Title: Ten Myths About Immigration | Learning for Justice
Headings: Ten Myths About Immigration
Ten Myths About Immigration
1. Most immigrants are here illegally.
2. It's easy to enter the country legally. My ancestors did; why can’t immigrants today?
3. Today's immigrants don't want to learn English.
4. Immigrants take good jobs from U.S. citizens.
5. “The worst” people from other countries are coming to the United States and bringing crime and violence.
6. Undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes and burden the national economy.
7. The United States is being overrun by immigrants like never before.
8. We can stop undocumented immigrants coming to the United States by building a wall along the border with Mexico.
9. Banning immigrants and refugees from majority-Muslim countries will protect the United States from terrorists.
10. Refugees are not screened before entering the United States.

Content: Immigrants must speak, read, write and understand the English language, not only for the naturalization application process, but also so they can pass a 100-question civics test that has both oral and written components. It’s also worth discussing with students that the current demand for English instruction is greater than the services available in many parts of the country. Also explore with them false assumptions about “today’s” immigrants versus those who arrived in prior generations. For example, ask students to find out how long it took their ancestors to stop using their first language. “ Earlier immigrant groups held on to their cultures fiercely,” notes Reimers. “ When the United States entered the First World War [in 1917], there were over 700 German-language newspapers. Yet German immigration had peaked in the 1870s.” 4. Immigrants take good jobs from U.S. citizens. Ask students what kinds of jobs they think immigrants are taking.