What is your favorite anti-immigrant fallacy?

Question

Please try to read the actual question and answer it, not a different question that you would have preferred to have been asked.

Answer 1

The most blatant fallacy is that immigration is somehow responsible for most crime, the abuse of social benefits, and a certain amount of American citizens' inability to obtain work, even though these anti-immigrant activists lack any credible evidence to prove such baseless assumptions but rather rely on individual high-profile cases involving immigrants to represent them all.

Answer 2

That immigrants are restricted or illegal to help the economy and public services. All economic arguments against immigration are false.

The only reason to restrict immigration is to stop the face, culture and language from changing too fast.

Ohassyone, Isabelle 06, and Sherilynn B: All three of you are wrong to deny that immigration is restricted or illegal because of race or because people "hate immigration". Xenophobia is the only reason to restrict immigration, and very few immigrants would be illegal if immigration wasn't 1st restricted. America and all 3 of you welcome other races into America, but only in small numbers. 100 million immigrants will never be let into American overnight because that would change the face of American so fast as to alarm native Americans, which is already happening.

No offense, but we should be honest. It's not very nice to deny what I'm saying and then tell hopeful immigrants that they are being denied because they are not worthy enough or that they would be a burden because the economic pie isn't big enough for them.

Answer 3

There are so many fallacies. That there are 8 million or 12 million or whatever US citizens here to do the work that immigrants do now. There are certainly US citizens for many of them but certainly not that many.

The other is pretty general but the estimates about how much free health care taken from US citizens are just that-wild estimates. You can't tell who's "illegal" by looking at them or because they speak Spanish. Many US citizens speak Spanish yet I see that assumption.

Also, they ignore the fact that illegal immigrants do pay a lot into social security, under fake ss numbers. That's free money for the government!

Answer 4

My favorite?
That asking everyone to follow the same rules is somehow discriminatory.

Or that it's somehow "kind" to allow people to work in situations that don't pass OSHA standards, and are hazardous to their health just because they're too afraid to speak up.

Or that it's nice to encourage people to walk over a hundred miles of desert and risk death by dehydration or being attacked.

Or that's it's fair to the vast numbers of people who have been waiting and waiting to enter this country legally, only to see those who broke the rules jump ahead of them in line.

Or that illegal aliens are only taking low paying jobs. There was a article several years ago about a man who was losing his job as a supervisor in a printing plant (at $60,000/year), and with it his health insurance. Are you telling me that there wasn't a single US citizen who would have been qualified for that job and wanted it?

Edited to say: The above does refer to illegal immigrantion. There's no fallacy about legal immigrants. They've followed the rules, paid their dues and are almost always a benefit to society.

Answer 5

Is your question about LEGAL immigrants or ILLEGAL ALIENS??

There is a distinct black and white difference.

I am married to an immigrant (naturalized citizen, legal of course), but she and I are BOTH against illegal aliens. The majority of her family and some of mine consist of recent immigrants (all legal of course). They are ALL against illegal aliens.

I am against illegal "immigration" but for legal immigration. Where does that fit into your unclear question?

P.S. some posters are answering referring to Hispanics only. Obviously that had nothing to do with your question. They need to read the question and not wish it were a different question. Although it was an unclear question, it has to do with immigrants and is NOT race specific.

Answer 6

That we need them all...legal and illegal because the Americans are either too lazy or too stupid to do the jobs.

That somehow the only people bothered by this are "white" Americans.

That we are greedy protectionists who want to keep our paved streets of gold all to ourselves.

That we NEED it because when the baby boomers die there won't be enough people to keep the ball rolling. LOL

The phony un-employment rate.

Answer 7

I will go you one better, why to many lump together ilegal immigration with llegal immigrant, then try to demonize those who are against illegal immigration

Answer 8

That it would make a difference if they were legal.

Answer 9

That they'll come here to be criminals and not learn English. That is such a lie. 83% of Hispanic-Americans are English-speakers. 1st generation Americans are now more likely to attend college and less likely to get arrested.

Answer 10

That people hate immigration...when they are just not in favor of ILLEGAL immigration