The biggest pull factor in history moves to the Senate
FY2021 shattered the record for most border deaths, despite also setting a record for the most border rescues. None of that has stopped House Democrats from passing the "largest mass-legalization program for undocumented immigrants in U.S. history," as The Washington Post helpfully described it after the vote had taken place.
Kim Tessier hopes the Senate will do better:
"Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife, warned that "cheap labor" from increased immigration would devastate communities of color. Barbara Jordan, a pioneer in the Democratic Party and the first Southern Black woman elected to the House of Representatives, said it best: 'It is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.'
"Considering that almost 5.4 million more Americans are unemployed than before the pandemic, it's absurd to argue that amnesty serves the national interest. Chuck Schumer might not recognize that. But hopefully, Sinema and Kelly do."
Senate Democrats are reportedly meeting with the Senate parliamentarian this week to see if the immigration provisions in the Build Back Better Act violate Senate rules.
The Horse Race
Immigration policy is one of the key factors that "have taken their toll on President Biden and Democratic candidates," according to Thomas Edsall of The New York Times, who spoke with several political observers, including:
- Robert M. Stein of Rice University: "In South Texas, Florida and parts of Arizona immigration policy is hurting Democrats with traditional base voters. This is especially true with Hispanics in Texas border counties, where Trump did well in 2020 and Abbott (incumbent Republican Governor) is making significant gains by appealing to the concerns of Hispanics over jobs and immigration."
- Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California--San Diego: "things touching on competence (Afghanistan, border, congressional inaction) are probably the most important" in driving down Biden's ratings, but "for the future, it is inflation and the general economy that will matter most, I think."
- Dritan Nesho, the director of civic technology and engagement at Microsoft and a co-director of the Harvard-Harris Poll: "over two-third of voters (68 percent) believe illegal monthly border crossings have increased since Biden took office, 65 percent blame Biden's executive orders for encouraging illegal immigration, and 68 percent want stricter policies to reduce the flow of people across the border."
A former advisor to President Clinton was so alarmed by the Harvard-Harris poll that he submitted his own guest essay to The Times, warning that if Democrats continue to pursue policies "which a majority view as an open-borders approach," in the Build Back Better bill, the Party could quickly find itself back in the political wilderness.
Unpopular for a reason
Pamela Denise Long views the expansionist push as part of a larger betrayal of Black Americans and Darvio Morrow piles on:
"From support for educational equality and freedom of speech to opposition to defunding the police and mass immigration, we Black voters hold views on a number of issues that many white progressives would consider "problematic." This disconnect between white progressives and Black people often leads to political outcomes that are in conflict with the desires of the very people that the woke are ostensively [sic] claiming to help."
Robert Law says just as the amnesty will harm marginalized workers, the immigration increases are targeted at white-collar jobs:
"The clear winner here is Big Tech and other corporations that routinely discriminate against American workers by exploiting several loopholes in the H-1B program."
Mark Thies, Ph.D. says the sheer numbers of the amnesty & immigration increase would put working-class Americans at a disadvantage while deteriorating quality of life for all but the most insulated Americans.
Nolan Rappaport says the Build Back Amnesty simply "makes no sense."
The Expansionists Strike Back?
Michael Lind forecasts progressive overreach on immigration to pave the way for a restoration of "Bush-style Republicanism," which - ironically - would itself perpetuate high immigration:
"Unless Youngkin has successfully disguised his pitchfork-wielding populist impulses through a long career in the establishment, he and similar post-Trump Republicans are more likely to serve up the old menu of Chamber of Commerce Republicanism with a side helping of culture-war electoral politics."
"A 19th century immigration policy"
"I gave them half my life and ended up with nothing. I know everything on that place. I even know the dirt." - Gregory Strong, former employee of Pitt Farms, displaced by Congress' guest worker system.
"The U.S economy doesn't need higher immigration to fill record high job openings. What U.S. the economy needs -- what the family needs -- is higher wages to bring more men out of their basements and into the labor force." - Conn Carroll
Narrative Collapse
"We were told that the migrant surge at the border was just seasonal, and nothing out of the ordinary, even as 1.7 million migrants were illegally trying to get into the country in the last year. We were told that sending migrants back to their home countries was a wicked and unconscionable Trump tactic -- even as the Biden administration swiftly copied it with Haitian immigrants -- to much success. The cruelty is the point, eh?" - Andrew Sullivan
Last but not least
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