Facts still matter
During the recent State of the Union address, our president kept repeating a key part of his vision for America by equating “illegal aliens” — a coded term for all immigrants — with dangerous criminals. We all want safe communities, but this claim is untrue and morally reprehensible. In fact, crime statistics show that our communities would be safer with more immigrants.
Reports from the National Institute of Justice, migrationpolicy.org, and the American Immigration Council show that immigrants, whether documented or not, actually commit fewer crimes per person — including violent crimes — than people born in the U.S. This makes sense because immigrants have a lot to lose and are less likely to take risks. The basic decency of most immigrants is actually why so many people in Minneapolis and across the country have come together to support their neighbors and keep an eye on ICE’s actions.
There is also no evidence for the president’s bizarre claim that other countries emptied their prisons and asylums and sent those people to the U.S. Most immigrants come here to escape hardship or to seek a better life. Their stories are similar to those of our own ancestors. Sadly, many people today ignore the real stories of immigrants and instead twist the facts, or create them altogether, to fit their own opinions.
In his speech, the president highlighted shocking details of murders committed by “illegal aliens” to suggest that undocumented immigrants are especially dangerous. Every murder is tragic, but with a group as large as the 10 million undocumented immigrants in our country, it is not surprising that some murders are committed. Focusing only on crimes by one group, while ignoring others, is misleading and unfair, especially since undocumented immigrants actually commit fewer murders than the general population. This approach stirs up intense anger against many innocent people, which is obviously the real goal.
Get John Strommen’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
We can all agree that finding dangerous criminals, improving border control, and doing proper screening are important goals. These are things we should work on together. However, the main purpose of the recent ICE actions is not about these goals. The Trump administration claims that ICE is targeting “the worst of the worst,” and says that over 4,000 dangerous undocumented immigrants have been removed from Minneapolis. In truth, 4,000 people were arrested, but only 103, or 2.5%, were convicted of violent crimes. The other 97% are the real focus.
Who makes up the 97%? Most are immigrants of color who are being unfairly targeted and profiled. In fact, 74% of those arrested have no criminal record, but they are still labeled — really, smeared — as “dangerous criminals.” These harsh arrests and detentions are meant to scare people into leaving on their own. They also give DHS an opportunity to find any reason to deport people, such as late paperwork, missed visa deadlines, or other minor mistakes. On top of that, DHS is trying to take away citizenship from as many immigrants as possible for vague reasons, such as being “incapable of loving our country,” “undermining domestic tranquility,” or being “incompatible with Western Civilization.”
This is ethnic cleansing, plain and simple.
Every day, I am more troubled by the lack of humanity and the growing moral failure of an administration that claims to be leading a “Christian” revival, even though its actions are far from Christian. While they protect the rich and powerful named in the Epstein Files, they target and harm “the least of these.” I believe Jesus spoke about these people, and hurting them was never part of his message.
Christian teaching celebrates the shared humanity of all of us as children of God. Instead, that spirit of generosity and inclusion has been traded for a mean-spirited power play: an “us vs. them” framing that demonizes fellow human beings while overestimating the goodness of one’s own group. In the simplest terms, it’s trading love for power. Consequently, as MAGA Christians trumpet their nationalistic exceptionalism, they have slandered, double-crossed, and thrown our immigrant populations under the bus.
Ironically, the people accused of being godless or anti-American are quietly living out Christian and biblical teachings like “welcoming the stranger” and “loving your neighbor as yourself.” Many of them are Christians, many are not, but the same God is at work through them.
