With Kamala Harris’ failed campaign message on immigration, where she championed the “bipartisan border bill,” the Democratic Party normalized the Republican framework on immigration and gave America the perfect scapegoat. Undocumented immigrants have become the focus for America’s frustration, with the media portraying them as causing an immense amount of crime, bringing in fentanyl that kills American citizens, and leeching off of American citizens by not working or paying taxes. These lies make undocumented immigrants no longer seen as human and make president-elect Donald Trump’s inhumane mass deportation plan seem to be a reasonable solution to an entrenched international problem that has affected the lives of millions of people.
Democrats have failed to challenge claims of immigrant crime or mention that the true statistics from the U.S. CBP Criminal Noncitizen Statistics show that there were only 29 convictions for undocumented immigrants in fiscal year (FY) 2024 and another 29 convictions in FY 2023. The idea that the undocumented are bringing in fentanyl is also false, as the Department of Homeland Security states that “more than 90% of interdicted fentanyl is stopped at Ports of Entry where cartels attempt to smuggle it primarily in vehicles driven by U.S. citizens.” The scapegoating of immigrants is used as a tool to blame politicians’ own failures on others.
To add to this, in the past decade, the American people have grown desensitized to the struggles of undocumented immigrants. Loyola Director of the Center for Service & Justice Gabriela Gordillo-Banuelos explained, “It’s why we have students go on immersions to the border and talk to people. Loyola students talk to these people and find out that they are just workers, fleeing famine and violence and only wanting one thing: a better life for their kids, one they could not have.”
Program Coordinator for Service & Justice Emil Sol ’18 added, “We hear back from students who say they meet with families who believe this is their only option to survive.” If the undocumented are not killing Americans or bringing in drugs, why are they being treated as if they are? Why should working parents, adolescents, and children be handcuffed and caged, awaiting their forced return to places of violence?
Advocacy groups should not be demoralized by the failures of the Democratic Party. The fight should continue into the next four years with the hope that Donald Trump’s administration will fail in his plans of mass deportation. Once legal immigration pathways become more accessible, fewer migrants will be pushed to search for methods of illegal immigration.
In order for America to create a more compassionate and just future rooted in Jesuit values, we must realize that undocumented immigrants are not criminals trying to take advantage of the nation; instead, they are defenseless people who admire our country and have hope for a new life here for themselves and their children while the world attempts to exploit them for political and economic gain.
