Around the world, people clap and cheer for healthcare workers. Other previously unsung heroes, including garbage collectors, grocery store employees, and delivery workers have received their own line of action figures, and Google has even used its doodle to draw attention to the importance of these workers. However, what is often left out is just how many of these workers are migrants.
When it comes to the negative aspects of migration, people overestimate. According to a poll by The Guardian, one quarter of French respondents believe migrants receive twice as much government aid as native-born citizens – which is not true at all, and most Americans believe 25% of migrants are unemployed – when it is really under 5%. This disparity is because consistently negative portrayals of migrants have created confirmation bias, which is when people believe information that is consistent with previous beliefs. For years, migrants have been portrayed as burdens, leaving many to associate them with unemployment and benefits.
However, Covid-19 is shining light on reality. Migrants are overrepresented in ‘low-skilled’ professions related to health, personal care, transport, and food processing – the very jobs now celebrated as the front lines of the Covid-19 response. In the EU, migrants make up 13% of key workers. In the US, migrants make up only 17% of the working population, yet account for 29% of physicians and 38% of health home aids. Nearly half of the US’ field workers are undocumented immigrants. The UK’s health sector is also disproportionately worked by migrants, even as the looming Brexit transition may force them out on 31 December.
A viral UK video titled, ‘You Clap For Me Now’ sheds light on how the very words used by the far-right to refer to migrants – ‘foreign,’ ‘unsafe,’ and ‘stealing jobs’ – not only perfectly describe the virus, but the intended subjects, migrants, are now essential to mitigating the effects of this virus. Migrants often bring specialized skills with them, and the Covid-19 pandemic has forced communities to use any workers on hand, citizens or not.
In The Netherlands, refugees and asylum seekers have stepped up as volunteers to help keep residents safe. Germany has called on migrant workers to act as doctors and nurses. In France, refugees from Libya and Somalia join the growing number of migrants using their medical experience to help the growing number of Covid-19 patients. Even as Trump attempts to blame migrants for the pandemic, ICE has halted arrests, especially at hospitals and care facilities. Some US states have allowed migrant doctors without US licenses to practice in their communities, just as Buenos Aires has done for Venezuelans.
Just because the benefits of migration are now in the spotlight does not mean that they are new. The economic benefits of migration have been known long before Covid-19, not to mention the benefits of offsetting increasingly aging populations in many receiving countries. One migrant worker in the US says that despite the growing acknowledgement that migrant workers are essential, he does not expect the conversation about immigration to change in the US. The UK appears to have the same concern, as the popular video ends with a plea to not forget that migrant workers were crucial to fighting Covid-19.
image source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024
Western countries have, as The Guardian put it last year, ‘fallen for manufactured rage’ concerning migration. As the survey above demonstrates, citizens have created confirmation bias that has associated migrants with government benefits and unemployment. The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged these assumptions, forcing communities to acknowledge the importance of essential workers – most of whom are migrants. One can only hope that these stories continue to resonate when the negative stories of migrant ‘hordes’ inevitably circulate once more.
Note: This article is also posted on our Building Trust campaign website as part of a series of articles on immigration, building trust and media literacy.
Related Posts
Around the world, people clap and cheer for healthcare workers. Other previously unsung heroes, including garbage collectors, grocery store employees, and delivery workers have received their own line of action figures, and Google has even used its doodle to draw attention to the importance of these workers. However, what is often left out is just how many of these workers are migrants.
When it comes to the negative aspects of migration, people overestimate. According to a poll by The Guardian, one quarter of French respondents believe migrants receive twice as much government aid as native-born citizens – which is not true at all, and most Americans believe 25% of migrants are unemployed – when it is really under 5%. This disparity is because consistently negative portrayals of migrants have created confirmation bias, which is when people believe information that is consistent with previous beliefs. For years, migrants have been portrayed as burdens, leaving many to associate them with unemployment and benefits.
However, Covid-19 is shining light on reality. Migrants are overrepresented in ‘low-skilled’ professions related to health, personal care, transport, and food processing – the very jobs now celebrated as the front lines of the Covid-19 response. In the EU, migrants make up 13% of key workers. In the US, migrants make up only 17% of the working population, yet account for 29% of physicians and 38% of health home aids. Nearly half of the US’ field workers are undocumented immigrants. The UK’s health sector is also disproportionately worked by migrants, even as the looming Brexit transition may force them out on 31 December.
A viral UK video titled, ‘You Clap For Me Now’ sheds light on how the very words used by the far-right to refer to migrants – ‘foreign,’ ‘unsafe,’ and ‘stealing jobs’ – not only perfectly describe the virus, but the intended subjects, migrants, are now essential to mitigating the effects of this virus. Migrants often bring specialized skills with them, and the Covid-19 pandemic has forced communities to use any workers on hand, citizens or not.
In The Netherlands, refugees and asylum seekers have stepped up as volunteers to help keep residents safe. Germany has called on migrant workers to act as doctors and nurses. In France, refugees from Libya and Somalia join the growing number of migrants using their medical experience to help the growing number of Covid-19 patients. Even as Trump attempts to blame migrants for the pandemic, ICE has halted arrests, especially at hospitals and care facilities. Some US states have allowed migrant doctors without US licenses to practice in their communities, just as Buenos Aires has done for Venezuelans.
Just because the benefits of migration are now in the spotlight does not mean that they are new. The economic benefits of migration have been known long before Covid-19, not to mention the benefits of offsetting increasingly aging populations in many receiving countries. One migrant worker in the US says that despite the growing acknowledgement that migrant workers are essential, he does not expect the conversation about immigration to change in the US. The UK appears to have the same concern, as the popular video ends with a plea to not forget that migrant workers were crucial to fighting Covid-19.
image source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024
Western countries have, as The Guardian put it last year, ‘fallen for manufactured rage’ concerning migration. As the survey above demonstrates, citizens have created confirmation bias that has associated migrants with government benefits and unemployment. The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged these assumptions, forcing communities to acknowledge the importance of essential workers – most of whom are migrants. One can only hope that these stories continue to resonate when the negative stories of migrant ‘hordes’ inevitably circulate once more.
Note: This article is also posted on our Building Trust campaign website as part of a series of articles on immigration, building trust and media literacy.
Related Posts
Around the world, people clap and cheer for healthcare workers. Other previously unsung heroes, including garbage collectors, grocery store employees, and delivery workers have received their own line of action figures, and Google has even used its doodle to draw attention to the importance of these workers. However, what is often left out is just how many of these workers are migrants.
When it comes to the negative aspects of migration, people overestimate. According to a poll by The Guardian, one quarter of French respondents believe migrants receive twice as much government aid as native-born citizens – which is not true at all, and most Americans believe 25% of migrants are unemployed – when it is really under 5%. This disparity is because consistently negative portrayals of migrants have created confirmation bias, which is when people believe information that is consistent with previous beliefs. For years, migrants have been portrayed as burdens, leaving many to associate them with unemployment and benefits.
However, Covid-19 is shining light on reality. Migrants are overrepresented in ‘low-skilled’ professions related to health, personal care, transport, and food processing – the very jobs now celebrated as the front lines of the Covid-19 response. In the EU, migrants make up 13% of key workers. In the US, migrants make up only 17% of the working population, yet account for 29% of physicians and 38% of health home aids. Nearly half of the US’ field workers are undocumented immigrants. The UK’s health sector is also disproportionately worked by migrants, even as the looming Brexit transition may force them out on 31 December.
A viral UK video titled, ‘You Clap For Me Now’ sheds light on how the very words used by the far-right to refer to migrants – ‘foreign,’ ‘unsafe,’ and ‘stealing jobs’ – not only perfectly describe the virus, but the intended subjects, migrants, are now essential to mitigating the effects of this virus. Migrants often bring specialized skills with them, and the Covid-19 pandemic has forced communities to use any workers on hand, citizens or not.
In The Netherlands, refugees and asylum seekers have stepped up as volunteers to help keep residents safe. Germany has called on migrant workers to act as doctors and nurses. In France, refugees from Libya and Somalia join the growing number of migrants using their medical experience to help the growing number of Covid-19 patients. Even as Trump attempts to blame migrants for the pandemic, ICE has halted arrests, especially at hospitals and care facilities. Some US states have allowed migrant doctors without US licenses to practice in their communities, just as Buenos Aires has done for Venezuelans.
Just because the benefits of migration are now in the spotlight does not mean that they are new. The economic benefits of migration have been known long before Covid-19, not to mention the benefits of offsetting increasingly aging populations in many receiving countries. One migrant worker in the US says that despite the growing acknowledgement that migrant workers are essential, he does not expect the conversation about immigration to change in the US. The UK appears to have the same concern, as the popular video ends with a plea to not forget that migrant workers were crucial to fighting Covid-19.
image source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024
Western countries have, as The Guardian put it last year, ‘fallen for manufactured rage’ concerning migration. As the survey above demonstrates, citizens have created confirmation bias that has associated migrants with government benefits and unemployment. The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged these assumptions, forcing communities to acknowledge the importance of essential workers – most of whom are migrants. One can only hope that these stories continue to resonate when the negative stories of migrant ‘hordes’ inevitably circulate once more.
Note: This article is also posted on our Building Trust campaign website as part of a series of articles on immigration, building trust and media literacy.
