1y ago

Migrants, real and imagined, grip US voters, 1,500 miles north of border

www.theguardian.com

Few residents of this Wisconsin small city have seen a migrant but some are blaming Biden for an ‘invasion’ regardless and elsewhere in the state an influx of foreigners is not all it seems

Rhinelander is closer to the Arctic Circle than to Mexico, so it is no great surprise that few people in the small Wisconsin city have laid eyes on the foreign migrants Donald Trump claims are “invading” the country from across the US border 1,500 miles to the south.

But Jim Schuh, the manager of a local bakery, is nonetheless sure they are a major problem and he’s voting accordingly.

“We don’t see immigrants here but I have relatives all over the country and they see them,” he said. “That’s Biden. He’s responsible.”

Large numbers of voters in key swing states agree with Schuh, even in places where migrants are hard to find as they eye cities such as Chicago and New York struggling to cope with tens of thousands of refugees and other arrivals transported there by the governors of Texas and Florida.

Trump has been pushing fears over record levels of migration hard in Wisconsin where the past two presidential elections have been decided by a margin of less than 1% of the vote. A Marquette law school poll last month found that two-thirds of Wisconsin voters agree that “the Biden administration’s border policies have created a crisis of uncontrolled illegal migration into the country”.

43 comments

Migrants are not “illegal immigrants.” They are documented asylum seekers, allowed temporary refuge. They have been bused to Democratic sanctuary cities for the last few years to prevent overcrowding border cities.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states-2024
Unauthorized immigrants are the “illegal immigrants” they’re so worried about. Almost all of the cities with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations are the same sanctuary cities.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/03/11/us-metro-areas-unauthorized-immigrants/
Both of these groups are different from registered immigrants, entering the US with intent to become citizens, who must follow an incredibly challenging legal path for naturalization.
You red states are missing out on interesting culture, awesome food, and hard workers.
- Migrants and unauthorized immigrants are ineligible for most state funded social services like welfare. To be eligible, they need to register as immigrants with a plan for naturalization.
  https://www.nilc.org/issues/economic-support/overview-immeligfedprograms/
  Unauthorized immigrants and migrants are also ineligible for legal employment in the US. The jobs they may get would be “off the books,” which is a crime committed by the employer, not the immigrant.
  If you want to discuss language designating an immigrant “belonging,” I have some bad news for you. The US does not have a national language.
  https://www.usa.gov/official-language-of-us
  Out of curiosity, how many Native American languages did your ancestors learn when they arrived?
  
  This is what you see in Canada.
  When was the last time you were in Canada?
  
  Reading Amoxtli’s profile, I’m going to guess they’re about 23, and haven’t travelled outside the US.
  
  Do you expect we learn his language so he can feel welcomed?
  Yes, I do, because I believe the US is meant to be a dynamic shifting idea and that means we should commit to extending a curious hand of welcome to every new group of people that finds their way here.
  Yes we should learn that new persons language, why not? It is good for your brain, studies have shown learning languages is extremely stimulating and healthy for your mind so I don’t see the issue here?
  The incredible diversity of bomb ass food, art, ideas and general life that a diverse community of migrants brings to a city is invaluable to the citizens that live there who are local. Learning how to say a handful of words in another language is a tiny optional price to pay for all of those benefits.
  
  what does this tell you about the quality of people coming to the border? Not very good.
  By this metric Republicans don't belong here. Are we going to deport everyone with < 120 iq who isn't wealthy, neurotypical, and highly motivated?
Oh man, is it time for our once-every-four-years scary caravan of literally billions of migrant rapists preparing to invade the border? The caravan which will mysteriously vanish in December?
- How many? All, or should you be selective? People with contagious diseases? People with criminal histories? Etc, etc. The issue is controlled immigration with safeguards against those, or open borders with no control?
  
  Very few people are advocating open borders, and I haven't seen any politicians doing so. Why are you trying to get clarification on an issue that doesn't exist?
  We need migrants
  That is the sentence you had an issue with. Admit it.
  
  Racists gonna racist, I suppose... but did you need to shout it from the rooftops?
Fox News and right wingers really helped push fake threats.
My friend is a Rogan fan and he's so terrified of certain cities, believing they're overrun with migrants, as if he currently doesnt live in the top 10 dangerous cities in America.
It's fucking bananas.
This is so fucking stupid. Unless you live in central Africa, all humans are migrants.
Someone should make an interactive worldmap where you could see who was the bad ones at specific times.
You know, the bad people like jews, black people, italians (France 1970 IIRC, just an example), foreigners, polish plumbers (not kidding), the lazy mexicans stealing jobs etc. etc. etc.
I'm not at all enough versed in this kind of history, but I'd love to see one. Maybe because I was the bread stealing person for some years :-) but being a bit serious, maybe some scared people might understand it's just that, scare techniques, and that they have been used in centuries to abuse people (both the scared ones and the one attacked ofc).
Wisconsin has a big Hmong population, all of whom came to the US legally. Holy hell the things I've heard people say about them. As if they're not even human. This sentiment doesn't surprise me at all.
Make New York and Chicago more Mexican and Cuban and then have people who vote on key migrant issues in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Texas.
Who new the governors of Texas and Florida were just setting up the next generation of Hispanic-Americans for success?
This is up there with sending millions of pro-Palestinian Americans to Gaza. How could this backfire?
- Make New York and Chicago more Mexican and Cuban
  Lol you've never been to New York City (or any large city), have you?
  You do know that they're chock full of people from Mexico and Cuba and literally everywhere else on the planet, right?
  Maybe if you weren't so terrified to enter a major city, you'd realize that you're afraid of ghosts and boogeymen created by right wing propaganda to make sure you never actually go to any of these places to see for yourself what a beautiful tapestry of culture they create.
  I honestly feel sorry for you.
  
  I am making fun of the Republicans because their plan is to accidently expand the Spanish speaking parts of the US. Their plans are counterproductive to THEIR OWN goals.

43 comments