America, please be reasonable on immigration

Back in 2017-2019, I was planning to write a book about U.S. immigration. The basic idea was that immigration is crucial for America, not just for our economy, but for the dynamism of our society and for our self-concept as a nation of immigrants. There was going to be one chapter praising high-skilled immigration, and another explaining the value of mass (i.e. “low-skilled”) immigration. There was going to be a chapter about the history of U.S. attitudes and policies, arguing that the U.S. has usually been very pro-immigrant, despite the occasional spasm of restrictionism. Another chapter or two would be about how successfully the U.S. assimilates — or, if you prefer, “integrates” — new Americans’ cultures into our own. In preparation for this undertaking, I read around 40 books about immigration and cultural assimilation, many of which I reviewed on Twitter (and which I might review on this blog, if people are interested). At the end of the book, I was going to recommend a return to

Back in 2017-2019, I was planning to write a book about U.S. immigration. The basic idea was that immigration is crucial for America, not just for our economy, but for the dynamism of our society and for our self-concept as a nation of immigrants. There was going to be one chapter praising high-skilled immigration, and another explaining the value of mass (i.e. “low-skilled”) immigration. There was going to be a chapter about the history of U.S. attitudes and policies, arguing that the U.S. has usually been very pro-immigrant, despite the occasional spasm of restrictionism. Another chapter or