Many Americans are withdrawing, lately, and not keeping up to date with news sources. To save our democracy, we must have literate voters who examine, question and fact-check political statements on a regular basis. In this op-ed, I wish to support immigrants’ positive impact on our economies and provide data to counter myths about immigrant’s negative impact on our communities.

The following negative immigrant quotes recorded by a variety of news sources (CBS, NBC, Reuters, Axios, Time Magazine, the New York Times, ABC News and NPR) are disturbing when fact-checked against Maine Multicultural Center’s myths.

Myth: Immigration leads to increased crime rates and unsafe communities.

Former President Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, that migrants have caused a spike in violent crime in U.S. cities: “People are coming in and killing our citizens at a level like we’ve never seen before.” Trump called immigrants illegally in the United States “animals” and “not human” and said “illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of our nation.”

Fact: Immigration in the United State does not increase crime rates.

Data: According to Pew, data, “show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s, when crime spiked across much of the nation.” In 2023, Stanford economist Ran Abramitzky reported “immigrants are 30% less likely to be incarcerated than are U.S.-born individuals who are white…”

Myth: Immigrants are a drain on state, local, and federal economies.

Trump, among similar statements, said that President Biden is “allowing these people to come in(to), go on Social Security and Medicare.”

Fact: Immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take in government benefits

Data: Based on a 2023 Social Security Trustees’ System Report, Alexia Campbell from the Center for Public Integrity wrote “undocumented immigrants and those with legal status pay billions of dollars each year into the Social Security system through payroll taxes,” often without receiving benefits themselves. Campbell reported that immigrants will increase the gross domestic product by 2% and add an extra $7 trillion to the U.S. economy within the next decade, based on the Congressional Budget Office prediction.

In a March 2024 article, Andrew Moriarty, U.S. immigration policy fellow, articulated the critical importance of immigrants on our economy. “The facts are clear: immigrants and immigration are good for America and all Americans. Immigration strengthens the U.S. economy and contributes to greater prosperity for all Americans. Immigrants help create jobs, raise wages, reduce inflation and increase productivity and innovation. Immigrants boost virtually every sector of the economy, and they play particularly important roles in critical sectors like healthcare, food production and agriculture, construction, and emerging fields like semiconductors and artificial intelligence.”

Based on the 2019 Joint Economic Committee report “Immigrants are Vital to U.S. Economy,” foreign-born workers account for 38% of home health aides, 29 percent of physicians and 23 percent of pharmacists; immigrants make up 22% of all workers in the U.S. food supply chain; about three-fourths of undocumented immigrants in the labor force are classified as essential; and immigrants start approximately 25% of new firms in the United States.

“As for whether immigrants are “taking” native-born workers’ jobs in general, the data suggest they aren’t. The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that the unemployment rate for U.S.-born citizens remains near all-time lows: 3.8% in May.”

We are a nation built by immigrants.

Unfortunately, as the researcher Taylor McNeil describes in a report for Tufts: “From colonial times to today, the demonization of outsiders has existed alongside the idea of the U.S. as a nation built by immigrants.”

We need to stop being afraid of those who are different, start celebrating their cultural diversity and recognizing their capacity to enrich our communities. To do this, we must be willing to speak out against myths and cruel lies that cannot be supported by data. When voting in November, choose candidates representing the truth.