This week, at the North American trilateral summit held in Mexico, President Biden pointed out that “the Western Hemisphere is experiencing an unprecedented level of population movement.” This is not an exaggeration. Last fiscal year, 2.4 million undocumented entrants were arrested at the US southwest border, up 600,000 from the previous year’s record.
The Western world is currently facing a serious immigration crisis. As equatorial regions become vulnerable to drought and disease due to climate change, not only food cultivation but also the livelihoods of residents are threatened. Local poverty and political instability continue, and the aftermath of the pandemic is growing. Unsurprisingly, locals are heading north toward the economically affluent and milder climates of America and Europe. The problem is that their size has a huge negative impact on US and European politics and policies.
The political problem is obvious. From Sweden to the US to Italy, right-wing populism is almost always linked to fears of out-of-control immigration. Their large-scale displacement fuels fears about the cultural, religious, and racial problems it will create. If Western leaders fail to address immigration, Western politics will remain in the shadow of populism for years to come.
Existing policies will also be greatly affected. The immigration wave we are witnessing is making a laughingstock of the refugee system that has been in place for decades. In the aftermath of the Holocaust after World War II, many countries around the world have promised to admit people who have good cause to feel that their lives are in danger. In parallel with this, international law was systematically developed that granted certain rights to asylum seekers.
In recent years, however, millions have flocked to the border seeking asylum. Of course, there may be some victims of persecution among them, but most of them are economic migrants seeking a better life away from poverty and disease. Not a few people have claimed to be victims of violence and gang warfare, but many of the earlier immigrants from southern Italy and Ireland have sought asylum for the same reasons.
Once you cross the border and apply for asylum, the chances of being recognized as a legal resident increase and the processing period is shortened. But recent mass migrations have destroyed the barriers between asylum seekers and economic migrants.
Biden should be given credit for his efforts to address this issue. The plan, which he recently unveiled, extends the existing parole program to Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, in addition to Venezuela, with no compensation for illegal border crossings.
But now Biden is under attack from both the left and the right. It’s a sign that he’s doing something right, at least in this case. Last December, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the son of an immigrant, announced a new policy in direct acknowledgment that the asylum system was broken. President Emmanuel Macron has also proposed some similar measures to manage migrants entering France.
Politics dealing with immigration is dangerous. The American right, which has shifted its center of gravity farther to the right than before, opposes immigration almost entirely. Prior to this, there was a time when Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of the Republican Party, emphasized the need for immigration and proposed amnesty for illegal immigrants. Today, 70% of Republicans believe that a growing immigrant population is a “serious threat” to the United States. (Only 18% of Democrats expressed the same opinion.)
It is unclear whether Republicans want a solution to the immigration crisis. This is because if this is left unattended and the problem becomes more serious, Biden can be blamed. This strategy worked to some extent. Already, many Americans believe that what is happening on the southern border is an invasion by an outside force.
Democrats are friendly to immigrants and immigrants. However, the Democratic Party does not distinguish between immigrants who entered the country according to the law and those who crossed the border illegally. There is no disagreement that everyone should be treated humanely. However, those who keep the law and those who break it should not be treated equally.
In fact, most Western countries need more immigrants. Although the Federal Reserve is attempting to slow the economy to control inflation, the US jobless rate is still at its lowest level in 50 years. By some estimates, Germany needs 400,000 migrant workers annually.
To open a new era of immigration, the current chaos must be carefully sorted out.
Dr. Farid Zakaria, who graduated from Yale University and received a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University, is an expert in international politics and diplomacy. She is called the most noteworthy analyst and scholar in international politics and diplomacy.