The Immigrant Superpower: How Brains, Brawn, and Bravery Make America Stronger. Tim Kane. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2022.
“Brawn, bravery, and brains.” Tim Kane wants to change the way you think about immigrants and their contributions to the United States.[1] The Immigrant Superpower: How Brains, Brawn, and Bravery Make America Stronger is his argument for why they are not only beneficial for the U.S., but necessary, despite a stigma surrounding immigrants in America. As an economist, Kane is careful with his words and approaches the topic from an analytical sense rather than a truly polemical one. This allows readers to form their own opinions about immigrants with a better idea of the footprint these foreigners leave in the American economy. Kane clearly supports immigrants in America. However, he presents his case in an unbiased manner, sharing statistics about immigrants that help the reader understand why he holds the opinion he does. The primary argument of The Immigrant Superpower is that immigrants work hard for the benefit of America, often more than native-born citizens.
Kane is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a double major in economics and political science. Throughout his career he has worn many hats, leading him to his current position as a research fellow in the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. His focus is on economics and immigration in America. Now as a civilian Kane hosts Why America?, a podcast on the benefits of immigration. Tim Kane is beyond qualified to write a book about immigrants in America.
Through his book, Kane outlines three strengths delivered by immigrants to America: brawn, bravery, and brains. Immigrants often fill undesirable jobs, such as construction or garbage collection, and they are willing to work harder for their success than many native-born citizens. Even in desirable fields such as technology, Kane argues that immigrants are not stealing jobs from native-born citizens, despite the fact that many people claim this is happening. They instead create their own jobs, which benefits the American economy as a whole. And when immigrants do take existing jobs, they tend to take them from other immigrants, but not native-born citizens. Furthermore, immigrants serve their country by filling a large share of the military. Kane promotes the pathway to citizenship available for immigrants who are able and willing to serve in the military and argues this program is crucial to national security due to the high performance foreigners it attracts. Finally, immigrants often bring ideas and talent to the U.S. to use the resources commonly available such as research grants, computer access, and internet. It is no secret that America offers opportunity and resources to those willing to work hard. Immigrants often come to the U.S. to take advantage of this and ultimately generate a net benefit for the country as a whole. Brawn, bravery, and brains make immigrants beneficial to the U.S. and, as Kane argues, are what make America an international superpower.
Kane writes about the oath immigrants take to the United States when they become citizens. Very few Americans sign their loyalty to this country. Furthermore, Americans rarely understand the meaning of the pledge, or care about the words enough to stand by them with their honor on the line. However, immigrants are required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States of America. They protect this country, sometimes with their lives, and should be viewed as loyal to their adopted nation. Kane acknowledges and criticizes the impression of immigrants as terrorists since 9/11 and how misconstrued it is as an argument. This fear of immigrants, Kane claims, restricts progress, and only damages the country. The fact is that immigrants today bring a net positive to the U.S. and do not endanger national security.
I found the weakest aspect of this book to be Kane’s political interjections and direct criticisms of political figures. Kane is passionate in his opinions on immigrants and immigration and is quite critical of immigration policies set by U.S. political leaders. For example, Kane discusses President Trump’s inappropriate nicknames for the COVID-19 virus. Kane criticizes President Trump and argues comments like these only lead to ungrounded mistrust of Asian immigrants. While these critiques are offered with positive intentions, I felt uncomfortable due to my status as an active duty military member. Kane is respectful in his approach to criticism and defends his perspective with evidence, criticizing the policy rather than the person. However, this aspect of the book felt the most emotionally charged.
Despite my mild discomfort with the book due to some emotional critiques of politicians, I appreciate Kane’s willingness to write what he actually sees and his willingness to say how things are. Kane is a registered Republican but is still willing to criticize Trump’s policies. This adds to Kane’s credibility as an author on the topic since he is clearly presenting an argument he believes in and is willing to present the raw facts of the topic. His background in immigration research shines through his words and creates a book enjoyable to read. This approach to analysis of the topic helps strengthen Kane’s argument and fits well into the structure of the book. This approach creates a fluid argument that is easy to understand and builds trust in the credibility of the author.
Thirty-seven service members from 22 different countries take the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony held at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan on July 4, 2013. (U.S. Army Photo)
The Immigrant Superpower presents an analytical view of immigrants in America and their role in society. Kane tears down the common misperception that immigrants are a drain on U.S. resources by showing that in fact they add to the American economy through hard work. He seeks only to display the power immigrants bring to the U.S. While the book is opinionated in nature, it is presented professionally in an attempt to convince the reader of the value of immigrants in the U.S. This book is relevant today as Americans constantly disagree on the impact of immigrants. It will also continue to remain relevant as immigrants will always be a point of contention for years to come. The United States may not be perfect, but Kane argues for immigrants making it better, not worse. Any American would benefit from reading this book and educating themselves on the impact immigrants have on the U.S. and why they contribute to making this country a true world superpower.
Gavin Kim is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in Economics. He is a second generation immigrant. His father was born in South Korea but became a U.S. citizen as a child and served for 27 years as an Air Force Officer. The views expressed in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
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Header Image: The Statue of Liberty, New York, New York, 2017 (Jenna Day).
Notes:
[1] Kane, Tim. The Immigrant Superpower: How Brains, Brawn, and Bravery Make America Stronger. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2022.