Say what you want about the open borders crowd, they sure know what they’re doing when it comes to messaging. It is nothing short of amazing that the progressive left has convinced so many Americans to believe that desiring tighter controls on immigration – both legal and illegal – constitutes a form of bigotry. Even more brilliant, however, is the achievement of distracting from the fact that lax immigration policies actually result in outcomes that adversely affect black Americans more than other races.

Mass Migration Results in Discrimination

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) recently held an event featuring several experts on immigration policy. Labor lawyer Peter Kirsanow explained one of the ways that illegal immigration negatively impacts employment in the black community. “Forty percent of the decline in labor participation rates among black workers over three decades was attributable to competition from illegal immigration,” he said. The figure “comes to nearly 1 million fewer jobs for black Americans as a result of the competition from illegal immigrants.”

As egregious as this statistic is, it still does not encompass the problems illegal immigration poses for the black community. Jason Richwine, a statistician working with CIS, highlighted an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission study on discrimination lawsuits. He referred to some of the cases that were examined. One instance involved a company in Memphis that decided to hire a new employment agency to fill its staffing needs. This agency “essentially replaced the African Americans with Hispanics,” according to the EEOC report. Prospective workers of varying ethnicities would line up outside the warehouse, and the agency would choose Hispanics even if black workers were ahead in the queue. According to the report, managers would announce in English that there were no more positions available. Then, after the black workers left, they brought in Hispanic workers.

Another example centered on a company called Prestige Transportation Services. This company would discard or refuse to accept applications from blacks. The report states: “On multiple occasions when a black person applied for employment, Prestige managers Mr. Ramirez and Ms. Rodriguez would stand behind the applicant and rub their hand on their skin to display their disdain for black people.” The company also conducted its staff meetings only in Spanish.

Are Open Borders Policies Racist?

One of the most difficult issues for the borders advocates to address is the disproportionate impact illegal immigration has on the black community. It’s yet another policy proposal that negatively affects blacks more than any other ethnicity in the country.

Most who support a laissez-faire approach to immigration also purport to back the political party that claims to look out for black Americans. Once confronted with data that shows allowing a nearly unlimited flow of migrants into the country has destroyed many a black person’s career, they seem to lose their ability to speak. There is a reason for that.

Progressives would rather the public remain unaware of the difficulties faced by black Americans due to lax immigration policies. For this reason, they practice the old “accuse your enemy of that which you are doing” strategy and tar critics with the bigotry label. Are there some who oppose both legal and illegal immigration because of xenophobia? Certainly. But the vast majority of individuals who oppose open borders wish to see fair immigration policies that encourage migrants to enter the country legally without unduly punishing American citizens. It’s important to remember that most who wish to allow more people to cross the border legally or illegally are unaware of the disproportionate damage it does to the black community, but those who promote open borders should perhaps begin asking themselves whether it is they who support a racist policy.

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