Fair and just policies centering on immigrants and immigrations must reflect the data as well as values and ideals of words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

The Problem

According to the President, many members of Congress, numerous state and local officials, and an embarrassingly large percentage of the general public, Latinos are immigrants and just do not belong here. These views and beliefs persist in spite of the fact that in 2017, there were about 56.8 million Latinos in the US, 19.7 million or 34 percent of whom were immigrants, leaving 39.1 million or just under two thirds of whom were U.S. citizens.

Current immigration policies, ICE raids, and deportation activities, as well as the descriptions of Latinos coming to or currently living in the US, would lead one to believe that most Latinos in this country are foreigners, very few are citizens, and they do not contribute to the social good. In fact, they are too often described as being a social problem, exacerbating violence, ruining communities, taking handouts, and contributing little, if anything, to the social, political, and economic stability and health of the US. Public policies increasingly are reflecting this distorted, inaccurate, and hateful discourse. That is, public policies continue to take aim at Latinos as if they are out to destroy the US economy and way of way life by eroding the country's social and cultural DNA. The reality is that Latinos, like every other immigrant group past and present, be they asylum seekers, documented immigrants, undocumented immigrants, naturalized citizens, or native born, are making significant and essential contributions to the wellbeing of all residing in the US.

The Research Evidence

We cannot ignore that it is the hateful bigotry that seems to be the foundation for far too many discussions and policy decisions regarding immigration and immigrants generally, and Latinos specifically. Therefore, we turn to facts about who Latinos are and what they are contributing to the US, all with the intent of providing a foundation of truth in order to better explore fairer and just social policies for immigration, all immigrants, and each of us living in the US.