Trump's Anti-immigrant Ad

 Recently, the Trump campaign released an ad about Americans--often white females--who have been killed, allegedly by immmigrants from Latin America.  The goal, obviously, is to scare white Americans into voting for Trump.

In this ad, Trump appeals to fear instead of reasoning from evidence. 

The Trump ad begins at 2:28:

A few points need to be made: 

• Whereever there are human beings, there will be crime. Showing pictures of Latin American men doing the perp walk in order to induce fear in voters is demagoguery of the worst sort. One can just as easily show white males doing the perp walk to create fear of them. Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Epstein. All the white clergymen on Sinister Ministers.
• Young males of any race, particularly if they are poor, have few job prospects, and lack the restraining influence of family are more likely to commit crimes. Family composition and economic prospects count for more in determining criminality than ethnic origin.

The sad thing about ads like this is that they fail to address legitimate points about real downsides of immigration. 

• The costs of immigration seem to be paid primarily by low-income people who must compete with immigrants for jobs. Carol Swain, professor of law and political science at Vanderbilt University discussed this problem in her book Debating Immigration. In a review of her book, Swain was quoted as saying

• African Americans are losing more jobs to illegal immigrants than to other racial or ethic groups, yet low income black workers don’t have political input in the debate. 

  Public opinion differs on whether African Americans deserve some sort of compensation for slavery and generations of post-slavery Jim Crow racism. Although reasonable people may disagree about reparations, it seems that most could agree that undercutting the economic prospects of African Americans is wrong.  

  Yes, immigration raises rents although not as much as some claim. Furthermore, immigration raises rents more than does an inflow of native-born Americans to a city.

• Many native-born Americans pay taxes for years before they have children entering the school system. They pay property tax--and if they are renters, the cost of those taxes are included in the rent that they pay--in addition to federal income tax as well as state and local taxes. 

• Often, immigrants arriving with school-age children have not paid taxes to support the local school system before their kids enroll.

• On the other hand, as baby boomers age, we need more working-age people to cover the growing costs of social security and medicare.  The native-born population isn't reproducing enough to fill that gap. 

• While most immigrants don't work in agriculture, many are growing and harvesting our food--for low wages.  

What is wrong with Trump's research staff that they can't come up with a non-racist opposition to *uncontrolled*  immigration? Well-managed immigration that keeps the needs of low-income Americans in mind can be a positive good for the country. The policy we have now is not it.