Cato Institute Scholar Moans About the Current Decline in Legal Migration Into the U.S.

A mass migration booster at the Cato Institute is lamenting over the fact that immigration to the U.S. has decreased so far in 2020.

David Bier, the immigration policy analyst for the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty Prosperity, was disappointed with how the Trump administration has made several efforts — via administrative tweaks — to curtail immigration. He reminded his pro-open borders readers “The United States has welcomed more than 85 million legal immigrants to the United States since its founding.” As usual, this open borders take on American history ignores the fact that there have been pauses —natural or legislative — throughout American history to encourage a smooth assimilation process for migrants and protect America’s national character at the same time.

Bier was astounded in particular by how legal migration collapsed in the second half of fiscal year 2020. He mentioned that “the second half of FY 2020 saw 92 percent fewer immigrants from abroad than the first half, which was larger than any annual decline in the history of the United States.”  One of the principal reasons why this decline in legal immigration took place was due to the State Department’s decision to close its consulates and President Trump’s suspension of visas during the Wuhan virus pandemic.

Bier compared the current drop to other historical reductions in legal migration:

The 92 percent drop in the second half of FY 2020 is larger than the drop during any single year in American history—larger than the 73 percent decline in 1915 coinciding with the start of World War I, larger than the 70 percent decline in 1925 coinciding with Congress closing legal immigration from Europe, larger than the 63 percent declines in 1931, 1942, and 1918 following the onset of the Great Depression and U.S. entries into each world war.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that immigration has ebbed and flowed throughout American history. That’s how any sane nation treats immigration.  Having perpetual waves of massive immigration inflows is a recipe for destabilizing a country by gutting its laboring classes and introducing foreign elements that could fundamentally alter the national character of a political jurisdiction.

For folks at the Cato Institute, mass migration seems like a casual movement of people that helps boost the economy and makes the country more culturally “enriched.” But for hard-nosed immigration patriots, we know better than to think about immigration in such a one-dimensional manner. In addition to the job displacement and wage depression that mass migration causes, the political consequences that a vast and continued influx of people into the country has cannot be overstated. If we don’t curtail immigration, you can kiss the Second Amendment, free speech, and the republican nature of our government goodbye. It would also mark the demise of the Republican party just based on the simple fact that immigrants vote overwhelmingly democratic.

Cato, which enjoys operating revenues north of $30 million, doesn’t have to worry about the effects of mass migration. They can just chill out in their swanky D.C. offices at the rest of the country gets looted by pro-cheap labor oligarchs while becoming balkanized. Immigration is more than just  GDP. It’s about whether or not America is allowed to survive as a cohesive political unit. For the likes of Cato, the nation-state is antiquated and the U.S. would be better off turning into a soulless shopping mall.

But for America First nationalists, America is a place and a people that merits our full support. Embracing and doubling down on the mass migration order of the day will erode our cherished Republic and lead to the eventual disappearance of American culture.