Immigration Is Democracy
Marielena Hincapié on how to close the chasm between them
Marielena Hincapié is a Distinguished Immigration Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School, and the former Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and NILC Immigrant Justice Fund. She is writing a forthcoming book, Becoming America: A Personal History of a Nation’s Immigration Wars (Flatiron Books).
Inspired by my experience immigrating from Medellín, Colombia to the working-class city of Central Falls, Rhode Island, for the last three decades I’ve worked to advance the rights of low-income immigrants so they could have the same opportunities that my family enjoyed. Over the last decade, as I saw how authoritarians around the globe embraced anti-immigrant narratives and extremist immigration restrictions, I began to see immigration as an issue critical to safeguarding democracy. I started connecting with the pro-democracy field, but what I found surprised me.
There is a chasm between the pro-democracy and pro-immigration communities, both in the U.S. and globally, which is deeply troubling and carries dire consequences for both fields. We no longer have the luxury of being in silos or fighting for democracy or immigrant rights; the two are interlinked. Americans need to build bridges and have courageous conversations about the state of our democracy, of which immigration is an integral part, laying the path forward for future generations.
In the U.S., anti-immigrant and immigration restrictions are terrorizing entire communities, impacting schools, workplaces, houses of worship, and the economy. The Trump administration is using them to challenge democracy itself, testing and pushing the bounds of the Constitution, including the rights to due process, habeas corpus, and freedom of speech.
The retaliatory measures against community leaders like SEIU California President David Huerta, Senator Alex Padilla, and journalist Mario Guevara, who have spoken out in defense of immigrants, intend to make an example of each and are having a chilling effect on protected free speech and freedom of assembly. So are the troops being sent to Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and likely other cities soon. The Trump administration’s dogged efforts to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia again, now to a third country, for exercising his legal right to a fair day in court, is more than immigration enforcement—it demonstrates how executive overreach can circumvent checks and balances, not just against one person, but across the system. What’s at stake in Ábrego García’s case is not just fairness for one man—it’s the future of the rule of law. When executive power can override courts and send someone to a country they’ve never known simply because they fought for their rights, democracy is in peril.
Despite the mounting evidence that immigration and democracy are interconnected, the communities of activists, artists, academics, and policymakers focused on these issues don’t interact as much as they should. They haven’t often been in the same spaces, and they tend to operate on different time horizons: immigration is more immediate and requires rapid response, while democracy is more medium-to-long term, often organized around electoral cycles. Over the years, many democracy activists have focused abroad (even as signs of weakening democracy in the U.S. were increasingly evident), while immigration activists have concentrated on the domestic scene, too often ignoring the foreign policies and factors that compel migrants to leave their homelands. Yet on the other side, people pursuing nationalist, anti-immigrant agendas have long been strategizing and sharing narratives and funding across borders.
In the U.S., democracy advocates have ceded ground to the far right on immigration debates, failing to recognize the extent to which this issue provides an opening to populist leaders. Immigration has largely been seen as a separate issue from democracy, or even a third rail, rather than being viewed as core to the democratic project. A deeper examination of the nexus between democracy and immigration is necessary to develop a long-term strategy for sustainable immigration policy that can garner popular support, address complex immigration challenges, and promote a holistic approach to strengthening democracy. This examination could include learning across the two communities, listening to and understanding perspectives from across the political spectrum, gaining a historical and global understanding of how the divide between democracy and immigration developed, and assessing how immigration restrictions erode democracy.
Fighting for democracy and for fair immigration policies are not separate battles; they are one struggle over whether democracy will be inclusive or exclusionary, expansive or contracting.
Immigration at the “Intermestic” Nexus
Immigration is not just a question of policy, it is a mirror: the way a nation treats immigrants reflects the strength and integrity of its democracy. In many countries, that mirror is cracking. Authoritarian leaders use immigrants and refugees as pawns—from Belarus and Russia weaponizing border crossings, to governments in Hungary and Italy scapegoating migrants to consolidate power. By framing immigrants as existential threats, these leaders justify emergency powers, expand executive control, and weaken democratic checks and balances. In short, immigration policy lives at the intersection of domestic and global democratic trends.
Immigration advocates in the U.S. need to take a broader, more global perspective. Geopolitical dynamics, foreign policy, and international trade frequently drive migration. War, authoritarian crackdowns, and climate change are often the push factors that compel people to flee out of necessity rather than by choice. To reduce unlawful migration, U.S. policy should not be to wait until people arrive at our borders or airports. Investing in healthy democracies abroad ensures that individuals have the freedom to stay in their homeland. This makes foreign aid and international development even more critical—unfortunately, by freezing foreign aid and shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Trump administration is moving in the opposite direction. Ironically, this will likely lead to accelerating migration around the globe.
How America treats migrants at our borders and in our workplaces, schools, places of worship, courthouses—in other words, in our communities—speaks volumes to the world about the credibility of American democracy. A democracy that excludes cannot credibly defend democracy beyond its borders. If we erode due process at home for immigrants, we weaken the very democratic norms we claim to champion abroad. Conversely, if we model proportionality in enforcement, fairness in process, and inclusion in belonging, we strengthen the template for democracy everywhere.
Closing the Gap
Many segments of society can build bridges between democracy and immigration, including through the following potential steps:
Advocates: Build alliances between pro-immigration and pro-democracy communities, within the U.S. and abroad. Autocratic leaders often coordinate across borders; pro-democracy and pro-migrant forces must do the same. Work to address the root causes of displacement while collaborating to defend democracy in the U.S.
Philanthropy: Invest in cross-border learning. Fund exchanges where immigrant-led groups in the U.S. share strategies with movements in Europe, Latin America, and Africa facing similar struggles against illiberalism. Stop treating immigrant justice as a niche issue; instead, recognize that immigrant-led organizations are integral to democracy infrastructure. Support pro-democracy organizations in incorporating immigration into their work, and facilitate the development of an integrated democracy/immigration strategy in collaboration with immigration-focused groups.
Policymakers and Officials: Recognize that immigrant rights are democratic rights. Reject securitized frames that normalize excessive immigration enforcement. Insist on proportionality —a principle that ensures enforcement is fair, not punitive, and aligned with democratic values.
State & Local Leaders: Moments of crisis are opportunities to rethink and reimagine, and we need local leaders to be at the forefront. Their leadership is crucial in shaping an adaptable migration system that responds to the dynamic needs of communities and labor markets. They are frontline democracy defenders; governors and state attorneys general must continue to challenge unconstitutional immigration crackdowns that impact us all.
Here is the truth: democracy is about much more than the ballot box. It is about who belongs. Every time we redraw the boundaries of belonging to include those once excluded, we make democracy more real. Every time we scapegoat immigrants to consolidate power, we make democracy more fragile.
The fate of democracy and the fate of immigrants are inseparable—in the U.S. and everywhere. Immigration is not a side issue. It is democracy’s mirror. And what we see in it will define our future.