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Common Immigration Myths (Updated)

Updated: Jun 27

By Chris Barton

This handout of Common Immigration Myths was originally created for a March 2023 General Meeting to help you with appropriate responses when you encounter someone who expresses false immigration information. The content was reviewed and update June 2025.

Use this link to view and print the PDF version.

CONTENTS (can be used to link directly to a specific myth)

Current Impact of Immigrants and Refugees

Crisis at the Border

“They Should Follow the Law and Immigrate Legally”

Longer Term Impacts of Immigration

Other

Current Impact of Immigrants and Refugees

MYTH: Immigrants will take American jobs, lower wages, and especially hurt the poor.

FACT: The data tells us the opposite story.

Today, immigrants tend to hold jobs that have few available U.S.-born workers, including positions that require advanced education like those in tech and science, and jobs that require very little education like picking crops by hand, washing dishes, or taking care of the elderly. Some data shows there may be a small impact (>2%) to native-born American high school dropouts who comprise about 8-9% of the US population.

Higher immigration levels create more jobs and higher wages for the native-born population. For every 100 high-skilled immigrants, 183 jobs are created for the native born, and for every 100 new low-skilled immigrants, 464 jobs are created for the native born. Immigrants have different skills than US-born workers, leading them to specialize in different types of jobs and thus not displace native workers. This specialization boosts productivity and drives native-born workers to perform their own jobs more efficiently, ultimately increasing their wages.

In studying the effects of past immigration restrictions–such as the major closure of the border in the 1920s–we find that restrictions had unintended consequences. Instead of benefiting the US-born workforce, restrictions pushed many industries toward automation or toward finding other pools of workers (Mexicans and Canadians in the past, perhaps offshoring today).

MYTH: Immigrants abuse the welfare system.

FACT: Illegal immigrants don’t have access to means‐​tested welfare at all—except for emergency Medicaid. Most legal immigrants do not have access to means‐​tested welfare for their first five years here with few exceptions that are mostly determined on the state level and funded with state taxes.

Immigrants are less likely to use means‐​tested welfare benefits than similar native‐​born Americans. When they do use welfare, the dollar value of benefits consumed is smaller. In one estimate, immigrant tax payments total $20 to $30 billion more than the amount of government services they use.

If poor native‐​born Americans used Medicaid at the same rate and consumed the same value of benefits as poor immigrants, the program would be 42 percent smaller.

Source: American Immigration Lawyers Association, Urban Institute from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/app/uploads/2013/11/mythsandfacts.pdf

MYTH: Immigration threatens to bankrupt Social Security and other parts of the social safety net.

FACT: Immigration bolsters the safety net.

It is true that the Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted in the next decade because, with the Baby Boomers retiring, there are more people taking benefits out of the system than paying taxes in. More immigration, however, would have as its immediate effect more payroll and more payroll taxes—ultimately delaying Social Security’s financial difficulties (exactly the same scenario as would happen if the United States had another baby boom). Immigrants also are net contributors to federal and state budgets, with second-generation immigrants contributing more than any other group.

MYTH: Immigrants don’t pay taxes are a drain on the U.S. economy.

FACT: All immigrants pay taxes, whether income, property, sales, or other.

As far as income tax payments go, sources vary in their accounts, but a range of studies find that immigrants pay between $90 and $140 billion a year in federal, state, and local taxes. Even undocumented immigrants pay income taxes, as evidenced by the Social Security Administration’s “suspense file” (taxes that cannot be matched to workers’ names and social security numbers).

Immigrants in the United States have about a net zero effect on government budgets — they pay about as much in taxes as they consume in benefits. States that rely on consumption or property taxes (like Texas) tend to garner a surplus from taxes paid by unlawful immigrants.

Source: National Academy of Sciences, Cato Institute, Urban Institute, Social Security Administration from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/app/uploads/2013/11/mythsandfacts.pdf

MYTH: Limiting legal immigration will help the economy.

FACT: The reverse is true. Immigrants help the economy on a variety of fronts, from boosting consumption to raising productivity to creating jobs and paying taxes, and often at rates higher than native workers.

There are many examples. If the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)-eligible population were to be removed from the U.S. workforce, it would cost the federal government between $18 and $52 billion, and the economy would forgo $176 billion in gross domestic product.

MYTH: Immigrants are a major source of crime.

FACT: Despite what we hear on TV, immigrants are less likely than those born in the U.S. to be arrested and incarcerated for all manner of offenses. This myth has been around for more than a century. It wasn’t true then and it’s not true now. Some immigrants do commit violent and property crimes but, overall, they are less likely to do so.

The most contentious debate concerns whether illegal immigrants are more likely to be criminals than natives or legal immigrants. Multiple studies on this issue show that illegal immigration is not correlated with violent crime rates nor is it causal. They find that illegal immigrants are much less likely to be incarcerated than native‐​born Americans but more likely than legal immigrants.

Source: Immigration and Crime – What the Research Says | Cato at Liberty Blog (This brief uses data from the Texas Department of Public Safety)

MYTH: Most of the opioid fentanyl that's entering the U.S. is smuggled in by unauthorized migrants crossing the border illegally.

FACT: There is no doubt that fentanyl is a major problem inside the United States. The criminal networks that produce and distribute fentanyl are vast and hard to pin down. But when it comes to getting their products into the United States, one thing is clear: it’s not migrants bringing it across in backpacks, it’s mostly U.S. citizens and truckers smuggling it into the country through legal ports of entry.

From Victor Manjarrez, who served in the Border Patrol for more than 20 years, retiring as the sector chief in Tucson: “it's true that fentanyl is crossing the border - a lot of fentanyl - but it's not coming over on the backs of migrants, who are often turning themselves in to seek asylum. Some fentanyl is brought in by cartels who are using migrants as a distraction, but the vast majority is smuggled through official ports of entry, hidden in cars and tractor-trailers.

Crisis at the Border

MYTH: President Biden and the Democrats implemented an "open border" policy.

FACT: This is simply not accurate. President Biden did not suddenly end America’s immigration prohibitions and opened the U.S. borders to almost anyone who wants to come. The Biden administration's outlook on immigration was similar to the administrations of past presidents from both parties prior to Trump.

As an example, the Biden administration smashed all records for immediate expulsions without due process, increasing the rate from 62,000 per month under Trump to about 100,000 per month.

In another example, from March 2020 to February 2022, 1.7 million expulsions have been carried out under Title 42, with 1.2 million of them occurring under the Biden administration, according to a Migration Policy Institute report on government data.

The Trump policy known as “Title 42” allows U.S. border agents to expel immigrants arriving at the border, including asylum seekers, to Mexico and other countries to slow the spread of coronavirus. The coronavirus crisis is over and therefore the justification for this law no longer valid. The law must expire or be changed.

President Biden inherited an immigration system in tatters. The Trump administration cut off legal pathways to citizenship, leaving would-be migrants with fewer lawful methods of entering the country.

Biden proposed changes to the US immigration policies, but these changes along with the discontinuation of Title 42 did not create an “open border”. US immigration laws are second only to the income tax code in legal complexity and the current immigration system has become overwhelmed and inhumane. Changes will have to be made and we can debate the relative merit of each proposed change but no one is advocating for “open borders”.

There are a lot of security measures and enforcement at the border that were not changed or removed. That includes nearly 20,000 Border Patrol agents according to Fiscal Year 2021 data. There's also surveillance systems like Tethered AeroStat Radar Systems, he said. Blimps connected to the system have a 200-mile radius aircraft detection. There are also surveillance towers and hundreds of miles of fencing.

MYTH: We are facing a national security crisis at the border.

FACT: There is no evidence of a national security crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Our southern border cities and towns are among the safest places to live and thrive in the U.S. According to U.S. News & World Report, EL Paso, Texas, ranks 105 among the Best Places to Live and 11 among the Best Places to Retire. In the same ranking, McAllen is 115 among the Best Places to Live and 28 among the Best Places to Retire.

MYTH: There is a humanitarian crisis at the border that is putting American-born citizens at risk.

FACT: Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis at the border, but it’s one that impacts migrant families and children — not Americans living near ports of entry.

The humanitarian crisis we are facing right now at the border is due to conflicts driving families from their homes in Central America, the unprecedented backlog of asylum cases in the U.S., and the government’s inadequate care for children and families who have traveled miles and miles across the desert to plea for safety.

It was the Trump administration that tightened sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, exacerbating the macroeconomic crises that have led hundreds of thousands to flee and arrive at the southern border. When they pulled the rug out from various, essential assistance programs, they made the problem worse.

These factors can and should be alleviated by the implementation of practical immigration reform.

MYTH: More immigrants than ever are crossing U.S. borders.

FACT: While this is true, there are many factors unrelated to any specific US Immigration Policy. People leave their home countries for reasons other than U.S. policy, such as deteriorating economic, political or public safety conditions.

The increase started in 1965, when U.S. immigration laws replaced a national quota system. Since then, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. has steadily increased (over both Democratic and Republican administrations) but the reality is that immigrants today make up the same share of the population as they did 100 years ago.

The most recent increase at the southern border started in 2014, when we first saw more unaccompanied minors and family units arriving at the border and turning themselves in. The problem has plagued each administration since with biggest spike in 2019 under the Trump administration.

Other immigration experts, writing in the Washington Post, agree that “the current increase in apprehensions fits a predictable pattern of seasonal changes in undocumented immigration combined with a backlog of demand because of 2020’s coronavirus border closure.” It’s “not a surge,” they said.

MYTH: Terrorists are streaming across our southern border.

FACT: According to CBP data provided to Congress in May 2018 and reported by NBC News, only six undocumented immigrants were stopped during entry across the U.S-Mexico border suspected of being terrorists.

The vast majority of individuals coming through are family units – in particular, a parent with young children. The need for immediate humanitarian aid at the border is far more urgent than security measures to prevent terrorists from entering on foot through the desert.

MYTH: A wall is the most effective way to prevent illegal immigration.

FACT: There are a lot of reasons that a wall won’t work in preventing illegal immigration.

Factors driving immigration from certain countries are desperate enough that a physical barrier is not a deterrent. Based on accounts from families LIRS has served, asylum seekers will do whatever it takes to survive. This includes scaling a wall or paying to be smuggled in a vehicle, another method of entry unaddressed by the wall.

There are some real concerns at the border — including the treatment of asylum seekers, recent deaths of young migrant children, and understaffed immigration courts — but a wall does not address any of them.

There are a lot of security measures and enforcement at the border that were not changed or removed by the Biden administration. That includes nearly 20,000 Border Patrol agents according to Fiscal Year 2021 data. There's also surveillance systems like Tethered AeroStat Radar Systems, he said. Blimps connected to the system have a 200-mile radius aircraft detection. There are also surveillance towers and hundreds of miles of fencing.

MYTH: The Biden administration ignored the border and refused to commit proper resources to it.

FACT: The Biden-Harris administration and congressional Democrats provided record levels of funding to the border.

The FY23 government funding package that President Biden signed into law provided Border Patrol with $7.153 billion — a 17 percent increase from the year before. Additionally, the funding package provided $65 million for 300 new Border Patrol agents, $60 million for 125 new personnel at points of entry; and $230 million for technology like autonomous surveillance towers.

House Republicans voted against this historic funding.

“They Should Follow the Law and Immigrate Legally”

MYTH: It’s easy to immigrate here legally. Why don’t illegal immigrants just get in line?

FACT: It’s very difficult to immigrate legally to the United States. Immigration law is second only to the income tax code in legal complexity. Also, there really isn’t a line for most immigrants to join and when there is, it can take decades or more to go through the process. The days of showing up at Ellis Island and standing in line are long gone.

Insufficient legal avenues for immigrants to enter the US, compared with the number of jobs available to them, combined with a barely functioning immigration system and understaffed immigration courts create a strong incentive to enter the US illegally.

MYTH: All of these people showing up at the border should be following the law.

FACT: Most of the people currently showing up at our southern border are seeking Asylum. US law requires that asylum seekers must apply for protection from inside the country or at a port of entry. They cannot apply if they are physically located in another country. They are following the law.

An asylum seeker is defined by both international and US law as a person with well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence.

MYTH: My family immigrated legally so they should do the same.

FACT: When did your family immigrate? The US immigration system very different in the past and many of our families would not have qualified under today’s immigration laws.

Many people assume that their family immigrated to the United States legally, or did it “the right way.” In most cases, this statement does not reflect the fact that the U.S. immigration system was very different in the past and that their families might not have been allowed to enter had today’s laws been in effect.

  • Prior to 1891 - The US Government did not place any limitations on immigration until 1891 when the first federal office of immigration was created. There were virtually no laws to break. During the largest waves of immigration in the 1800’s there were no restrictions and they were able to just get off the boat and go. They might have needed to get permission from their home country to leave but they did not need any permission to come to the US.

  • 1891-1921 - Ellis Island opened in 1892. Immigrants would have been subject to various medical, intelligence, and literacy testing upon arrival and some Asian laborers were barred and sent back but most of those seeking entrance into the United States were accepted. Only about 1 percent of those Europeans arriving as immigrants at American ports were actually denied admission and sent back to their homelands

  • 1921 - The first immigration quota system begins.

  • 1924 - Was the first time one had to receive a visa to enter the United States at a counselor office outside the country. It was also when the US Border Patrol was created. Prior to this the US land borders were once largely unguarded, and people in the United States without legal status were unlikely to be caught or deported since very little money was appropriated for immigration enforcement and deportation.

  • 1965 - The quota system ended and the modern immigration system, with a seven-category preference system emphasizing family reunification and skilled immigrants, began.

MYTH: Granting amnesty to illegal immigrants will destroy the Rule of Law in the United States.

FACT: An amnesty is an admission that our past laws have failed, they need reform, and that the net cost of enforcing them in the meantime exceeds the benefits. That is why there have been numerous immigration amnesties throughout American history. Many European and Canadians benefited from amnesty programs enacted between 1929 and 1965.

Longer Term Impacts of Immigration

MYTH: Today’s immigrants don’t assimilate as immigrants from previous eras did.

FACT: Immigrants to the United States — including Mexicans — are assimilating as well as or better than immigrant groups from Europe over a hundred years ago.

One piece of research is the National Academy of Science’s (NAS) September 2015 book titled The Integration of Immigrants into American Society. It’s a thorough and brilliant summation of the relevant academic literature on immigrant assimilation. Bottom line: Assimilation is never perfect and always takes time, but it’s going very well.

Another work, by University of Washington economist Jacob Vigdor, compares modern immigrant civic and cultural assimilation to that of immigrants from the early 20th century. If you think early 20th century immigrants and their descendants eventually assimilated successfully, Vigdor’s conclusion is reassuring:

“While there are reasons to think of contemporary migration from Spanish‐​speaking nations as distinct from earlier waves of immigration, evidence does not support the notion that this wave of migration poses a true threat to the institutions that withstood those earlier waves. Basic indicators of assimilation, from naturalization to English ability, are if anything stronger now than they were a century ago.”

MYTH: Today’s immigrants are different than those of 100 years ago.

FACT: Similar to accusations about today’s immigrants, those of 100 years ago initially often settled in mono-ethnic neighborhoods, spoke their native languages, and built up newspapers and businesses that catered to their fellow émigrés. They also experienced the same types of discrimination that today’s immigrants face, and integrated within American culture at a similar rate. If we view history objectively, we remember that every new wave of immigrants has been met with suspicion and doubt and yet, ultimately, every past wave of immigrants has been vindicated and saluted.

MYTH: Immigrants in the past got rich quickly and rapidly became “American,” but immigrants today lag behind.

FACT: This couldn’t be further from the truth. Immigrants today move up the economic ladder at the same pace as they did 100 years ago. They also take active steps to adapt to U.S. society–learning English, moving out of immigrant neighborhoods, marrying US-born spouses, and giving their children American-sounding names–at much the same pace as in the past.

For many immigrant families, both today and a century ago, real economic mobility happens in the second generation. Though we often hear that Ellis Island immigrants could go from rags to riches in a single generation, the truth is that most of the time they didn’t. Even back then, immigrants who started out earning less than U.S.-born workers failed to catch up in their lifetime.

MYTH: Children of immigrants come from poverty and stay poor.

FACT: The children of immigrants, both today and in the past, are very economically mobile. In fact, studies find that children born to immigrant families are more economically mobile than children with US-born parents who grow up in similar households.

Despite the fact that children of immigrants are raised in poorer households, they’re able to reach the middle class and beyond. This is true for families today from nearly every sending country, including from poorer countries like El Salvador, Mexico, and Laos.

Other

MYTH: The United States doesn’t need more immigration.

FACT: The United States needs immigration if it wants to maintain a strong economy. Native birth rates are below the replacement level, which means—without immigration—a smaller population, fewer workers, and thus a shrinking economy.

MYTH: The American public doesn’t support immigration.

FACT: Despite a vocal anti-immigration minority, a wide range of opinion polling shows that the American public has never been more supportive of immigration. What’s more, a review of 150 years of Congressional speeches, done by Princeton University, shows that political rhetoric is more favorable toward immigration now than in the past, though noticeably more polarized by party.

A Pew Research Survey shows that overall, a majority of Americans have positive views about immigrants.

While immigration has been at the forefront of a national political debate, the U.S. public holds a range of views about immigrants living in the country.

About two-thirds of Americans (66%) say immigrants strengthen the country “because of their hard work and talents,” while about a quarter (24%) say immigrants burden the country by taking jobs, housing, and health care.

Views vary starkly by political affiliation. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 88% think immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents, and just 8% say they are a burden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 41% say immigrants strengthen the country, while 44% say they burden it.

Americans were divided on future levels of immigration. A quarter said legal immigration to the U.S. should be decreased (24%), while one-third (38%) said immigration should be kept at its present level and almost another third (32%) said immigration should be increased.


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Ramona Thompson
Ramona Thompson
13 May 2023

Thank you for this in-depth research. It is illuminating in so many ways. Don't you wish we would teach our history and civics better in schools? What damnable lies we frequently hear about immigration.

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