Derb over at NRO posits a thought experiment, an immigration reform candidate throws a monkey wrench into the 2004 election. Pat Buchanan ran in 2000 on a platform that was more generally nationalistic and socially conservative than pure immigration reform and won .42% of the votes. Most Americans are ambivalent about free trade (leaning to mildly negative in my reading)-but we’ll continue to have free trade, no matter lukewarm public opinion. You can see the same pattern with immigration.
My point is that I don’t expect a populist revolt to spark reform on this issue. The majority might oppose open borders, but a motivated minority dictates policy, change must come from above. Is the United States just a legal framework for capitalist transactions between consenting adults? Or does it represent something more? I come not to offer answers but to pose questions….
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