Listen to this note:
Despite the rise of a negative narrative about immigrants in the United States, largely due to the recent general elections, a study by the University of Utah reveals that this sector of the population is more willing to serve in the civic and military sectors than citizens born in the country.
“Immigrants’ commitment to the U.S. may be much stronger than people think, and their appreciation for the values and opportunities that the U.S. offers are things they may feel willing to fight for, protect and defend,” said Professor Christopher Simon, lead author of the study, which also includes Canada.
Research by Simon and his team highlights that migrants from Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the Philippines, China, Germany, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom show a greater willingness to fight for the security of the United States and Canada through service in the armed forces and navy than Americans themselves.
In this sense, anti-immigrant sentiment could be detrimental to national security in the U.S., said Nicholas Lovrich, co-author of the study and professor emeritus of political science at Washington State University and current research associate at the University of Utah.
The Utah investigation also warns that the US military system faces major recruitment challenges and that, were it not for migrant enlistees, the country would be facing a crisis.
“We used to recruit a broader spectrum of Americans from diverse areas, both geographic and otherwise, willing to serve, but that is diminishing almost everywhere. The group with the strongest support is immigrants coming to this country,” Lovrich said.
Indicators show that families in the US are getting smaller and that the fewer members a nuclear family has, the less Americans want their children to join the military.
“All of these indicators are going in the opposite direction to recruitment, except in the case of immigrants. That is why it does not make much sense to close our borders to those coming from abroad at this time.”
There are 1.3 million active-duty military personnel in the U.S., or 2 million if you include the reserves. This is roughly 11% of the adult population. The percentage is declining annually, so, according to the study, recruiting goals are not being met.
The Utah research found that immigrants join the military not so much out of a militaristic or nationalistic attitude, as Americans do, but out of a sense of connection to the country and civic service.
“People aren’t blindly saying they’re willing to serve [in the military],” Simon said. “In some cases, for example, they say they’re less willing to fight if it’s a war between countries, but more willing if it’s a terrorism-related issue.”
The research, Simon noted, was based on social identity theory and depth psychology theory, “which made for a pretty solid study by extending our theoretical framework beyond the existing literature on military sociology.”
The Utah study, which also included military experts, concludes that U.S. security depends largely on migrants and that the anti-immigrant narrative is therefore detrimental to the country.
Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0095327X241269905
You may be interested in: Repercussions of Trump's threatened mass deportations are serious business: Gavin Newsom
