In 2022, there were over 2.76 million illegal migrant crossings at the Southwest border. That’s roughly the population of Chicago, America’s third largest city. To address this unprecedented surge, President Biden recently announced tougher restrictions and made a show of visiting the border himself.
But unlike a decade or two ago, when the immigration debate was mostly about economics, today it’s an issue that’s subsumed by the culture wars and our polarized discourse. Republican governors bus migrants to sanctuary cities and they’re called “xenophobic” and “cruel” by the left. But what happens when a Democratic governor does much the same thing, bussing migrants from Colorado to New York City and Chicago? Is it still a heartless political stunt? Or is all of this just an inevitable consequence of our broken immigration system?
So this week: a debate moderated by guest host Kmele Foster between Alex Nowrasteh and Jessica Vaughan. Are current levels of immigration helping or hurting America? How do we balance humanitarian concerns with America’s economic and security needs? Should we be trying to enforce more or less restrictions at the border? And what exactly should we do to fix our immigration policies?
Alex is the director of Economic and Social Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. Jessica is the director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that describes themselves as “pro-immigrant but low immigration.”
While Alex and Jessica couldn’t be more opposite in their approach—Alex favors free immigration, while Jessica argues for restrictionist policies—in this episode of Honestly we look for common ground, debate the facts, and search for solutions.
Since 2003, I've worked with various NGOs, government entities, churches,schools and universities in developing nations around the world. I've been to approximately 40 nations on six continents . Part of my role has been offering "mindset training" concerning how developing nations can transition into first-world economies. I've spoken twice at the CIA headquarters in Langley on the entrepreneurial mindset.
This is the simplified version: in any nation where more people than not wake up each day and do the right thing, simply because it is the right thing, that stability inevitably leads to prosperity (prosperity mindset). In any nation where more people than not wake up each day and do whatever they can get by with when no one is watching (corruption, indolence, petty theft, etc - a poverty mindset), that instability dooms a nation to economic and political failure.
The tipping point is critical and population is a key factor. Remember, it's when "more people than not" conduct themselves with integrity.
For two decades, I've devoted much my time and energy to Latin America, so I'm impervious to accusations of racism. Here's the truth: the minute someone crosses the border illegally, that person has tipped the scales toward chaos.
Here's a personal anecdote that illustrates the point. As much as I love my work, whenever I came home from extended trips abroad (typically 3-6 month stints in the various nations I was working in), one thing I always appreciated was being able to take a bathroom break while sitting in a coffee shop, without worrying about my stuff. Because no one in America would even consider walking off with my laptop.
Yesterday, I was sitting in Panera Bread. And felt the need to pack up my stuff for a 3-minute potty break. My business partner's SUV was stolen last month, right out of her driveway in a Tampa suburb; it was one of 26 vehicles stolen from her neighborhood in one night.
When a nation imports tens of millions of people with a poverty mindset, while intentionally stirring the twin pots of indolence and grievance among the existing populace, that nation is doomed. That's why I'm in the process of becoming an Irish citizen by descent. The scales have tipped in America.
You are not a country without a viable border. Legal controlled immigration yes. Illegal immigration NO. ALL immigrants need to learn and use the English language, join our common culture and history. Trump did a much better job with the border and Biden destroyed it.