Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Immigration could get Trump elected again. Here's how Democrats keep getting it wrong.

People walking in a line

Migrants walk on a road as they wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego on June 13.

Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images

Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.

For more than 20 years, I have held one position constant when it comes to immigration policy: We should have one.

I am less concerned about the number of immigrants we take in every year than I am about the fact that we — voters, policymakers, politicians, what have you — don't pick a number.

I'd be fine with 1 million or 2 million immigrants a year. I'd also be fine with a temporary freeze on most immigration. I think preferences for skilled immigrants are entirely defensible. I also think a generous asylum policy is morally preferable to a narrow one.

But for me, the priority isn't the number or kind of immigrants we take in; it's making a decision about the number and kind and sticking to it.


If the number is too high or low, policymakers can change it. If they don't change it, voters can elect a politician or party who will. But if Congress says the number is 1 million per year, that should be the actual number.

The late Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas, who chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform in the 1990s, put it succinctly: "The credibility of immigration policy can be measured by a simple yardstick: People who should get in, do get in; people who should not get in are kept out; and people who are judged deportable are required to leave."

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Credibility is important for any government endeavor, but it's especially so for immigration because few issues share its capacity to sow public discontent. The sense that immigration is "out of control" breeds distrust, incites nativism and fuels panic and conspiracy theories.

It was ever thus. In colonial America, Benjamin Franklin repeatedly warned of the danger posed by unchecked German immigration, worrying that "they will soon so outnumber us, that ... we ... will not in my opinion be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious." In 1798, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which are remembered for their assault on free speech but were driven by the fear that French and other immigrants (i.e., Aliens) were an enemy within. The Naturalization Act — part of the Alien and Sedition Acts — made it harder for immigrants to become citizens and vote.

Later chapters in this old story include the Know-Nothings, all manner of panic over the Irish, the Yellow Peril and of course "replacement theory." The same sentiments are now driving the surging prospects of far-right parties in Europe and the domestic success of Donald Trump despite — or because of — all his ugly rhetoric about "vermin" and blood "poisoning."

That's why President Biden's ham-fisted mishandling of the border crisis is arguably his greatest liability after his age. Indeed, I would argue that the former informs attitudes about the latter, in that the impression of lawlessness at the border fuels the sense that he is weak and overwhelmed.

As Europe's travails demonstrate, this is not just an American problem. Large-scale immigration roils politics and society everywhere it occurs.

Moreover, despite America's struggles with immigration past and present, this country is not anti-immigrant. As of 2022, the United States had roughly 46 million foreign-born residents, more than half of them citizens, accounting for about 14 percent of the population. (China's immigrants, by contrast, amount to about 0.04 percent of its population.) There is no country in the world better at absorbing and assimilating people, and we should take deep patriotic pride in that.

That's important to bear in mind because the rhetoric on both sides of the debate makes restoring credibility to our immigration system harder. Contrary to Pat Buchanan's dire prophecies, Mexican Americans have not shown much interest in a "Reconquista" of the American Southwest. And notwithstanding the constant shrieks about America's nativism and xenophobia, the melting pot continues to burble along.

As a rule, normal Americans are far more sensible and decent on this issue than our leaders. Increasing numbers of Latinos want stronger enforcement of the border and immigration laws, which is a sign that the loudest voices on both sides are detached from reality. Indeed, if Trump wins this year's election, it will be partly because working-class Latinos have assimilated into the culture and politics of the rest of the American working class.

The editorial stance of the National Review, where I worked for two decades, was always that if responsible politicians don't deal with immigration responsibly, irresponsible ones will exploit the issue to get elected. If the 2016 election wasn't enough to prove that, 2024 might be.

(C)2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Read More

Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

An oversized gavel surrounded by people.

Getty Images, J Studios

Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

In a recent post we quoted a journalist describing the Republican Party as anti-immigration. Many of our readers wrote back angrily to say that the Republican party is only opposed to immigrants who are present illegally.

But that's not true. And we're not shy of telling it like it is.

Keep ReadingShow less
Indoor Air Pollution Causes Millions of Deaths Each Year
pink petaled flowers on green vase

Indoor Air Pollution Causes Millions of Deaths Each Year

After losing my kidney to cancer, I made a disturbing discovery: household air pollution might have contributed to my illness.

According to researchers, plastics in our air and household items could be linked to kidney problems. While I may never identify the exact cause of my cancer, research shows that indoor air pollution is responsible for an estimated three to five million premature deaths worldwide each year. It’s connected to heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump standing with Elon Musk and Kid rock
President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Kid Rock watch a UFC event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

The Care and Feeding of a Superpower

The Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, led by an unelected billionaire and supported by the Donald Trump administration, continues its bulldozer approach to our federal government. As we careen forward, an essential food for thought is an awareness of the global and historical perspectives that underscore how our current leaders' strategies align with a playbook for the final chapter of previous global powers.

When we think of global dominance, we often think of military strength and the size of a superpower’s budget. What we think less of is the importance of perception or the significance of the cultural aspects of power. The USAID spreads the impression of a peaceful and protective United States, dispersing resources and building a global community with the US at the helm. President Kennedy began the USAID in 1961 with an Executive order. Research shows that USAID has continuously had bipartisan support and a tremendous impact, makes up less than 1 percent of our budget, and is a major player within the United Nations Developmental Programme.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s cuts at the FAA could underscore the risks of shrinking government
white passenger plane on airport during daytime

Trump’s cuts at the FAA could underscore the risks of shrinking government

WASHINGTON – After recent layoffs of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration and a string of aviation incidents, passengers and experts expressed concerns that U.S. airlines’ excellent safety record could be at risk.

About 400 probationary workers were removed from the FAA beginning on February 14, just weeks after the DCA midair collision on January 29 that left 67 dead. On February 17, at least 18 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis crash-landed upside down on a runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Keep ReadingShow less