In their op-ed, Witte and Kiss draw parallels to the opening of the immigration detention facility, “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida, to the federal handling of the Depression-era "Bonus Army”. After being promised a bonus for their service, in 1932, 45,000 WWI veterans converged in Washington, D.C. The veterans, known as the "Bonus Army", refused to leave. President Hoover, deployed tanks, tear gas, and troops to drive the veterans out of the city. Instead of paying the bonuses, work camps for the "Bonus Army" were built, primarily in Florida. An offshoot from the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Bonus Army camp targeted older, combat-hardened, impoverished veterans. Many veterans were sent to Key West to help build the infrastructure to make Key West a future tourist destination. On Labor Day 1935, a category five hurricane struck Florida. This hurricane killed over 400 people including 250 WWI vets who were part of the “Bonus Army” that were housed in the federal work camps. As noted in the their op-ed, with rising sea levels, hurricane season already underway in Florida, and reports of "Alligator Alcatraz" already flooding, individuals detained (some who are here legally in the United States) will be subject to harsh conditions and risk. While unauthorized immigration in the United States is a multi-faceted and serious situation, Witte and Kiss hope the nation can find a positive and humane remedy and bypass the long and destructive path leading to the swamps of the Everglades.

In a recently published article, Abu Bakkar Siddique, Sandip Sureka, and Jim Witte examine the relationship between immigrant populations and entrepreneurship in U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) between 2000 and 2022. Their findings suggest that higher proportions of immigrants at the MSA level are significantly linked to increased overall self-employment rates. The analysis indicates that immigrants are more likely to become entrepreneurs and contribute to broader entrepreneurial activity, potentially creating additional employment opportunities for native-born individuals rather than displacing them.