We know immigration is a hot topic. But why?
An immigrant does not have to be an illegal alien. An undocumented immigrant didn’t necessarily enter the country by fleeing across a border or stowing away on a ship.
With such stigma and polarization associated with immigration and immigration reform, here is yet another example of why the words we use really matter.
The phrase
Media outlets such as the Associated Press, USA Today, New York Times and L.A. Times have banned the phrase “illegal immigrants” in recent months, opting for “undocumented immigrants.”
The change reflects some increased accuracy and sensitivity when describing people. Criminals are legal people who have committed illegal acts; otherwise, “illegal immigrants” who might be law-abiding residents without immigration paperwork is defined as an illegal person.
On the other hand, the phrase “undocumented immigrant” clearly states the offense in question: An undocumented immigrant is someone who resides in a country without proper documentation. They might have entered the country without proper documentation or overstayed a visa, for example.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that neither the federal government nor state governments may “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” An undocumented immigrant has violated immigration requirements but is still a legal person. The equal protection clause was written to prevent state governments from defining any human being as anything less than a legal person.
The numbers
Immigrants account for nearly 1 in 5 Floridians, and about half of them are U.S. citizens who work, vote and pay taxes. The state hosts about 3.7 million immigrants, behind only California, New York and Texas. It stands to reason that Florida also hosts one of the largest populations of undocumented immigrants, who either overstayed a visa or entered the country illegally.
Take a look at these numbers, provided by the Immigration Policy Center and the Federation for American Immigration Reform, to get a picture of how immigration — both legal and illegal — affects the Sunshine State.
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- 49.7 percent of Florida’s immigrants, about 1.8 million people, are naturalized citizens.
- 24.7 percent of Florida’s workforce, about 2.3 million people, is made up of immigrants.
- Florida’s immigrants contribute about $20 billion in taxes every year.
- 38 percent of the Miami metropolitan area’s economy is attributed to immigrants.
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- 825,000 people in Florida, or about 4.5 percent of the state population, are undocumented immigrants.
- 600,000 undocumented immigrants work in Florida.
- Undocumented immigrants pay more than $800 million in state and local taxes such as property tax and sales tax.
- $5.4 billion is spent at the state and local levels on undocumented immigrants’ education, medical care and more.
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