By Steven Cohen, Ph.D., Director of the M.S. in Sustainability Management program, School of Professional Studies
There are about 342 million people living in the United States, and a little less than seven million are Native Americans. This nation was built on immigration. Some of us are the descendants of people who were brought here in chains, and some, like my grandparents, were chased out of their home countries by antisemitism or other forms of hatred and adversity. Many came here seeking opportunity in a land that seemed more open and freer than the places they came from. While the regulation of immigration has collapsed due to our dysfunctional national government, people are still trying to come here, even in the face of the xenophobia expressed by Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and their functionaries in ICE and other federal agencies. We are lucky that people still want to come here. In the modern, brain-based, global economy, our ability to attract ambitious and talented people remains a great asset to our nation and our economy. Immigration is what makes America unique and extraordinary. I am deeply saddened by the mean-spirited enforcement of immigration law terrorizing many throughout this land.
After the visible, terrifying tactics of ICE in Minnesota, the Trump Administration’s anti-immigration efforts have shifted to less visible strategies. According to a recent article in the New York Times by Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz, Christopher Flavelle, Emily Cochrane, and Glenn Thrush:
“… when Mr. Miller arrived one day last spring at the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for an update from agency leaders, an official raised a question on many agents’ minds: Who exactly should they be going after? Mr. Miller was unequivocal, according to three people with knowledge of the meeting. Agents should not limit themselves to dangerous criminals. Instead, they should stop people with the lowest level of reasonable suspicion, and detain anyone in the country illegally, with warrantless arrests. His message was clear: Push the limits. Eight months later, Mr. Miller did something startling — he backpedaled. His demands had helped set in motion militarized operations on the streets of Democratic-run cities, intensified by immigration agents killing two U.S. citizens protesting in Minneapolis. After initially denouncing one of the slain protesters, an intensive care nurse, as a would-be assassin, Mr. Miller offered a rare concession that immigration authorities might have made a mistake…Mr. Miller, who holds the dual titles of deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, continues to preside over regular calls with national security and immigration officials. He is pushing for new ways to squeeze the lives of undocumented immigrants and those with legal protections, such as making it harder to get public housing or other benefits, officials said. He has targeted those with refugee status, particularly Somalis, a group he has long derided…”
Miller’s relentless attack on people coming to the United States from abroad has extended to international students who seek to study and hopefully work here. He frequently misstates facts about immigrant crime and productivity. He is not alone in his effort to attack immigrants and convince them to leave the United States. In the United States these days, there are two starkly conflicting views of immigration. In the view of the Trump Administration, immigrants are diluting America’s culture, stealing America’s treasure, and taking jobs from more qualified Americans. In my view, immigrants have always influenced and enhanced America’s culture, economy, technology, and even its cuisine—sushi, anyone? How about a bagel or a slice of pizza? Immigrant labor and brainpower add to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the creativity and innovation of American technology. The talent and work ethic of immigrants are obvious to anyone who is willing to study facts instead of believing ideological propaganda.
New York City is a unique global city because we seek and attract people from all over the world. Even though immigration is being attacked from Washington, and the number of immigrants settling in New York City has declined this past year, 66,000 immigrants still settled in New York City in 2025. There are about 3 million people living in New York City who were born in other countries, which is about 37% of our population. Their work ethic is obvious since that 37% comprises 44.2% of our labor force. There are probably half a million people living here who are undocumented. If the Trump Administration succeeds in chasing them away, it would set in motion an economic catastrophe that could well result in the President’s own New York properties losing a significant amount of their value.
We have a problem in this country with about ten million or more people who are here illegally. The answer to that problem is not deportation but a path to legality. People who are productive members of our community should not only be allowed to stay, but they should be encouraged to remain and to ask their friends and relatives to join them. Despite the lack of sufficient legal pathways to citizenship, the appeal of this country is so great that people have taken huge risks to get here. Those risk takers and, yes, dreamers are the bedrock of America’s actual greatness. Discouraging them and deporting them is an economic and cultural disaster.
My own family has been in America for a little more than a century. But my grandparents’ story and their sacrifices for their children is the heart of the American story. It was no small matter for people to travel thousands of miles by land and sea to get here at the start of the 20th century. For many of today’s immigrants, the voyage was even more dangerous and arduous than the one my four grandparents endured. It is beyond shameful that immigrants have been demonized by some who blame them for the pain of America’s economic transition from a manufacturing to a global service economy. They are also blamed for the decline in family life and even religion, despite the fact that they are more religious and family-oriented than many of the people born here. Immigrants commit far fewer crimes than non-immigrants. They are our neighbors, friends, and colleagues.
In his 1958 book, A Nation of Immigrants, John F. Kennedy observed that: “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life." He also wrote that:
“Immigration is by definition a gesture of faith in social mobility. It is the expression in action of a positive belief in the possibility of a better life. It has thus contributed greatly to developing the spirit of personal betterment in American society and to strengthening the national confidence in change and the future.”
At the end of his presidency, Ronald Reagan said:
“We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people—our strength—from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”
Finally, my late Columbia colleague and former mayor, David Dinkins, discussed New York City’s global diversity in his Mayoral inaugural address in 1990. Rejecting the notion of pure assimilation, he observed that:
“I see New York as a gorgeous mosaic of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation, of individuals whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago, coming through Ellis Island or Kennedy Airport or on buses bound for the Port Authority. In that spirit, I offer this fundamental pledge: I intend to be the mayor of all the people of New York. This administration will never lead by dividing, by setting some of us against the rest of us, or by favoring one group over others.”
The image of the mosaic is one where each tile is distinctive but beautiful when combined and viewed at a distance. The mayor’s promise to seek common ground rather than division sounds almost quaint in these polarized times. I try to remind myself of these twentieth-century leaders to counter the distressing and depressing hatred and xenophobia of today’s America-First advocates. I was inspired by this view of New York City and indeed of America as a place welcoming and open to all. Despite the current administration’s policies, America will always be, as JFK called it, “a nation of immigrants.”'
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
The Columbia University M.S. in Sustainability Management program offered by the School of Professional Studies in partnership with the Climate School provides students cutting-edge policy and management tools they can use to help public and private organizations and governments address environmental impacts and risks, pollution control, and remediation to achieve sustainability. The program is customized for working professionals and is offered as both a full- and part-time course of study.
