Why Are We Still Afraid of Immigrants?

A conversation with Miles Carter and Beth (ChatGPT) — Edited with input from Grok-3 and Gemini

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Teaser

Today’s headlines scream deportations and legal battles, but fear of immigrants is as American as apple pie. Join us as we unravel the history of this fear — and how each wave of newcomers has shaped the nation despite it.

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Main Conversation

Miles’ Question

Beth, deportations are dominating the news, with policies stretching laws — like using a wartime act, once tied to gang members, now targeting mothers and U.S.-citizen children attending routine ICE check-ins. These moves face serious allegations of violating due process and clashing with constitutional protections. Let’s dig into immigration’s history, why fear persists, and why immigrants, despite mistreatment, have always helped build America.

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Beth’s Initial Response

Miles, you’re hitting at the heart of America’s story.

Fear of immigrants — Irish, Italian, Jewish, Chinese, Mexican, or Honduran — has always fueled claims that newcomers would ruin our culture, steal jobs, or destabilize politics. Think 19th-century “No Irish Need Apply” signs or today’s “border invasion” rhetoric. These fears rarely materialize as predicted, yet they persist.

Three core fears drive this pattern:

• Cultural anxiety — Will newcomers change “our” America? (e.g., today’s language debates.)
• Economic fear — Will they take jobs? (e.g., scapegoating immigrants during recessions.)
• Political fear — Will they shift political power? (e.g., voter suppression fears tied to demographic change.)

History shows America thrives by overcoming these fears — not succumbing to them. When compliant asylum-seeking mothers and their U.S.-citizen children are caught in these policies, it echoes past injustices like the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

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Miles’ Follow-Up Question

Beth, let’s build a timeline of major immigrant groups — what was said about them (including political cartoons), what political advantage fear created, and what they contributed. Let’s even include Pam Bondi’s ancestors to show how today’s critics once came from yesterday’s newcomers.

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Beth’s Response

Absolutely, Miles — here’s the structured historical timeline:

🕰️ Immigration Timeline: Fear, Political Advantage, and Reality

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1. Irish Immigrants (1820s–1870s)

• Stereotypes: “Drunks,” “criminals,” “loyal to the Pope.”
• Cartoons: Depicted as violent apes.
• Political Advantage Gained: Nativist politicians, especially the Know-Nothing Party, rallied Protestant voters by stoking fear of Catholic domination and “foreign corruption,” winning local and congressional elections.
• Contributions: Built canals, railroads, and fought and died in the Union Army.
• Modern Echo: Modern anti-immigrant crime rhetoric mirrors 1850s anti-Irish panic.
• Notable Descendants: John F. Kennedy, Joe Biden.

2. Chinese Immigrants (1850s–1882 and after)

• Stereotypes: Disease carriers, opium addicts.
• Cartoons: Depicted as threats needing exclusion.
• Political Advantage Gained: Politicians in western states blamed Chinese workers for economic downturns, leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act.
• Contributions: Built the Transcontinental Railroad and advanced agriculture and mining.
• Modern Echo: Anti-Asian sentiment during COVID-19 echoes these historic fears.
• Policies: Chinese Exclusion Act.

3. Italian Immigrants (1880s–1920s)

• Stereotypes: Mafia criminals, anarchists.
• Cartoons: Depicted as rats, criminals.
• Political Advantage Gained: Fear of Italian anarchists justified restrictive immigration quotas favoring northern Europeans.
• Contributions: Built American cities, contributed to construction and food industries, served in wars.
• Modern Echo: Stereotyping entire groups for actions of a few mirrors today’s gang narratives.
• Notable Descendants: Pam Bondi’s ancestors, Antonin Scalia.

4. Jewish Immigrants (1880s–1920s)

• Stereotypes: Schemers, communists.
• Cartoons: Depicted as financial manipulators and political radicals.
• Political Advantage Gained: Fear of Jewish communism fueled immigration restrictions and anti-Semitic policies.
• Contributions: Revolutionized American business, science, media, and culture.
• Modern Echo: Conspiracy theories targeting Jewish influence persist today.

5. Mexican and Central American Immigrants (1940s–Present)

• Stereotypes: Criminals, welfare drains.
• Modern Imagery: Border “invasions” rhetoric.
• Political Advantage Gained: Immigration fears have been used to energize nationalist voter bases and influence major elections.
• Contributions: Provide essential labor in agriculture, construction, service industries, and military service.
• Modern Echo: Caravan fears and crime rhetoric mimic earlier anti-Irish, anti-Chinese narratives.

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Beth’s Summary

America’s fear of immigrants is a tired script — cultural, economic, and political anxieties repackaged for each generation. Yet history proves these fears wrong, as immigrants enrich the nation. Fear may win votes, but it’s a shaky foundation for a strong America. Let’s learn from the past to build a fairer future.

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Teaser for Tomorrow

Tomorrow, we’ll explore Pam Bondi’s great-grandparents’ journey as Italian immigrants. Could they have entered under today’s immigration laws? We’ll find out — and compare then vs. now.

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