Melting pot or civil war? : a son of immigrants makes the case against open borders
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"For too long, liberals have suggested that only cruel, racist, or nativist bigots would want to restrict immigration. Anyone motivated by compassion and egalitarianism would choose open, or nearly-open, borders--or so the argument goes. Now, Reihan Salam, the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, turns this argument on its head. In this deeply researched but also deeply personal book, Salam shows why uncontrolled immigration is bad for everyone, including people like his family. Our current system has intensified the isolation of our native poor, and risks ghettoizing the children of poor immigrants. It ignores the challenges posed by the declining demand for less-skilled labor, even as it exacerbates ethnic inequality and deepens our political divides. If we continue on our current course, in which immigration policy serves wealthy insiders who profit from cheap labor, and cosmopolitan extremists attack the legitimacy of borders, the rise of a new ethnic underclass is inevitable. Even more so than now, class politics will be ethnic politics, and national unity will be impossible. Salam offers a solution, if we have the courage to break with the past and craft an immigration policy that serves our long-term national interests. Rejecting both militant multiculturalism and white identity politics, he argues that limiting total immigration and favoring skilled immigrants will combat rising inequality, balance diversity with assimilation, and foster a new nationalism that puts the interests of all Americans--native-born and foreign-born--first"--,Provided by publisher.

"Will the America of the future be peaceful and united, or it will be wracked by intense ethnic and class conflict that will undermine all of our most cherished ideals? In Good Fences, Reihan Salam, one of today's brightest young conservatives, argues that the answer hinges on how we as a society choose to manage immigration. Over the coming decades, immigrants and their descendants will account for almost all of the increase in America's population. If we continue on our current course, in which immigration policy is dominated by wealthy insiders who profit from the status quo, the rise of a new ethnic underclass is assured. But if we have the courage to break with the past and to craft an immigration policy that serves our long-term national interests, the future will be brighter for America and the wider world. Opponents of open borders are often painted as heartless bigots, hardened to the suffering of the teeming masses yearning to breathe free. The son of immigrants himself, Salam warns that in fact an overly sentimental view of immigration has blinded us to the downsides of a broken system. That system serves the rich and immigrants fairly well--but it has in some ways intensified the isolation of the native poor, and it risks ghettoizing the children of poor immigrants. It ignores the challenges posed by the declining demand for less-skilled labor, even as it exacerbates ethnic inequality, worsens stagnation of social mobility, and deepens our political divides"--,Provided by publisher.