As we reflect on the humanitarian and national security disaster of the last four years, we are grateful for the prospects ahead. Before us lies an opportunity to implement a fair and manageable immigration policy. But we also remain level headed about the work that needs to be done and the challenges ahead.

The voters have delivered a mandate to reverse the disastrous anti-borders policy of the Biden/Bush/Obama/Cheney neoliberal uniparty. The incoming administration has pledged to secure the border and will rely heavily on our expertise to accomplish this vitally important task. It is a daunting but achievable undertaking that will restore order and save lives.  

But the Trump administration and Congress must also decide how many foreigners we should admit to live among us, and how to select them. On this fundamental question, there is no consensus within last month’s winning coalition. The same elite/public gap exists as it did before, with many members of the elite favoring record levels of legal immigration.

Here is where the work of the Center can really make a difference. We are the only think thank that has consistently and thoroughly made the case for immigration moderation: a slowing of the record-breaking pace of new arrivals so that wages can rise, welfare rolls can shrink, and the forces of assimilation can knit us all more closely together. This is the will of the American people but properly making the case for it in Washington is detailed and nuanced work that only the Center provides.

Over the past four years our prodigious annual workload of nearly a thousand articles, reports, and commentaries was used by members of Congress, judges, state and local policymakers, law enforcement officials, academics, and other writers and researchers to try to mitigate the work of an antagonistic administration. Now our work will also be relied on by key officials within the administration (some from our staff) who will directly influence the direction our nation takes on this critical issue. 

Thank you for sticking with us as we navigated the most challenging immigration years in our nation’s history. We could not have done it without you. Now we are asking you to stay with us as we seek to bring our shared goals to fruition. On this Giving Tuesday, invest in America with a tax-deductible donation in support of this important work.