Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and professor at University of California, Berkeley, has tackled “The 4 Big Lies about Immigrants – and the Truth” in a recent piece on his blog.

Debunking these myths gives an important perspective to understanding the massive movements of people fleeing repression and war in the Middle East and the hostility they encounter in Europe. Closer to home we can apply Reich’s insights to children and others entering the United States across our southern border and second guess the billions of U.S. tax dollars spent on the “Great Wall of Mexico.”

Reich writes:

Myth: Immigrants take away American jobs. The opposite is true, he writes, explaining that immigrants create economic demand that in turn creates jobs.

Myth: We don’t need more immigrants. Wrong again, according to Reich. The U.S. population, like many European countries, is aging and immigrants balance the ratio between retirees and workers.

Myth: Immigrants drain public budgets. Wrong, immigrants pay taxes. Undocumented immigrants paid almost $12 billion in state and local taxes and comprehensive immigration reform would increase that by $2.2 billion.

Myth: Legal and illegal immigration is increasing. No, in fact, undocumented immigrants in this country have declined from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.3 today.

Truth: Reich writes that problems in the economy are not due to immigrants, whether legal or illegal. “The real problem is the economic game is rigged in favor of a handful at the top who are doing the rigging. We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, giving those who are undocumented a path to citizenship. Scapegoating them and other immigrants is shameful. And it’s just plain wrong.”