As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, immigration only grows more important as a political issue. Over the next year, you will see many essays proudly depicting America as a nation of immigrants and lauding the contributions those individuals have made to this country. I agree with such sentiments, but current events push me to adopt a darker tone.
Behind any immigration debate is an uncomfortable truth: In rich, successful democracies, every workable immigration policy, over enough time, offends liberal instincts or public opinion—often both. We oscillate between compassion and coercive control, and the more we do of one, the more we seem to need some of the other.
The dilemma: Due to the ever-rising numbers of migration to the United States, the enforcement of immigration restrictions has to become more oppressive and more unpleasant as time passes. The alternative course, which is equally unpleasant, is that immigration increases to levels that voters find unacceptable, and we fall under the rule of anti-immigrant parties—which are illiberal on many other issues as well.
