Hat tip to Lambert Strether.
This is an interesting illustration of the diversity of American state histories and American origins. In many states, the number of foreign-born was greater in the past than it is today. But in most states, the majority of citizens were born in the state. I don’t claim this proves anything in particular.
Donald Trump’s immigration policy is to discourage crossings of the southern border by means of deliberate cruelty.
But it is not enough for liberals and progressives to protest President Trump. They need to come up with a policy of their own. This they have not done. Until they do, the present situation will continue, which will be to Trump’s political advantage.
The policy of cruelty did not originate with Trump. Under the Clinton administration, the U.S. government built walls at key border crossings, so that unauthorized immigrants would be forced into the desert and risk death by thirst. Under the Obama administration, conditions were terrible in detention centers.
The Trump administration doubled down on all these policies. And a cynic could make the argument (although I don’t) that control by cruelty is working. It probably has a deterrent effect, while sufficient unauthorized immigrants make their way into the U.S. to supply employers’ need for low-paid labor.
But what is the alternative? Is it open borders—no controls on immigration at all? I know of nobody who has made that argument. I know of no government that has such a policy.
Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren and others have proposed repealing a 1929 law that makes it a crime to cross into the United States without authorization. That wouldn’t be the same as open borders. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could still turn you back.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and others propose abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which is responsible for enforcing immigration laws in the interior of the United States.
This would not necessarily affect the sister Customs and Border Protection agency, which is responsible for controlling entry into the United States. But AOC and Omar also oppose any additional funding for detention centers or deportations. Some immigrant rights groups oppose all funding for detention centers or deportations.
In practice, all this means no limit on immigration at all—open borders in all but same. The alternative to control by cruelty is no control at all.
AOC, Omar and others also call for a “Marshall Plan” to promote economic development in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the three main countries that asylum-seekers are fleeing. But the original Marshall Plan was to rebuild democratic nations of western Europe after World War Two, not dictatorship like these three countries.
There is no point in aiding oppressive governments that are creating the problem in the first place. Far better to aid the democratic governments of Costa Rica, Belize and Panama and the semi-democratic government of Nicaragua, and cut off support for the dictatorships.
Donald Trump has a superpower—the ability to keep the attention of the public and the press on himself and his tweets rather than on issues he doesn’t want discussed.
He manifested this superpower in his tweet about whether certain Democratic congresswomen shouldn’t just “go back and fix the crime infested places from which they came.”
Last week Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Presley traveled to the southern border and exposed the terrible conditions under which asylum seekers were forced to live—children forced to sleep on concrete floors under bright lights, ICE staff joking about women having to drink out of toilets.
Press coverage was about these bad conditions, and whether they should be called “concentration camps” or not.
AOC and Trump. CNNNews
All this was wiped off the blackboard. Now press coverage is once again focused on President Trump’s tweets and whether they are acceptable or not.
Trump wins again, despite the House of Representatives vote condemning him. He has kept the focus on himself and diverted attention from what is going on in the world.
The kryptonite for Trump’s superpower is for the press and the opposition to not take it more seriously than it deserves. Respond to tweets with other tweets – not with press conferences and congressional resolutions.
Ocasio-Cortez and her three friends are not under attack because they are women of color. This is a red herring.
They are under attack because they threaten the system by which corporate and wealthy donors dominate the legislative process.
Some time ago Ocasio-Cortez said that the reason she as a freshman representative has been able to make an impact is that she has time to do her job because she does not follow the guideline of spending three hours a day on the phone to raise money.
That was a powerful statement. It was threatening to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats and Republicans. Their power depends on fund-raising from powerful interests.
If an Ocasio-Cortez or a Bernie Sanders shows you can win power in defiance of those interests, this threatens the careers and even the livelihoods of those who depend on the donor class.
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