6 Comments
Jan 18, 2022Liked by Shikha Dalmia

I agree with the premise of this article. I wish only that the author had mentioned that opposition to immigration was also central to the Democratic Party for decades and that Biden has continued Trump's immigration policies. We as citizens will have to appreciate how much immigrants contribute to our country before politicians will stop using fear of the other as a fund-raising issue.

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I'd like to note that the quota system based on nation of origin never actually went away, the law merely changed the process of adjustment of status so that instead of arriving in the US with the right to stay being the norm for those holding immigrant visas, permanent residency was pushed back and the immigrant/non-immigrant/dual intent visa system, centered around consular processing and consular nonreviewability, was put in the same spot. This is kind of a sleight-of-hand though, because the quota system, one purely based on nation-of-origin, is still the law and still the system that determines the distribution of family-based immigrant visas as well as adjustment of status to permanent residency for a large number of those already legally here. We had a rather sarcastic celebration during law school in the immigration law course on the day the priority date for all immigrant visas finally all hit the 1990s. I took the class in 2013.

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A stirling example of poseur conservative analysis that has thrived in the post-Reagan, post John O’Sullivan National Review years to produce the sad little racket that passes today for “movement conservatism”. Here’s a hint about whether the replacement theory is real or not: do leftists consistently brag about and celebrate it? Yes, they do! But neocons are the left’s useful idiots.

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Jan 17, 2022Liked by Shikha Dalmia

Thank you for your unsparing analysis. I would also add, that in addition to immigrants comprising a vital component of our workforce, 1) immigrants have been awarded 38% of Nobel Prizes since 2000, 2) immigrants contribute to our social safety net, 3) immigrants have provided a richness of cuisines, music, art, language that cannot be quantified, and 4) contrary to current GOP talking points, there is a wide diversity in voting behaviors amongst immigrant communities. The benefits of sensible and humane immigration so far outstrip any counter arguments that one has to bend reality to believe otherwise. Of course, that's exactly what today's Republican party has done.

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