Don’t let the immigration issue spoil your good heart – Daily News

Many atrocities could have been avoided if people had been more careful about how far they had pushed their humanity. It is a gradual and very delicate process. But this isn’t about avoiding genocide – it’s about avoiding the destruction of our own well-being. Donald Trump has been sowing the seeds of moral decay for many years.

In 2014, he warned attendees of a conservative conference: “You better be smart. They’re taking your job. You better be careful.

When announcing his 2015 campaign, he said: “When Mexico sends its citizens, they are not sending their best. They send people who have a lot of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They bring crime. They’re rapists. Drugs, crime and rape are what these people bring – that is the message, in my opinion.

Over the years, his abuse of the immigration issue for his own gain has only increased. He claimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and that recently immigrants are conquering entire cities and that our country is known around the world as occupied. During the presidential debate, he shouted, “They eat dogs!”

Unfortunately, research has shown that this type of rhetoric has a very real impact on how people relate to people they perceive as outsiders. But we don’t need psychological research to tell us this – there are too many historical examples of such rhetoric used to manipulate ordinary people into rationalizing dehumanizing attitudes and practices towards their fellow human beings, especially immigrants.

Of course, most of the consequences of this type of attitude changes are borne by the target groups, but we should not ignore the consequences it has for those manipulated. And most importantly, because it makes us bad people and makes our hearts insensitive to the suffering of others – people who tell funny stories at family gatherings, feel proud of their children’s achievements, enjoy colorful sunsets and like to have fun. with the children. , no grilling, puppies.

For many decades since the Supreme Court’s 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision, it has been taken for granted that we should not deny children living in the U.S. illegally a free K-12 public education. But as far-right rhetoric grows, so do voices seeking to overturn Plyler v. Doe. There is a growing movement for states to implement tuition requirements for undocumented children, with the express goal of taking the issue to our conservative Supreme Court. To me, compassionate people, that should sound like a few steps too far – they’re just kids. When innocent children are involved, our response to resource concerns should be to increase resources, not kick children to the curb.

Criticism of individual border policies, e.g. the number of immigrants allowed into the country, is completely justified. A more sinister step is to think of them as undeserving of basic human decency. As we have seen throughout our species’ short history, this is a quick way to justify abhorrent behavior towards a target population.

I’m sure many people wouldn’t think of themselves or Trump as dehumanizing immigrants in their criticism. But it could be one thing when some people believe they don’t deserve any resources at all, or when some people agree with the thinking behind calling them criminals and animals.