Beyond the Clash: How a Deliberative Public Talks about Immigration

Over the course of 2018 and continuing into January 2019, an array of organizations, including libraries, local associations, college departments, community groups, and others, convened 86 nonpartisan public forums in towns and cities in 28 states across the country. Held under the auspices of the National Issues Forums Institute, these forums took place in all sorts of venues. The people who attended them chose to take part in discussions about one of the nation’s pressing  issues: immigration.

This report describes how people think about immigration, what they hold valuable, the experiences they bring to bear on this topic, how they grapple with the costs and trade-offs associated with an influx of immigrants, and how their thinking evolves over the course of these deliberations.

Findings of this report include:

1. People began by talking about immigration largely in personal terms, drawing on their own experiences, positive and negative, and on recollections of their families’ immigrant heritage.2. For many participants, considering immigration and the policies associated with it was a new and demanding experience.3. There is limited understanding about the impact of immigrants, both locally and nationally.4. Most forum participants had one of two clear starting points, which in many ways were mirror opposites.5. Through the course of deliberation, many who started with one perspective began to show signs of modifying their views.6. As they worked to reconcile competing understandings of what they held most important, participants wrestled with the specific dilemmas involved in dealing with those who are here without permission.7. There is more common ground on immigration than is generally recognized.8. People welcome constructive occasions to exchange views about this complex and emotional public issue.

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