SALINAS, CA — Just as they have for the last 250 years, Americans continue to send mixed messages about immigrants.
On the one hand, it’s never been more clear that we need immigrants to do essential work that Americans won’t do. We’re lucky to have them because, besides a strong work ethic, they bring optimism, family values and a willingness to take risks. It’s no coincidence that the states with the most robust economies — Texas, California and Florida — have big immigrant populations.
On the other hand, opportunistic politicians can always get a crowd riled up by convincing them that all their problems are the result of immigrants. Whether the country is in a recession or experiencing an economic boom, Americans’ dislike for immigrants always bubbles to the surface. This nation of immigrants has always been unwelcoming of immigrants.
In bad times, the native-born accuse immigrants of taking jobs from American workers. In good times, they accuse them of committing crimes or refusing to assimilate.
However they diagnose the problem, the prescription is always the same: higher walls, more deportations, more border guards.
Last week, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a GOP-sponsored $70 billion immigration enforcement bill that funds President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown for the rest of his term.
Much of that crackdown is aimed at combatting unauthorized immigration, and so the bill — which passed 214 to 212 on a party line vote — is focused on preventing unauthorized entry at the border as well as apprehending and deporting undocumented immigrants who are already here. Maximiliano Cuevas, MD is the CEO of Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas, a collective of non-profit community health care centers that serve patients in Monterey County.