may even have family members with that are legal citizens, but fear being sent back and having their family torn apart because the pathway to citizenship is so broken.
Here is one example of the broken system. Let’s say you are here as an undocumented immigrant. Maybe you came here legally as a tourist or on a temporary visa, and didn’t leave. Or maybe you’re on the waitlist due to annual limits and your parents or children are legal, but you’re not. Or, maybe you even came here illegally to escape danger in your own country. You may have relatives with legal status or even want to marry a U.S. citizen. One way or another, you are illegally here. Well, in order to apply for a green card, you have to leave the country. And, once you do, you are banned from returning to the country for 3 to 10 years because you were previously in the U.S. illegally. So, you stay...illegally.
Undocumented Immigrants: Myths vs Facts
There are a lot of myths about immigrants, both documented and undocumented. One of the biggest is that immigrants hurt communities economically. The truth is that immigrants have revitalized economies throughout the country. For example, in Michigan, only 6% of the population is foreign born, but ⅓ of high-tech companies founded in the state over the last decade were by immigrants.
It is also commonly believed that undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes, thereby forming a drain on our societies and economies. In fact, undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in taxes each year. They pay sales tax and property taxes, even if they rent. And, more than half have federal and state income taxes, Social Security taxes, and Medicare taxes even though they are not eligible for any of the benefits their taxes help fund. In 2010 alone, undocumented immigrants paid $13 billion into the Social Security trust fund and, if they stay undocumented, will never benefit from that service. If they were allowed to work legally, they would contribute $12.7 billion in state and local taxes, up $2.1 billion from what they pay now.
Contrary to popular belief, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for so-called welfare benefits, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps. Even legal immigrants have to be in the United States for 5 years before they can receive these benefits. Immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits. A study in Florida found that, per capita, immigrants pay $1,500 more in taxes than they receive in benefits.
Sanctuary Cities
In light of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, the public is hearing a lot about sanctuary cities. A common misconception is that sanctuary cities don’t follow immigration law or that they interfere with ICE enforcement. That’s false. Sanctuary cities are not cities where immigrants are free of prosecutions or deportation. Sanctuary cities do not break the law.
Just like the term “sanctuary city” does not hold the same meaning as the public thinks it does, it doesn’t even hold the same meaning from one jurisdiction to the next. Typically, it refers to a city or county that limits their cooperation to enforce immigration law in order to protect low-priority immigrants from deportation while still turning those over who have committed serious crimes. But, that could mean any number of things as not all sanctuary cities operate by the same set of norms.
Common actions of sanctuary cities include not asking about legal status, not deputizing local law enforcement as ICE agents, not giving ICE agents advanced notice when immigrants are released from jail, and not detaining immigrants for extra time so that ICE can get them. And, that last one is especially important because holding an immigrant past the point of when they should be released, just so ICE can pick them up, is unconstitutional.
Being undocumented in itself is not a crime. It’s a civil violation. Therefore, police cannot arrest undocumented immigrants just because they are undocumented, because police can only arrest people suspected of committing a crime. Undocumented immigrants have rights under the U.S. Constitution. If an undocumented immigrant is arrested under suspicion of committing a crime and then that person is cleared, the police must let them go. So, police can’t arrest someone for being undocumented, but ICE can. The police force and ICE are completely separate entities governed by a completely different set of laws.
Given that there is no one common definition, it can be difficult to count how many sanctuary cities there are, but there could be around 300-500. Minnesota has no sanctuary cities. However, both Minneapolis and St. Paul have a separation ordinance that prohibits city employees, including police from asking people for their immigration status. I’ve seen some accounts count Hennepin County as a sanctuary city, though a spokesperson says the county does cooperate with immigration officials, but does not hold people for ICE after local charges have been settled.
Why are there sanctuary cities? Leaders do this in order to reduce the fear of deportation and family break-up so that people will be more willing to report crimes, use health and social services, and enroll their children in school. Studies on the relationship between sanctuary cities and crime show that sanctuary cities do not experience and increase in crime. In fact, some studies show lower crime and a stronger economy in sanctuary cities. Immigrants are incarcerated at one-fifth the rate native born citizens are. Opponents of sanctuary cities argue cities should assist the national government in enforcing immigration law.
Drivers Licenses
Only 12 states and the District of Columbia allow undocumented immigrants to legally drive. Minnesota is not one of them. However, in many cases, undocumented immigrants still need to drive at which point they have committed a crime. If that person is caught, they would go to jail and their information would go into the federal database at which point ICE would put a detainer/hold on that person. However, as has been stated many times now, holding that person past the point of that they should be released is unconstitutional and the immigrant can sue.
Refugee Resettlement Program
Okay, shifting our focus now to refugees. Recall that refugees leave their country out of fear or necessity such as war, violence, human rights violations, or loss of home due to natural disaster and enters the country legally.
In Minnesota, the Refugee Resettlement Program is defined as “a federally funded office in the Minnesota Department of Human Services that supports the effective resettlement of refugees in Minnesota, and ensures their basic needs are met so they can live in dignity and achieve their highest potential. This office ensures accessibility to mainstream programs for people with refugee status, distributes federal dollars to local agencies for supplemental services, and provides education and information about refugees in Minnesota.”
Minnesota has the most refugees per capita in the U.S. It is home to 2% of the population of the United States, but 13% of the country’s refugee population. Overall, 8% of the Minnesota population is foreign born (including refugees and immigrants). In 2017, 696 refugees arrived in Minnesota from 20 different countries, the majority being from Burma (150) and Somalia (294). The majority settled in Hennepin (316), Ramsey (132), and Stearns County (107). The 2017 number is down significantly from the 2016 number of 3,059. That’s a result of the Trump Administration’s policies. Obama had agreed to accept 110,000 of the world’s 22.5 million refugees in 2017, but Trump cut that number to 45,000. The actual number ended up being 29,022, the lowest since 2002.
Refugees spend an average of 17 years in refugee camps before being resettled. Refugees arriving in the United States receive a one-time grant of $925 and 90 days of case management. Refugees are responsible for paying back their plane ticket to the United States. A recent study by Notre Dame found that each refugee costs the U.S. about $107,000 over 20 years-$15,000 in relocation costs and $92,000 in social services. However, they pay nearly $139,000 in taxes over that time. That same study found that refugees initially have low employment, high welfare use, and low earning, but after 6 years, they work at higher rates than natives, but do not attain the same earnings as native born residents and are more likely than native born citizens to be receiving welfare and food-support.
Refugee Vetting
On average, the vetting process for refugees takes 18-24 months. However, given that staff members travel to the refugees to begin the vetting process, it may take longer given that certain refugee camps are more difficult to reach and the rainy season in Africa causes delays.
Staff members from Refugee Resettlement Programs travel and conduct face to face interviews, cross check their personal information, and enter the information into the State Department’s Refugee Admission Processing System. It’s then reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Then, the National Counterterrorism Center, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the State Department conduct security checks. Fingerprints are run through the FBI’s Next Generation Identification System, the Department of Homeland Security’s Automated Biometric Identification System (which includes the U.S. watch-list), and the Department of Defense’s Automated Biometric Identification System which includes fingerprints collected from scenes of attacks in Iraq. The Department of Homeland Security has additional measures for refugees from Syria including iris scans. Once refugees are cleared to enter the U.S., they they undergo health screenings by the Department of Health and Human Services to make sure they don’t have any contagious diseases. They are then sent to resettlement offices.
Here is where the candidates stand on issues related to immigration:
Jeff Johnson (R): Candidate Johnson will not allow Minnesota to become a sanctuary state and will work with the legislature to ban sanctuary cities. As governor, he will meet with President Trump and Attorney General Sessions to end our participation in the federal refugee resettlement program.
Erin Murphy (D): Candidate Murphy supports drivers licenses for all and says that our state and law enforcement cannot serve as an extension for ICE, nor should Minnesota prisons be used as detention centers.
Tim Pawlenty (R): Candidate Pawlenty will make sure people receiving government benefits are here legally and actually qualify for them. He is calling for a pause to the Refugee Resettlement Program until there are stronger vetting procedures.
Tim Walz (D): Candidate Walz has extensive views on federal immigration reform, but I couldn’t find much for his view on how immigration affects Minnesota in his own words. Candidate Pawlenty claims Walz wants Minnesota to be a sanctuary state, but I couldn’t find Candidate Walz saying that. Former candidate, Rebecca Otto, calls him anti-refugee, likely based on his voting record, but I couldn’t find where he stands with refugees in Minnesota.
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