Second Opinion / OTHER MEDIA : LA OPINION : Making the Immigration Debate a Rational One
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In times of difficulty, immigrants are always blamed for the problems in this country. They are accused of taking jobs and of taking advantage of social services. They are blamed for delinquency and for the problems in the schools. The negative debate about immigration is based on stereotypes. It’s simplistic and stirs feelings of rejection among the native population, including immigrants who are now established here.
It’s a debate that exploits the malaise of the public during difficult times and, because of that, it finds fertile soil to give it credibility. It is a politically costly debate.
It is obvious that the debate over immigration has left the rational path and that it can become a case of collective hysteria stimulated by politicians and opportunists. It is necessary to create the conditions for a rational debate. This means putting the phenomenon of immigration in perspective.
Immigrants are not responsible for the recession or for unemployment. On the contrary, they are entrepreneurs, yearning to participate and to be incorporated completely in the building of the country that they have chosen as their home and the homeland of their children.
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