A Chance to Tell A New Story

The national print media are starting to report on the divisive, counterproductive effects of immigration raids and punitive local ordinances. A New York Times editorial and news articles by the Times and Time Magazine are representative, highlighting the harmful effects of these tactics on children, families, schools, local businesses, and communities—including citizens as well as documented and undocumented immigrants—and the ways in which these approaches depart from our national values.

For supporters of human rights and opportunity, this is an important time to drive home the narrative of rejecting raids and other divisive and disruptive tactics in favor of Real Solutions that Uphold our National Values and Move our Country Forward Together. This means showing how vindictive, anti-immigrant measures fail to address the real challenge of immigration, and how more constructive approaches like a pathway to earned citizenship and a focus on fair labor practices and living wages for all workers offer real solutions. It also means highlighting our national values of Opportunity, Unity, Due Process, and Accountability, and why our real solutions uphold those values while punitive policies undermine them. And it means documenting the ways that immigrants are a part of our economic engine and the social fabric of our communities—that immigrants are a part of us and crucial to our economic and democratic future.

The current media moment offers a surprisingly promising opportunity to convey that message.