Campaign slogans and real stories intersect in the lives of students, faculty and families
The interplay of immigration and border security policy and reality — hot issues in the presidential election — drove the focus of a panel discussion at Western Washington University Oct. 15.
More than 1.6 million immigrants moved to the United States in 2023 as migration has returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
At the same time, Americans’ attitudes have shifted against immigration. In 2020, 28% of Americans polled by Gallup said immigration should decrease, but in 2024, 55% of Americans — including Democrats and independents — want the government to reduce immigration levels in the country.
Testing the Boundaries: Immigration and Border Security Policy panelist Rudy Alamillo, assistant professor of political science at Western, pointed to the emergence of Donald Trump as a political candidate contributing to increasing anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States during the 2016 presidential election. Since then, anti-immigration catchphrases like “Build the wall,” “The illegals,” “Migrant crimes” and “They’re eating the pets,” have set the tone for the MAGA movement.
“We have all seen how rhetoric around immigration and questions about who belongs and who is an ‘American’ have turbo-charged presidential politics for over a decade,” said Kate Destler, associate professor of political science at Western and director of the Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education. “Beyond these rhetorical flash points are complex questions about power, culture, economic opportunity and growth.”
During the 2024 election cycle, politicians have proposed border security as the solution for America’s problems, said Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western. During the vice presidential debate in October, Republican candidate JD Vance said border security will lower crime and solve the housing shortage.
Vance has tied nearly every issue — housing, the economy and taxes — to immigrants, according to Sophia Maynard, a sophomore economics and political science major at Western.
“He is ripping off another page of a tired old racist playbook — to get all the undesirables out,” Maynard said. “His message is that these people are fundamentally different from you. They are not American. It’s terrifying.”
Misinformation on social media
The panel of immigration experts addressed what they call the elephant in the room — the profound impact of social media on recent U.S. elections. An October 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that around 73% of U.S. adults said they have seen inaccurate news coverage about the 2024 election.
“Anxiety is growing online as the election gets closer,” said Hannah Stone, a U.S. immigration attorney in Bellingham and a former Fairhaven College instructor.
Social media is a prominent source of misinformation, Alamillo said. The immigration rhetoric posted on many social platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter, skews to the right.
Algorithms are designed to keep readers engaged on the platform, and to show them content to keep their interest. To eliminate that bias, Alamillo suggested readers clear their reading history to reset the algorithm.
Several Western students expressed concern during the talk about misinformation on social media.
“We’re getting a lot of information thrown at us young people on social media in 15-second increments,” Maynard said. “It’s so much information our brain is taking in. People feel inclined to believe what is captured on video. People don’t ask if this is acted out; is this biased? Video feels real as opposed to slide shows and images.”
Students should seek out nonpartisan news sources outside of social media, Trautman said. “Try not to be sucked into the echo chamber.”
Consensus remains elusive
The U.S. Congress has not passed immigration reform legislation in the 21st century so far. President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act into law in the mid-1980s, creating a path to citizenship for people who entered the United States without permission before 1982.
That law helped Alamillo’s father become a legal U.S. citizen, he said.
Both the Democratic and Republican party benefit from not passing new laws on immigration reform, Pedro Cameselle-Pesce, an associate professor of history at Western, said on Zoom from Uruguay.
The bottom line why immigration legislation has come to a standstill is because of money, Stone said.
“I’m cynical about any kind of movement on this issue,” Alamillo said. “We are stuck with the system we have and will be in for the foreseeable future.
Despite Trump’s rhetoric about being tough on illegal border crossings, he did not deliver on his promises during his time in the White House, Alamillo said.
Trump’s mass deportation plans — if he is elected to a second term — may involve local law enforcement agents apprehending migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission, Alamillo said.
Challenges, expectations in becoming American
The United States has a long history with mass deportations targeting specific ethnic or racial groups, Alamillo said.
“My great-great grandfather was deported as part of the Mexican Repatriation during the Great Depression,” Alamillo said. “His family was sent back to Mexico even though he was a U.S. citizen. Local law enforcement in California didn’t uproot them. A mob came and put anyone who looked Mexican on a train.”
Maynard, the Western student, shared her family’s immigration journey to the United States. Her mother’s father was from Mexico, entering the United States on a medical scholarship to attend the University of Houston. He then pioneered open heart surgery on the east coast of Florida in the 1950s.
He hoped her mother would become the model American immigrant, Maynard said. His expectations affected how Maynard’s mother sees immigration in the United States now.
“My mom is a Latino Republican,” she said. “I disagree with my mom on a lot of issues, but I see where she’s coming from and why she’s gained this perspective.”
A panel on Political Violence, Polarization and the Prospects for Democracy in the United States and Abroad will take place Monday, Oct. 28, from 5–7:30 p.m. at the Wilson Library Reading Room. The panel is free, and open to students, faculty and staff at Western, and to the community.
— By Catherine Skrzypinski
Also read in Salish Current: “New safe space resource center would assist immigrants,” June 24, 2024