October 7, 2021
THE RIGHT NUMBER IS HOWEVER MANY WANT TO BE AMERICAN:
The Ugly Bipartisan Obsession with the "Right" Number of Immigrants: The U.S. has a long and racist history of worrying over how many people is too many to let in (Tanvi Misra, October 7, 2021, New Republic)
In the United States, immigration is first and foremost a matter of caps and limits. The maximum number of refugees the Biden administration has agreed to accept in fiscal year 2022: 125,000. The number of refugees it has so far funded for that year: 65,000. The number of refugees actually accepted in 2021 (despite a refugee ceiling of 62,500): only 7,600.The number of Afghans that the U.S. plans to allow in after a 20-year occupation of their country: around 50,000. The number of people who would benefit if a pathway to citizenship survives budget negotiations: at least eight million. The number of immigrants currently stuck in a green card backlog: nine million.Beneath all of these statistics lies the question: "How many is too many?" The various answers to this question fit together like Lego pieces, forming the backbone of the current immigration system in the United States. Views on immigration may appear poles apart, but in truth, Democrats and Republicans alike set artificial limits on immigration based on a sliding scale of restrictionism. Their politics, on this front, are arguably more similar than different.
It was too late to protect our sweet, sweet racial purity once we let the Scots in...
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 7, 2021 8:13 AM