While comprehensive immigration reform may be out of reach, giving immigrants who came to the US as children citizenship not only has broad political support but makes economic sense too.
After Haiti signed its Declaration of Independence from France, in 1804, the U.S. started a nearly 60-year political and economic embargo that hobbled the young nation’s growth.
Wikimedia
Trump’s anti-Haitian rhetoric ignores a long pattern of migration from Haiti to the U.S., often driven by American meddling in Haitian affairs. Today, the two nations are irrevocably bound by history.
The view from Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where Australian immigrants were detained. They renamed it “Devil’s Island”.
Anne Rees
In 1921 the US imposed strict immigration quotas on Australians and detained the excess arrivals in terrible conditions. Contrast this with today’s treatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.
The DACA program’s inherent diversity is what makes it a boon for the U.S. economy.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Trump’s decision to end the DACA program, as well as his support for a bill that would drastically curb legal immigration, would hurt the US workers he says he’s trying to help.
Oscar Gil-Garcia, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Joint border security measures between the US and Mexico have created a tough situation for those who fled violence back home decades ago.
Our national wellbeing probably peaked with Australia’s population at roughly 15 million in the 1970s, when this photo was taken in Hunters Hill, Sydney.
John Ward/flickr
Australia’s GPI, a broad measure of national wellbeing, has stalled since 1974. So what has been the point of huge population and GDP growth since then if we and our environment are no better off?
Even without immigration, new data reveals Australia’s population would continue to grow.
blvdone/Shutterstock
The latest statistics show Australia’s population growth in the last decade has been significantly higher than in other developed countries.
Migrants can no longer afford to live in the ‘gateway’ suburbs that once helped them to leave the ranks of the ‘disadvantaged’ and feel at home in their new country.
Jack Wright/flickr
With the winding back of government support for housing, ‘gateway’ suburbs that have in the past accepted and supported recent immigrants are becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Deporting more illegal immigrants means hiring more ICE agents. The costs add up.
Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP
Following through on campaign promises to forcibly evict several million illegal immigrants, Trump has set in motion a plan to deport those with criminal records. But doing so won’t come cheap.
The Statue of Liberty has been a welcoming sight for immigrants for decades.
Susan Ragan/AP Photo
Trump’s plans to build a wall with Mexico and deport millions of people in the US illegally cast immigrants as an economic threat to Americans. The evidence suggests otherwise.
Afghans protest at a refugee camp in Athens in early February.
Orestis Panagiotou/EPA
A team of legal scholars breaks down the factors that will determine which immigrants are most vulnerable for deportation under the new administration.
Immigration activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
States once used their constitutional authority to argue in defense of slavery. Today, states can make a similar argument to protect immigrants from deportation, writes a legal scholar.
Immigrant families attend an education forum in Los Angeles.
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
A public health researcher and advocate explains how immigration raids can impact mental and physical health, and trigger a breakdown of trust and safety in communities across the US.
Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin.
Rick Bowmer, File
Violence, poverty and oppression in Honduras are causing thousands to flee to the US. Will Trump own the role of US foreign policy in creating these problems?
Evicted: migrants and refugees wait to be processed at the Calais Jungle.
Etienne Laurent/EPA
Donald Trump gave a major speech on immigration this week. This roundup looks at some of his ideas for reform and explains what the experts have to say about this complex issue.
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham