Video: The U.S. is worse for immigrants than immigrants are for the U.S.

Via Mother Jones

Confusing, right? We are so used to listening to rhetoric about how immigrants are bad for our country that we never consider whether their lives here are worth all the sacrifices so many make to come to our country.

The Daily Show does a great piece here on what academics call the “immigrant paradox,” wherein immigrants tend to have better health outcomes than their native-born counterparts. In fact, their health tends to decline the longer they stay here, and continues to worsen with each generation (of course, I don’t agree with the fat-shaming definition of “health” that’s used in this video). So maybe, coming to the U.S. hurts immigrants way more than the U.S. hurts from accepting new residents.

Oh wait, the U.S. actually benefits from immigration. Aasif Mandvi points out that immigrants make significant contributions to the economy, often putting in more than they take out. I guess immigration is really only a bummer for the immigrants then.

Mandvi ends his skit with the following question, “Are you sure [our biggest problem] is illegals? Because it might be…..reactionary, fear-based rhetoric and the inability to come up with middle of the road solutions for complex problems.” Aaaaand yes. He might be right.

Juliana Britto Schwartz probably dresses up like Frida Kahlo a little too often.