Obama, immigration, and the 'Southern Strategy in reverse'

The Democrats seem to be banking on an electorate that remains hyperpolarized along racial lines

Barack Obama
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Larry Downing))

President Obama's executive action on immigration is, as The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf so pithily put it, "the right thing in the wrong way."

Granting a broad amnesty to illegal immigrants in the U.S. is good policy, and the just thing to do. I have tremendous respect for the perspective of my fellow conservatives, who warn that legal status for millions of often low-skilled immigrants could have a deleterious impact on the working class, already buffeted by the forces of globalization, economic sluggishness, and the class warfare of sexual liberalism. That is a robust empirical claim, but one that is ultimately unfalsifiable. So I err on the side that both my Christian and free-market beliefs point to: More immigrants is good. If nothing else, we should grant amnesty to demonstrate the poised generosity that is the hallmark of a confident civilization.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.