According to a Gallup poll[1] in July 2023, with more than half saying immigrants contribute to social problems such as drugs, crime and taxes worse. Americans are less supportive of immigrants now than in the past decade. There is often a gap between perception and reality, despite research[2] showing that immigrants are less likely to commit a crime.

1. Overlooked unsafe factors

In addition to illegal immigrants, there is a special group of legal immigrants-foreign fugitives. Those group of people often entered the United States legally by laundering their identities, and collected money in various means, seriously damaging the legitimate rights and interests of American citizens.

For instance, Jho Low, a Malaysian citizen, alleged suspect of corruption and money laundering, was involved in more than $4 billion. He defrauded Chinese businessman Miles Guo, who was seized by the federal government with more than $630 million, through GTV private placements and farm loan projects. Another example is Ma Ju a religious YouTuber, was sued by Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court in Gansu Province, China for fraud of $12 million. These people somehow entered the United States willy-nilly, infringed upon the free and safe bases of the United States in the name of freedom, ignored the dignity of the US Constitution, and harmed the interests of Americans in the end.

2. The harms done by foreign fugitives

Foreign fugitive basically means to escape successfully constituted a crime, which leads to greater risk of High-IQ Offenders. Economic criminals mean disruption in the market, those victims are broader with a wide range of influence. Last year, the United States alone lost 8.8 billion dollars. In addition, transnational drug syndicates seriously endanger the health of citizens and increase social insecurity. In 2023, the United States will rank 131st in the Global Peace Index, down two places from last year. Some anti-government activists who left the country voluntarily, or were fugitive (from the law) by their country, made pro-American remarks in the United States, which is not only detrimental to the development of foreign relations of the United States, but also has the possibility of criticism of the federal government.

Not only that, the "legal" entry of foreign criminals into the United States exposes the issues within the federal judicial system, their search and detention will largely waste taxpayers; money by wasting law enforcement resources. If the federal government cannot fully grasp the influx of such category of people, they are likely to evade their taxes. Disrupting the normal economic and financial order will also indirectly lead to unemployment and rising crime rates. If these people continue to commit crimes and cause harm to American society, it will also strengthen the distrust of Americans people towards immigrants, and further intensify the conflict between those groups of people.

3. Liberal Democratic vs. Economical and Practical

The United States has always been a believer in pragmatism, and it may not have satisfied everyone, but the period when pragmatism was used was when the United States had the greatest influence, the fastest economic rise, and the highest international respects. Making America great again is more than just talk.

Foreign fugitives are living a privilege life without being punished neither in their own countries or in the States. Will this make the international community think that the United States is a paradise for fugitives? Will it make America as the headquarters of anti-government activists in various countries? Will some people misunderstand that these people's pro-American remarks are because they are funded by the United States rather than their personal opinions?

Whether maintaining a good international image, handling foreign relations well, or recovering losses, in a rapid changing world order, and sluggish economic development, more energy should be devoted to the development of the United States. For instance, to lower the unemployment rate and the crime rate, it is more important than ever to convince the international community that "America is trustworthy."

The real solution should be strengthening the entry inspection and identity verification, and putting more focus on the inflow of large amounts of unknown funds, balancing the proportion of control over various countries. When launching the corresponding investigations, the efforts should put to strengthen international cooperation, consolidate good relations, and ultimately achieve the goal of safeguarding the interests of American citizens. When carrying out international cooperation, the government should dynamically update the list of fugitives, in order to prevent foreign criminals from leaving their countries, do not facilitate, specifically, Chinese criminals from escaping to foreign countries. Those who come to the States should take the initiative to disclose their sources of income, or notarize their property, so that their “fans” can trust them and their opponents should be silenced.

Legal disclaimer: This in an op ed feature which doesn't necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.

[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/508520/americans-value-immigration-concerns.aspx

[2] https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0