by 
As
the
U.S.
southern
border
begins
to
function
once
again,
it’s
time
to
consider
what
kind
of
immigration
policy
we
should
adopt.
President
Trump’s
move
to
deport
huge
populations,
upwards
of
10
million
just
since
2021,
could
prove
to
be
among
the
most
decisive
actions
a
president
has
taken
in
decades.
The
Biden
Administration’s
oddly
permissive
policies
ironically
have
stiffened
Americans’
opposition
to
immigration
across
the
board.
According
to
Gallup,
the
percentage
of
Americans
who
wish
to
reduce
all
immigration
has
soared
from
41%
just
two
years
ago
to
over
55%
in
2024,
although
many
still
embrace
legal
migration.
Even
among
Latinos,
Pew
notes,
half
of
those
polled
associate
the
current
wave
with
increased
crime
in
their
communities,
including
the
growth
of
Venezuelan
gangs
and
the
takeover
of
large
blocks
of
housing
in
some
urban
areas.
Today
a
majority
of
Latinos
support
mass
deportations,
as
do
most
Americans.
The
Coming
Conflict
Given
the
national
mood,
some
conservatives—and
roughly
half
of
all
Republicans—might
like
to
end
all
or
most
immigration,
but
this
could
prove
damaging
to
the
national
interest.
Progressives
are
not
making
this
argument,
however.
Instead,
they
are
indulging
in
their
usual
racial
rhetoric,
even
openly
supporting
criminal
migrants
and
talking
of
resisting
“mass
expulsions,”
with
some
suggesting
that
migrants
will
be
victims
of
government
“atrocities.”
Denver
Mayor
Mike
Johnston
has
already
advanced
plans
to
block
federal
agents
with
a
“Tiananmen
Square”
style
occupation,
something
that
could
land
him
in
jail.
During
the
2024
presidential
campaign,
Tim
Walz
suggested
that
if
Trump
built
a
wall,
he
would
build
“a
ladder”
so
migrants
could
go
over
it.
Some
progressives
even
seek
to
grant
the
undocumented
free
college,
education,
and
access
to
driver’s
licenses.
Automatic
defenses
for
all
undocumented
immigrants
are
commonplace
in
Boston,
Chicago,
and
Los
Angeles,
the
latter
of
which
has
nearly
a
million
undocumented
immigrants
alone.
California
is
even
allegedly
threatening
to
take
pensions
from—and
even
imprison—police
who
help
federal
agents.
However,
it
does
not
seem
like
such
things
as
blocking
freeways,
which
a
mob
waving
Mexican
flags
did
recently
in
Los
Angeles,
is
the
best
advertising
for
leniency.
But
these
actions
may
be
paired
back
soon,
as
the
system
of
federal
transfers
California
and
big
American
cities
use
to
pay
for
migrant
housing
and
other
needs
has
fallen
into
jeopardy
under
Trump.
Read
the
rest
of
this
piece
at
American
Mind.
Joel
Kotkin
is
the
author
of
The
Coming
of
Neo-Feudalism:
A
Warning
to
the
Global
Middle
Class.
He
is
the
Roger
Hobbs
Presidential
Fellow
in
Urban
Futures
at
Chapman
University
and
and
directs
the
Center
for
Demographics
and
Policy
there.
He
is
Senior
Research
Fellow
at
the
Civitas
Institute
at
the
University
of
Texas
in
Austin.
Learn
more
at
joelkotkin.com
and
follow
him
on
Twitter
@joelkotkin.
Photo:
Jeff
Myers
via
Flickr
under
CC
2.0
License.
Go to Source
Author: Joel Kotkin
