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Jordan Weissmann
@JHWeissmann
It’s because a lot of liberals and leftists have trouble accepting that voter anger over illegal immigration is sincere and deeply felt, rather than a symptom of economic frustrations. I’m nearly as pro-immigrant as you can get, but I think we have to face reality.
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Joe Weisenthal
@TheStalwart
Replying to @Birdyword
So much crazy discourse post-2016. Trump's signature promise was to build the wall. And there were a lot of voters vocally enthusiastic about building the wall. And then you had all of these people (liberal and left) that insisted his success must've been about something else.
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David Watson 🥑
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Jordan Weissmann
@JHWeissmann
I don’t think this is entirely liberals’ fault, btw — for a long time anti-immigrant rhetoric seemed to revolve around foreigners ‘stealing jobs.’ It wasn’t crazy to think that was a product of economic anxiety. But the way the anger has shifted to issues like culture and crime
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Jordan Weissmann
@JHWeissmann
The other dimension to this was liberals who thought the economic anxiety argument was goofy tended to blame Trump’s rise on pure racism, which for them made compromising on issues around immigration seem like a non-starter.
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Jordan Weissmann
@JHWeissmann
The good news, I think, is that Congressional leaders now basically understand that, no matter how horrific Trump’s policies were, Democrats can’t overcorrect like they did in the first half of Biden’s term. Hopefully something like ‘sanity and decency on immigration’ becomes the
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Conor Sen
@conorsen
It’s non-white voters turning against immigration where it’s like “I don’t see the path forward for pro-immigration interests.”
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Jordan Weissmann
@JHWeissmann
I think the public’s opinion on this stuff is pretty malleable and responsive to actual current events. So I have some hope, but you need to be realistic about it.
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Nick Blake
@NCBlake
I think the European (and especially UK) examples prove that this distinction between "legal" and "illegal" immigration is functionally irrelevant to the effect on public opinion. It's tacked on for rhetorical purposes, but what many folks actually want is none at all.
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@Harryruth
@Harryruth32
Partly abt illegal immigration, but partly abt very rapid immigration. Massive immigration at a fast rate tends to exacerbate the negative aspects of immigration & not the positives - sense of rapid, disorienting cultural change, competition for…
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Greg Benage
@GregBenage
It’s sincere and deeply felt, except for the “good ones” who clean my house and do my landscaping at an unbeatable price. I agree we have to face reality, but then let’s really face reality.
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BlueFredneck
@BlueFredneck
Plus let's face it: many business owners only like immigration because it means they can pay less in wages. At least in IT probably two thirds of H1Bs are just generic junior and mid level IT workers: they're not game changing geniuses or even super senior workers. Many Indians
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Marvin Justice
@FoontySploont
I was in Queens during the Abbott buses when approx 250K homeless were dumped on the city in the span of 18 months. Anger from otherwise immigrant friendly folks was real. Queens had the largest shift toward Trump of all counties in the US in '24 and that was a big reason imo.
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Def Child At Play
@TripperDay
"Everyone gets asylum" was so dumb, at least politically. The legal, economic, and ethical issues can be argued about, but voters despised it.
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CityOfTakes
@CityOfTakes
Liberal naivete on immigration has always felt silly. The US is going through massive changes that will alter the demographic majority within our lifetime, and we're supposed to be shocked that it makes some people uncomfortable?
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Timothy Castantine🕴
@Castantine
This isn't hard! I'm very pro-immigrant. The obvious political answer right now is TIGHT BORDER with immediate consequences for violators. Creation of legal work options like DACA and legal pathways to citizenship for those who have been here and have put down roots. Respond
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Anonymous McRealname
@SpectoCustodes
The problem is that it might be sincere and deeply felt, but it's also insane and divorced from reality. Voter's views on immigration have no correlation with actual immigration rates or enforcement or even local demographics. It's pure racism and internet hysteria
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May Smith
@BeleagueredinCa
You see housing prices in California and line to get into our parks? A third of the state is foreign born. It’s just logical.
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Beezy
@BeezyManzell
I don't think it's sincere or economic. I think many people are latently racist and believe the country is "theirs".
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Jacob
@Perrid13
I don’t even understand it. A lot of people are (or at least can often act like) hateful idiots. I’d love for it to be natural for folks to want to share and get along but it’s just not reality. Like with toddlers you have to convince them to share and be nice.
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Bill Clinton's Thighs
@MBidenism
it's just a very very very weird hill to die on. Abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc I can totally understand these hills. But allowing massive amounts of third worlders, especially ultra religious ones that cant assimilate? Whats the point?
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Michael Sleestak
@SleestakMack
They refuse to engage with the “why”. *Why* do people not like illegal immigration? Because they are inherently xenophobic? Maybe. But could it also be that they see and experience things which reflect dysfunction and fraud, and it angers them? Yes.
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Nick Lindare
@dropgop86
Yeah, back in the day a lot of white parents sincerely didn't want there kids to go to school with black children.
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CPP
@Herzen2thapg
And a lot of centrist can't accept that conservatives don't really want a rational or workable solution to "illegal immigration."
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newtdis
@newtdis79798
As someone on the left, that's generally pro-immigration, and I watched Cubans, Venezuelans, Muslims, Indians, etc vote in 2024, not on America or even protecting themselves from Donald Trump, but on resentments from their old country or for their old country It made me reassess
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Throatwarbler T Mangrove
@mangrove_t
I was gonna comment on how quickly we moved from Steven King (IA) being stripped of committee assignements to Trump, but then I googled and somehow the GOP voted to condemn King in... 2019
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True Monster Truck Gaming
@Universifiable
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True Monster Truck Gaming
@Universifiable
Replying to @nikhil_palsingh
There's no foreseeable challenge to the world (American) order that creates immigrants and refugees, so progressives gotta hate immigrants more
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Nikhil Gupta
@notjeromepowell
But also substance. The cost of travel falling means you need to make real decisions about who can come. You can be pro immigrant and want strong borders. A lot of advocates feel distant from reality on this
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