I hear your immigration concerns, now hear mine

Immigrants and refugees would love the privilege of cleaning your home, cutting your grass or tending to your children; in fact, the reason they know the way to your city is because previous waves of friends or relatives found work there.

Also, there is no real constituency for an open border. In 2017, the U.S. government spent about $40.6 billion on the Department of Homeland Security, with about a fifth of that amount going to border security.

On top of that, immigration restrictionists don't know much about history. They don't have a clue that it was assumed that the Germans wouldn't learn English, the Chinese could never assimilate, the Irish took jobs at lower wages, and the Italians sent money to relatives back home.

Still, many Americans remain bothered by immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Again, I hear you. But you're not the only one who is bothered. What bugs me is the tone of the immigration debate.

You don't like being called "racist." Fine.

But hear this: I don't like that, while you're willing to admit that much of the historical opposition to previous immigrant waves was rooted in racism and bigotry, you claim that those things are not factors today.

I also don't like that Donald Trump kicked off his White House bid by labeling my grandfather and every other Mexican immigrant a criminal, rapist and drug dealer, and saying that Mexico doesn't send its "best." Hogwash. The risktakers are always among the best any society has to offer.

You resent it when people make blatant statements about your side. I get that.

But hear this: I could do without those readers who think that anyone with a Latino surname can't have an opinion about immigration; a charming woman once told me that asking a Mexican American what to do about immigration from Mexico was like letting Germans soldiers plan the D-Day invasion.

I don't like simplistic solutions, or when anecdotes get offered up in place of data, research, reporting or thoughtful analysis. I don't like how the dialogue over immigration is often dishonest, or accusatory, or without nuance. I don't like it when some people play dumb and pretend not to know that employers are the real source of the problem -- and that, without jobs, there would be no illegal immigration.

In the immigration debate, these are a few of my least favorite things.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.