Imagine this nightmare scenario: It’s 2021 and President Joe Biden, with the support of a Democratic Congress, signs a “comprehensive immigration reform” bill granting amnesty to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Republicans, having lost the White House and the Senate, would be powerless to stop it.
That’s just the beginning. In his first 100 days as president, Biden has vowed to undo the Donald Trump administration’s immigration policies — from halting construction of the border wall to reinstating the Obama-era policy of “catch-and-release,” where immigrants apprehended at the border are allowed to walk free until their trial date. As you might guess, many never bother to attend the trial and slink back into the shadows.
Not living in a border state, Alabamians might wonder how this agenda would affect their daily lives.
First, we need to dispel the usual canards leftwing activists spout when pushing their radical proposals. They claim illegal and low-skilled immigrants take the jobs “Americans won’t do.” With unemployment near historic levels due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this claim isn’t just insulting; it’s flat-out wrong. In Alabama alone, a 14 percent plurality of the unemployed come from the service and food preparation industry. These are jobs frequently filled by illegal immigrants.
Not only do immigrants take jobs Americans would gladly do, they also depress wages for Americans, especially minorities. A 2016 study from the National Academy of Sciences found that immigrants have a negative effect on the wages of high-school dropouts, with a disproportionate impact on “disadvantaged minorities and Hispanic high school dropouts with poor English skills.” This also exposes the lie that stricter immigration policies are somehow racist.
The pandemic has caused an economic disruption unlike anything we’ve seen since the Great Depression. Did President Franklin Roosevelt, in his promise to get America back on track, ask Congress to provide amnesty to millions? Did he patronize Americans with specious arguments about jobs they wouldn’t do? Of course not. But that’s exactly what Joe Biden has promised.
Aside from the devastating economic impact, unchecked immigration would have a deleterious effect on Alabamians’ quality of life. The national unemployment rate for immigrants is always higher than for native workers — 12.4 percent in July, compared to 10.1 percent, respectively.
Legal immigrants who are unemployed further stress the state’s social services, while illegal immigrants only add to Alabama’s already high poverty rate of 16.5 percent. Without enough work to go around, unemployed immigrants would flood urban areas, driving up rents and accelerating traffic congestion and sprawl.
Legal or not, immigrants cost taxpayers. They send their children to school, they have healthcare needs, and they are just as much in danger of contracting Covid-19 as everyone else. The money to pay for these costs comes from American workers. As the nation tries to pull out from the pandemic-induced tailspin, inviting millions more immigrants here is a recipe for disaster.
Alabama voters have a chance to ensure that a potential Biden administration doesn’t have a blank check to pass its radical policies. A Republican-controlled Senate would be a crucial impediment to stopping the far left’s agenda. But only if Republicans can keep the upper chamber. Here in Alabama, that fight comes down to Democratic Sen. Doug Jones and Republican challenger Tommy Tuberville.
Once thought to be moderate — at least in relation to his peers — Jones has proved to be anything but when it comes to immigration. Jones has voted to protect “sanctuary cities” and hasn’t sponsored or voted for any immigration-reduction bills. His record leaves no doubt as to how he’d vote under a Biden administration.
Alabama voters should rightly be concerned that a Biden administration, unchecked by any Republican opposition in Congress, would turn the United States into one large “sanctuary city.” To avoid this nightmare, Alabama voters must help keep the Senate in Republican hands.
Ann Eubank of Hoover is a citizen activist who serves as the chair of Alabama Legislative Watchdogs.
