Stop With the ‘Us Versus Them’ Approach to Immigration

Ai-jen Poo, is the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and co-director of the Caring Across Generations Campaign.

December 9, 2012

Eleven million people in the U.S. live in fear of deportation. These are hardworking people who love and care about their children. Yet in the first six months of 2012, close to 64,000 parents of citizen children were deported. As a result, many parents and children are permanently separated.

Immigration policies should support integration and connection between all Americans, including aspiring ones.

Among those 11 million are many people the rest of us count on to take care of our families. A recent study on domestic work in the United States found that approximately two-thirds of nannies, housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly are foreign born, and about half of them are undocumented. The study also found that 85 percent of undocumented domestic workers working in substandard conditions do not complain because they fear their immigration status will be used against them. As workers, they provide critical support to millions of families, and yet they cannot support their own families under such conditions. Without a roadmap to citizenship, they are trapped in vulnerability and poverty, creating a downward gravitational pull for our entire economy.

Today’s American family includes people from all different nationalities and descent. We are already deeply connected across lines of race, class and generation. We are interdependent, not just economically, but through caring relationships. As people live longer, and the boomer generation continues to turn 65 at a rate of a person every 8 seconds, we will only become more dependent on one another to ensure our loved ones receive the care, support and services they need. Even the proponents of anti-immigrant state legislation in Texas created an exception for domestic workers for fear of losing their caregivers and housekeepers to deportation.

A roadmap to citizenship for all is the cornerstone of a healthy, 21st century American democracy. We are fundamentally a multiracial society. No one responsible for caring for the most precious elements of our lives -- our homes and our families -- should be at risk of being torn apart as a result of our immigration policies. We need immigration policies that reject “us versus them” approaches and instead support integration and connection between all Americans, including aspiring Americans. What’s at stake is the future of all of our families, and the future of the economy.