For more than twenty years, I have taken one position when it comes to immigration policy: we have to have it.
I’m less concerned about the number of immigrants we get each year than I am about the fact that we – voters, policymakers, politicians, whatever – don’t choose a number.
I would be fine with 1 to 2 million immigrants per year. I would also be fine with a temporary freeze on most immigration. I think preferences for skilled immigrants are completely defensible. I also think that a generous asylum policy is morally preferable to a narrow one.
But for me, the priority is not the number or type of immigrants we take in; it’s making a decision about the number and type and sticking to it.
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If the number is too high or too low, policymakers can change it. If they don’t change it, voters can choose a politician or party that does. But if Congress says the number is 1 million per year, that should be the real 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 metric: people who should be in it come, also come in; people who are not allowed in are kept out; and people considered deportable must leave.”
Credibility is important to any government effort, but this is especially true in immigration, as few issues share the ability to sow public discontent. The feeling that immigration is ‘out of control’ breeds mistrust, encourages nativism and fuels panic and conspiracy theories.
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That’s how it always was. In colonial America, Benjamin Franklin repeatedly warned of the danger posed by uncontrolled German immigration, worrying that “they will soon outnumber usthat…we…in my opinion, will not be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious.” In 1798, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were noted for their attack on freedom of speech, but were driven by the fear that French and other immigrants (i.e. aliens) were an enemy within – part of the Alien and Sedition Acts – made it more difficult for immigrants to become citizens and vote.
Later chapters in this old story include the Know-Nothings, all kinds of panic about the Irish, the Yellow Peril and of course the ‘replacement theory’. The same sentiments are now driving the rising outlook far-right parties in Europe and Donald Trump’s domestic success despite – or because of – all his ugly rhetoric about “vermin” and “blood poisoning.”
That’s why President Biden’s abusive handling of the border crisis may be his greatest risk beyond his age. I would even argue that the former influences attitudes towards the latter, in that the impression of lawlessness on the border fuels the feeling of being weak and overwhelmed.
As Europe’s travails show, this is not just an American problem. Large-scale immigration is stirring up politics and society everywhere.
Furthermore, despite America’s past and present struggles with immigration, this country is not anti-immigrant. In 2022, the United States had approximately 46 million foreign-born residents, more than half of whom were citizens. 14% of the population. (The number of Chinese immigrants, by contrast, is approx 0.04% of its population.) There is no country in the world that is better at absorbing and assimilating people, and we should take deep patriotic pride in that.
That’s important to keep in mind because the rhetoric on both sides of the debate makes restoring the credibility of our immigration system more difficult. Contrary to Pat Buchanan’s dire prophecies, Mexican Americans have not shown much interest in a “Reconquista” of the American Southwest. And despite the constant shouting about America’s nativism and xenophobia, the melting pot continues to bubble along.
As a rule, normal Americans are much more sensible and decent in this matter than our leaders. More and more Latinos want stronger enforcement of border and immigration laws, a sign that the loudest voices on both sides are disconnected from reality. If Trump wins this year’s election, it will be partly because working-class Latinos have integrated into the culture and politics of the rest of the American working class.
The editorial position of National Review, where I worked for 20 years, has always been that if responsible politicians do not deal responsibly with immigration, irresponsible politicians will exploit the issue to get elected. If the 2016 election wasn’t enough to prove that, maybe 2024 might be.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
