Op-Ed | Healing America’s divide on immigration must go beyond election
Too many Americans seem to be okay with mistreating people based on where they come from. Approximately one in three Americans agree that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” according to the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). Alarmingly, the same annual survey found that 47% of respondents are okay with setting up militarized encampments for undocumented immigrants. While there has always been a string of xenophobic and nativist rhetoric in American politics, this sentiment is a stark shift from the idea of America as a land of opportunity and refuge. It also raises an ironic question: who really believes in the American dream and the promise of this nation? Is it the immigrants risking everything to come here, or is it the Americans disparaging those who seek what others have sought out for generations? In the past, immigrants arrived here believing they could find a better life in a country that celebrated freedom, fairness and ...