How public opinion can influence migration policies

Public opinion seems to have a particular effect when it comes to the social policy regarding migration.

From December 2003 to December 2005, I represented the United States as one of the 19 commissioners on the Global Commission on International Migration, reporting to the United Nations. During my tenure, we visited five continents searching for the causes of the global migration phenomenon.

Few common elements were found, except that, on all continents, the effect of public opinion formed by the media seemed to dictate the public policies adopted by governments. Why is there such an intimate relationship between public opinion and a government's migration policies? It seems that public officials are very sensitive to the public's perception of how they implement the laws and regulations regarding migration.

These days, public opinion is usually formed by the media in all its forms, and any negative portrayal of migration issues seems to affect public opinion in a special way.

This was verified last month, when there was a dramatic shift in public opinion regarding the mass deportation program of the current administration.

A Gallup poll released last month found that only 30% of Americans favor a decrease in immigration, which is down from 55% just a year ago. A record number of 79% consider immigration good for the country, and support is down on both the border wall and mass deportation. These shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concerns about immigration that preceded the new administration.

What has precipitated this change in public opinion? It seems that the media coverage of the rounding up of migrants, as if herding cattle, in addition to the efforts of human rights groups who peacefully demonstrated, has caused this change in public opinion.

United States citizens are not accustomed to seeing ICE agents and U.S. Army personnel engaged in massive deportation efforts. Somehow, this seems to be un-American and reminds us of the brutal tactics of authoritarian regimes.

Public attitudes toward deporting criminal aliens have remained unchanged. Still, there is now greater sympathy for providing long-term undocumented workers with a path to citizenship and for legalizing those brought as minors.

Workplace enforcement has also influenced opinions, as workplace raids pose safety risks to both enforcement officials and migrants, leading to confusion, injuries, and, as confirmed last month, even one fatality.

There has also been a shift in President Donald Trump's attitude toward those industries affected by the deportation of needed workers.

The president has already hinted that those working on farms, if vouched for by farm owners, may be allowed to stay. However, there has been no follow-through on this. Also, he has intimated that hotel industry workers and other needed entry-level workers, such as those in the meatpacking industries, would be given special consideration.

It is certainly clear that we are not only dealing with the migration issue, but also a labor-market issue. The entry-level positions that are not acceptable to most American workers are very important to our economy and well-being. Health care workers, and in particular home health care workers, are entry-level positions that are significantly filled by immigrants, especially by the undocumented.

The history of our nation has been marked by immigrants who fill in needed occupations largely avoided by others, to give their children a strong chance to pursue the American Dream.

It would be interesting if we could identify the entry-level positions held by our immigrant forbears. I, myself, am very fortunate to know the entry-level positions of my four grandparents, all of whom immigrated from Italy before the 1924 restrictions on Southern and Eastern European migration. I even have some photos of their workplaces.

My paternal grandfather worked in a Kewpie Doll factory in Newark, N.J, and the photo of him at that factory shows an emaciated young man. My paternal grandmother and her sister both worked in a factory sewing handkerchiefs, where they were required to wear very neat uniforms. My maternal grandfather worked in a factory making buttons and sewing materials, where he eventually became a foreman.

Perhaps most interesting is my maternal grandmother, who was a farm girl in Italy whose first job in America was to roll cigars at the window of a tobacco store in Newark.

If we only knew and appreciated our own immigrant stories, we might have a very different understanding of today's migrants.

There are better solutions to the present situation than mass deportations. We need entry-level immigrant workers in the labor market to fill essential jobs, which has always been the American way. Yet, our immigration laws have not kept pace with our labor needs. However, it has never been the American way to treat our laborers with disdain and inhuman treatment, at least in recent memory.

We hope that the administration understands this and moves to provide legal status to undocumented workers, which would not only help them but would serve the best interests of the nation.