What I’m hearing from voters, what the data shows, and where North Carolina should go from here.
One subject comes up over and over when I’m having conversations with people across Senate District 44: immigration.
People ask whether undocumented immigrants are taking jobs from North Carolinians. Some wonder whether they are driving wages down. Others are worried about how fast our communities are changing. They are trying to make sense of what they hear, and they deserve more than a slogan from either side.
I spent thirty years teaching history and civics. One habit I tried to teach my students was to slow down before reaching a conclusion. Look at the evidence. Ask another question. Be willing to change your mind if the facts point in a different direction. That is still how I try to approach public issues.
I recently read an analysis from Carolina Forward that examined North Carolina labor-force participation, unemployment, and wage data. It drew on figures from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and broader economic research. The findings do not support the claim that undocumented immigrants are broadly taking jobs or driving down wages in our state.
When you look at North Carolina’s economy, the picture is not as simple as it is often made out to be. Employers across the state are still looking for workers. Farmers need people to plant and harvest crops. Construction companies need skilled workers. Child care centers cannot find enough teachers. Restaurants, nursing homes, and many small businesses continue looking for dependable employees. Some manufacturers are hiring while others are dealing with a slower economy.
If undocumented immigrants were simply taking jobs away from North Carolinians, it would be hard to explain why so many employers are still trying to fill open positions.
At the same time, I do not want to pretend working families have it easy. They do not. The cost of groceries keeps climbing. Housing is harder to afford. Child care costs more than many families can manage. Health care is expensive. Rural communities are fighting to keep hospitals, schools, and local businesses alive. Those are the concerns I hear most often when I am talking with people around the district.
Blaming immigrants does not lower the rent.
It does not make child care affordable. It does not keep a rural hospital open. It does not strengthen our public schools or create better-paying jobs in Cleveland, Lincoln, or Gaston counties. Those problems have been building for years, and they will take serious work to fix.
Immigrant workers are also part of our local economy. They buy groceries, rent homes, shop in local stores, and spend money in the same communities where they work. Many work in agriculture, construction, food processing, hospitality, landscaping, and other jobs employers have struggled to fill for years.
I do not believe our immigration system is working. The border should be managed. The law should mean something. People who want to come here should have a legal system that is fair, orderly, and one they can realistically follow. Congress has spent years arguing about immigration without fixing it, leaving states and local communities to deal with the results.
We also need to talk about employers. Some take advantage of undocumented workers because they know those workers are afraid to speak up. That hurts every worker. It gives dishonest businesses an advantage over honest ones, holds wages down, and creates unsafe workplaces. The answer is not to blame the worker trying to earn a living. The answer is to hold employers accountable when they steal wages, ignore safety laws, or knowingly break the rules.
As your state senator, I would not be writing federal immigration law. That is Congress’s job. My responsibility would be to work on the things North Carolina can actually change. We need stronger public schools, better workforce training, more apprenticeships, affordable child care, support for community colleges, and policies that help small businesses hire and keep good workers.
Those are practical steps that strengthen our economy and help working families.
I know some people reading this will disagree with me, and that is all right. Reasonable people can see immigration differently. What I hope we can agree on is that North Carolina’s biggest challenges will not be solved by blaming one group of people for every problem we face.
We can disagree about immigration policy while still working together to improve our schools, support local businesses, strengthen our communities, and make life a little easier for working families. That is the kind of conversation I want to have, and that is the kind of senator I hope to be.