Ep 7: Immigration Crisis: How We Got Here - Part 1

Immigration has become a flash point in American society.But how did we get here? In this, the first episode, of a four part series I examine how the immigration debate became a weapon of mass distraction and what the real numbers reveal about the crisis behind the crisis.

Episode Transcript

Raheel Khan (00:01):
Hi everyone.
Welcome to another episode ofKhannecting the Dots.
I've been meaning to do someepisodes on immigration for a
while now, but things have gonefrom bad to worse really fast.
It's been hard to keep up.
I hope I can provide just alittle bit of context to what's
going on.
Let's take a quick look at thesituation right now.

(00:22):
First, we have these ice raidsin which all semblance of going
after the violent criminals iscompletely gone.
Now they're just picking upimmigrants at work.
Those looking for jobs are justfollowing the law and checking
in with their officers.
These raids and arrests aretearing families apart and
leaving immigrant communities infear.

(00:45):
They've also sparked a publicoutcry, leading the protests
first in LA and now spreadingall over in the LA protests.
There were some reported clasheswith ICE and the police.
But the President called it MassChaos and deployed 4,000
National Guard over theobjections of the governor and

(01:06):
the mayor of la.
That's something that hasn'thappened since 1965, and worse
yet, the guard have beenauthorized to detain citizens
until police can arrest them.
If that wasn't bad enough, Trumphas also deployed 700 Marines.
While they supposedly won't becarrying live ammunition, we're

(01:29):
still seeing US military forcesdeployed against American
citizens who are simplyexercising their first amendment
right to protest.
Remember, despite someskirmishes, the majority of
protests have been peaceful andrestricted to a few blocks of
downtown la.
It's not mass chaos as theadministration claims.

(01:53):
And things have the potential toget a lot worse.
Protests are spreadingthroughout the country.
In cities like San Francisco,Oakland, Seattle, Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, Chicago,Atlanta, Austin, San Antonio,

(02:14):
Dallas, and Houston.
With many more to come thisSaturday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott isalready calling out the National
Guard while the president hasthreatened to send National
Guard troops to San Francisco,New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.

(02:34):
To top it all off, we still haveTrump's threats to invoke the
Insurrection Act, labeling thecurrent protests as an act of
rebellion.
If he does.
It will allow him to fullydeploy the US military against
American citizens.
The last time that happened wasin 1992 when the Governor of

(02:54):
California requested federalassistance to stop the riots
after the Rodney King beating.
But as of now, most of thesestates aren't requesting, and
there's no rebellion happening.
It is not like we have a largegroup of people trying to storm
the capitol and kill members ofCongress or something.
Now that would be aninsurrection.

(03:17):
With the situation escalating asit is, there's no time like the
present to kick off my four-partseries on immigration in
America.
My goal to really dig intowhat's going on, what's working,
what's broken, and what's beingtwisted for political gain, I.
I hope to get behind theheadlines and try to answer a

(03:39):
tough but crucial question.
Is immigration the main problemor is it the politics around it?
Let's start by looking at how wegot to this critical point
throughout the campaign.
Trump promised the largestdeportation effort in American
history.
Since he's come into office, icerates have increased.

(04:00):
As have deportations, but itwasn't enough.
Trump wants to deport a millionimmigrants this year.
Behind the scenes.
Top officials like Steven Millerand Christine Nome are pushing
ice to move faster.
With that kind of push, it wasinevitable that we'd get to this
point, but is this really whatwe want for our country?

(04:25):
Is this really who we are?
Like I said.
Trump and his allies have beenbeating the immigration drum for
years.
We've all heard thecatchphrases, border crisis
invasion.
They're taking our jobs and kickthem out.
He was elected despite, or Iguess because of that rhetoric.

(04:48):
So that's gotta be what thepeople want, right?
Well, not exactly.
It depends on how you ask thequestion.
Sure polled social support.
When you talk vaguely aboutdeporting undocumented
immigrants, especially thosewith criminal records, but when
you get into specifics, peoplewho've lived here for years who

(05:12):
have jobs, clean records,families support for mass
deportations, drops fast usingthe military to round up
undocumented immigrants.
Very unpopular.
And yet.
Mass deportation is exactlywhat's happening.
The military is supporting ice.

(05:33):
So again, I ask, how did we gethere?
Before I can answer thatquestion, let's start by looking
at how immigration affects usall.
It touches everything, oureconomy.
Our communities, our politics,our national identity, and right
now the conversation happeningin America isn't really about

(05:55):
immigration policy.
It's about something much deepercompeting visions of who we are
as a country and who we want tobe.
Let me tell you why this issuematters to me personally.
My parents are immigrants.
They came to the US with almostnothing.
Worked hard and built a lifethat I benefit from every single

(06:16):
day.
Their sacrifice and story isn'tunique.
It's the American story repeatedmillions of times o over
generations.
But today, immigration feelsmore contentious than it has in
decades.
So over these next few episodes,I'm gonna take a deep dive into
immigration and how it affectsus all the economic impacts.

(06:41):
History, the reasons behind theborder crisis, and confront some
of the uncomfortable truthsabout fear, identity, and power
in America.
But first, let's take a look atthe immigration landscape today.
Let's start by looking at thenumbers.
As of 2025, there are about 53.5million immigrants living in the

(07:04):
us.
That's 15.8% of the population.
The highest share since wellreally ever, about three
quarters are here legally.
The rest, somewhere between 12million to 15 million or about
three to 4% of the total USpopulation are undocumented.

(07:25):
The number of illegal immigrantsincreased dramatically during
the Biden administration withmany conservatives.
Including Marco Rubio and JDVance claiming there are over 30
million undocumented immigrantsin the US.
Now, a number most expertsbelieve is a gross over
exaggeration.
It's true.

(07:46):
Border encounter surge duringthe Biden administration in
2023, there were multiple monthsof over 200,000 encounters at
the Southwest border.
Peaking at over 370,000 inDecember of 2023, but those
numbers started to fall longbefore Trump won the election

(08:08):
and took office.
Plus, when looking at who'scrossing the border, it's
important to note that thenature of immigration has
changed dramatically over thedecades.
The US used to experiencecircular migration patterns
where workers would crossseasonally for jobs and then
return home.
Ironically, increased porterenforcement discouraged this

(08:30):
type of migration, leading manyto settle permanently rather
than risk multiple crossings.
Nowadays, most immigrants arefamilies fleeing violence,
persecution, and economiccollapse.
In Central America, Venezuela,Haiti and beyond economic
turmoil, gang violence andpolitical repression in these

(08:52):
regions have fueled newdisplacement.
These crises have been buildingfor years, if not decades, but
COVI significantly worsenedglobal incivility.
These asylum seekers who theymay rely on smugglers to
navigate Mexico's dangerousroutes, ultimately seek out
border agents rather than try toevade them.

(09:14):
They're following the legalprocess established under both
US and international law, whichguarantees the right to seek
asylum when physically presentin the United States.
What happens to these asylumseekers when they finally reach
the us?
That's where our systemcompletely breaks down.
There are over 3 million pendingimmigration cases in our courts

(09:37):
right now.
People have been waiting four,five, sometimes even eight years
for their asylum hearings.
That's not a system that works.
That's bureaucratic collapse.
You'd think the obvious responsewould be to fix this broken
system, hire more immigrationjudges, lawyers, streamline the

(09:57):
process, create more legalpathways, but that's not what's
happening.
Immigration judges are beingfired, and this bureaucratic
failure has become fuel forsomething much more dangerous.
Conspiracy theories about why somany people are coming and
anguishing here in the firstplace.
And that brings us to a oncefringe idea that is now central

(10:20):
to our government's policies.
The great replacement theory.
You may have heard of it.
Especially after the massshootings in Buffalo, El Paso
and Pittsburgh, and the riots inCharlottesville, where the
shooters and the riotersspecifically cited this theory.
But like I said, the scary thingis this isn't just fringe

(10:42):
anymore.
A recent poll found that 42% ofAmericans and nearly three
quarters of Republicans believeelected officials are increasing
immigration to bring in obedientvoters.
This theory basically statesthere's some coordinated plot,
often blamed on Jewish people,Democrats or shadowy elites.

(11:05):
To deliberately bring innon-white immigrants to replace
the white Christian majority inAmerica.
The most extreme versions claimthat this is about eliminating
white people entirely.
The more mainstream politicalversion suggests Democrats are
importing voters to create apermanent political majority.

(11:27):
A few months ago, you might haveheard Elon Musk echoing related
claims in his interview with DonLemon.
Suggesting that Democratsbenefit from illegal immigration
because undocumented immigrantsare counted in the census, which
supposedly shifts house seatsand electoral votes to blue
states Musk claim that Democratswould lose 20 house seats if

(11:52):
illegals weren't counted, isblatantly untrue.
This whole theory is bothfactually wrong.
And historically ignorant, thefactual problems are obvious.
Immigrants can't even vote evenwhen people do become citizens,
naturalized citizens actuallyvote at lower rates than native

(12:13):
born Americans, 54% versus 62%in the 2016 elections.
Musk's specific claim abouthouse seats is also wrong.
Research shows that the actualimpact would likely be only one
to three seats.
Shifting between states, not 20,and here's what Musk

(12:34):
conveniently ignores Republicancontrolled states like Texas and
Florida would also losecongressional seats if
undocumented immigrants weren'tcounted.
Since both of those states arehome to large undocumented
populations and there's noguarantee those states would
only lose Democratic seats.
But the historical ignorance iseven more striking.

(12:57):
America has always been definedby demographic change.
A century ago, people didn'tconsider Irish Italian or Jewish
immigrants to be white.
They were seen as foreign,dangerous, un assimilable, sound
familiar.
Today, their descendants arejust Americans.

(13:17):
The replacement theory is amodern remix of an old song, and
it's being used as stoke fearabout change, about identity,
about who gets to belong.
Let's be honest about what'sreally driving the immigration
debate, because it's notactually about immigration
policy.
It's about identity, power, andfear.

(13:38):
At its core, this is aboutcompeting visions of what
America is.
And who gets to be American?
One Vision sees diversity asstrength, as part of our
historic identity as a nation ofimmigrants.
The other sees it as a threat tosomething essential about
American culture, identity andfinancial stability.

(14:00):
The economic anxiety out thereis real, but instead of
addressing the root causes ofeconomic insecurity, things like
wage stagnation, automation.
Declining power of unions or thedramatic concentration of wealth
that's occurred in the past 40years, it's easier to blame
immigrants.

(14:20):
This is classic scapegoating.
It's happened throughoutAmerican history.
When the economy is struggling,when people feel left behind,
politicians find it convenientto point at the other and say
they're the problem, but here'sthe ugly truth.
Politicians benefit from keepingthis problem unsolved.

(14:41):
Think about it, if If you'rerunning on a fix, immigration,
but you never fix it, you get tokeep campaigning on it forever.
Just look at what happened tothe immigration bill in 2024.
That's exactly what Trump did.
He killed the bill so he can runon immigration, and that's
essentially what politicianshave been doing for the last 30

(15:03):
years.
Kicking the can down the road aslong it as it gets them back
into office.
Like I said, these aren't newdebates.
We've had them about everyimmigrant group in American
history.
Benjamin Franklin worried thatGerman immigrants would make
Pennsylvania too foreign.
Irish Catholics were seen asunable to assimilate Chinese

(15:27):
immigrants.
Faced literal exclusion laws.
Immigration has become theperfect wedge issue because it
touches on economics, culture,race, and identity all at once.
The issue is more weaponized nowbecause with social media and
the internet.
It's in our face constantly.

(15:50):
Plus, even the most fringe viewscan be shared openly and
amplified a thousand times over.
Let's actually take a look atthe big myths surrounding
undocumented immigrants andtackle them head on.
Myth number one, they're takingour jobs.
Actually, immigrants are twiceas likely to start businesses as

(16:11):
people born here.
They create jobs.
I.
Undocumented immigrantsspecifically are crucial to many
sectors of the economy.
Fulfilling jobs.
Most citizens won't take theirjobs, often compliment US
citizens not compete againstthem.
Myth number two, there are drainon the economy that's blatantly

(16:35):
false.
Undocumented immigrants paid$96.7 billion in taxes in 2022.
More than a third of those taxdollars went to programs.
They can't even use like$25.7billion to Social Security and
$6.4 billion to Medicare forevery 1 million undocumented

(17:00):
immigrants.
Public services gained$8.9billion in tax revenue.
In fact, undocumented immigrantspaid an effective federal income
tax rate of 5.27% in 2022,higher than some of the
wealthiest Americans and 55 megacorporations.

(17:23):
Myth number three, they commitmore crimes.
Not true.
Study after study shows thatimmigrants are 60% less likely
to be incarcerated than peopleborn here.
An NIJ funded study examiningdata from Texas found that
undocumented immigrants arearrested at less than half the

(17:46):
rate of native-born citizens forviolent crimes.
If there were actually 30million undocumented immigrants
as some claim, thenincarceration rates for illegal
immigrants would be about 15%below that of illegal immigrants
and almost 80% below that ofnative born citizens that would

(18:06):
make illegal immigrants the mostlaw abiding subpopulation in the
United States ever.
Myth number four, they don'tassimilate.
Wrong again.
Within 10 years, 87% ofimmigrants documented or
undocumented learn to speakEnglish.

(18:27):
Their kids often outperformnative born kids in college
completion.
Myth number five, they abuseMedicaid.
The facts tell a differentstory.
Undocumented immigrants aren'teligible for Medicaid.
Only emergency care is coveredrepresenting less than 1% of
total Medicaid spending.

(18:48):
You might hear politicians likeIowa Senator Joni Ernst cite 1.4
million illegals on Medicaid,but that's misleading.
This figure refers to statefunded health programs, not
federal Medicaid, and itincludes people who are actually
here legally, but haven't yetadjusted their status.

(19:11):
And here's the part that's nottalked about enough.
Many immigrants, especiallyundocumented ones, are being
exploited, doing brutal laborfor pennies by picking onions
for 20 cents a bucket, afraid tospeak up.
They're not gaming the system.
The system is gaming them.

(19:31):
Like I said, under Myth one.
Even those that aren't beingexploited are taking jobs.
Most US foreign citizens won'ttake, if they all get deported,
what's gonna happen to thosejobs And the crucial role they
play in keeping our economyrunning.
So here's what really matters.
Undocumented immigrants make upjust 5% of the workforce, but in

(19:54):
some industries they'reessential.
One in seven constructionworkers, one in eight
agricultural workers.
I.
One in 14 hospital workers, ifundocumented immigrants were
given work authorization, theirtax contributions could jump to
$136.9 billion a year.

(20:14):
A$40 billion per year increase.
That would benefit everyone whodepends on social security,
Medicare, and public services.
How about for immigrants ingeneral?
Well, they own nearly one infive businesses.
Helped found 55% of billiondollar companies and the 40% of

(20:35):
Fortune five hundreds.
And what about the border?
Like I said earlier, the surgewas cooling even before Trump
took office.
Monthly encounters starteddropping by over 60% since mid
2024.
By December, 2024, borderencounters dropped by 81%

(20:56):
compared to the previous year.
Even with the border crisis andmassive influx of immigrants,
Biden's term saw some of thelowest unemployment in modern
history, especially for UScitizens, down to just 3.4% at
one point.
The total unemployment rateremained below 4% for 27 months

(21:19):
straight, the longest.
It's been that low since thelate 1960s.
That doesn't sound like our jobsare being taken.
What's my point here?
It's this.
Most migrants aren't a drain onour economy, stealing our jobs,
or breaking the law.
It's the system that's brokenand failing them.

(21:42):
Here's what'll help you takeaway from today's episode.
The immigration debate you seeon cable news and social media
isn't about real solutions.
It's about stoking fear.
It's about distraction.
It's about consolidating powerby attacking the most
marginalized in our society.
When someone blames immigrantsfor our problems, you should

(22:03):
wonder what are they distractingyou from When they talk about
replacing American workers askin what jobs.
Remember, unemployment was atrecord low through much of the
Biden administration, despitethe surge in immigrants.
Legal and illegal when they talkabout preserving culture, whose

(22:24):
culture do they mean?
American culture has always beenshaped by the immigrants who
come to this country.
Our history has been written byimmigrants from the very
beginning, and every generationhas had decide to be given to
fear.
Or do we live up to our ideals?
Would we follow the mantraetched onto the Statue of
Liberty, or live up to theideals voiced by Ronald Reagan

(22:47):
in his final presidentialaddress?
Or do we give into fear,indifference and hate?
Remember, behind every statisticis a human story of hope,
struggle, and conviction.
The answers to the immigrationconundrum have alluded us for
far too long.

(23:08):
But they do exist out there.
The problem is that to implementany plan requires sustained
political will and comprehensivereform.
But the sad truth is that toomany people benefit politically
from keeping the system broken.
Thanks for joining me today inthe start of our journey into

(23:29):
the story of immigration.
Next episode we're going to,we're going back to the
beginning, reviewing the longarc of American immigration
history and how the US got tothe broken system we have today.
We'll explore how pastimmigration debates from the
Chinese Exclusion Act toReagan's amnesty in the 1980s
shaped today's policies and whynation of immigrants has always

(23:53):
been a contested ideal.
Thanks again for listening toKhannecting the dots.
If you found this episodehelpful, do me a favor, share,
subscribe, and leave a review.
Until next time, stay curious,stay critical, and stay
connected.