In opposing President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, there is a notion going around that, actually, an immigrant influx is the way to bring the United States back to prosperity. The New York Times has editorialized as much — but misses that the family is at the center of most immigrant communities.

The outlet has the idea that, one, deportation is plain wrong, and two, immigration is the last hope for our fertility crisis.

Certainly, immigrants have the family aspect down more than the average American family: Intergenerational housing, cultural networks, multifamily communities, and other family-oriented traditions make the case for them. Sociologist Brad Wilcox notes in his book Get Married that Asian Americans have the most stable families, largely because of an Eastern “family-first orientation.”

However, the New York Times editorial fails to emphasize as much, let alone mention it. The perspective in the piece on the “basic imperative” that “America needs more people” reduces the population premise to people-infusion and job-filling. 

Instead, the emphasis is on the purported evilness of Trump. On his deportation ideas, but on “demonization” of immigrants, in general: “Mr. Trump will not succeed in making immigrants disappear.” As if that were his goal: In the least charitable but realistic assessment of the president-elect, Trump just wants whatever is most to his personal interest. In a more charitable and more likely light, he believes earnestly that illegal immigrants are causing serious harm to the U.S., and a grand overhaul is required before more common legislation.

That outlook does not matter, however, when what defines pure, Deep South immigrant demonization is the refusal to grant American benefits to people here illegally. Indeed, the argument is a nonstarter since one crucial point of the piece is, “After decades of political malpractice and misjudgment, there is also no better alternative” to giving citizenship to people in the U.S. illegally.

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There is nuance to the matter, and it lies somewhere between denying help to illegal immigrants and throwing up one’s hands at their invasion. Immigrants have much to offer on the fronts of family ethic and economic stimulation. However, such diversion away from the family side of things is familiar — recall the deliberate omission of the family as a tip for avoiding isolation in U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 2023 advisory on loneliness.

In reality, family structure is a determinant of several life outcomes, and traditional family structure is key. It will be a bit of both immigration and U.S.-specific family policy that counteracts the flailing fertility rate, but it mostly has to come from within. Families need proper support and young people need encouragement, and it seems that these things are incoming with the new administration.