OUT OF MY LIBERAL MIND

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are . . .

Hello from London.

I thought the United States had hit bottom in the war against immigrants when even the Biden administration couldn’t make the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) permanent and then Trump declared he intends to deport millions of illegals as “dictator on day one”. Upon arrival in London, however, I see that the Conservative government truly does intend to move ahead with its highly controversial program to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda of all places. This morning’s London Times reports, however, that “over half of migrants set for Rwanda are missing.” Surprise! Only 2145 of the 5700 tagged for deportation have been located.

You all will remember Rwanda from 1997 when the majority Hutus decided to murder all the Tutsis in the country, the last time a government openly announced a true genocide policy (unlike Israel-Gaza which, pardon me, is by no legitimate stretch actually “genocidal”). But after garnering world sympathy, while all other just sat on their hands, Rwanda sadly has devolved into an unforgiving dictatorship with extremely limited freedoms -- not exactly Great Britain at all, and so far as I can tell, none of those being deported actually hail from Rwanda. Indeed, the largest groups of the more than 34,000 people who have been told their asylum claims were denied are Afghans, Albanians and Iranians. Welcome to Africa, folks.

I was surprised to read the article this morning since I had gotten the impression from the U.S. press that this extremely controversial mass removal was more likely to run afoul of European Court of Human Rights, to which Great Britain which is no longer in Europe (remember Brexit?) still is a party to. But for now British immigration authorities have been instructed not to pay any attention to the possibility the ECHR will intervene in a timely manner. So the first batch may soon be on board flights, and not First Class I wager.

To me this is a further unhappy reminder of the rightward shift we’re seeing in western politics. Is the entire OECD turning into Hungary and MEGA (Make Europe Great Again)? Perhaps (one hopes) not, but there is a perceptable movement from left to center and center to right going on, and I’m honestly mystified. First, from a strictly immigration standpoint, most wealthy countries, including the U.S., are aging, and it’s becoming increasingly expensive to pay for us older citizens. Immigration is the most obvious answer, since reversing the birth rate is unlikely and probably the least good idea.

By almost every metric, immigrants contribute to rather than detract from the economy. Undocumented immigrants get jobs, pay into the system, and don’t collect benefits absent emergencies. They stay below the horizon to avoid incarceration or deportation. The evidence is overwhelming that fewer commit serious crimes when compared to the general population as confirmed by studies published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Cato Institute, and Stanford University, among others. This doesn’t even begin to take into account the highly successful record of DACA immigrants in the U.S.

The U.S. may not be Australia or Canada with vast open spaces remaining, but we plainly have room for lots more people. The strength of the economy, the powerful dollar, and virtually no unemployment all signal we can easily absorb lots more new residents. Great Britain, by comparison, is the most densely populated nation in Europe -- oops, excuse me, in comparison to countries still calling themselves Europe. The U.S. on the other hand has one-eighth the population density of Great Britain. Increasing the population in general can put upward pressure on prices as more people search for housing and have increasing purchasing power, but these factors should level out over time. More people, in other words, will build more housing.

As for our Brit brethren, the Conservative government here is on the rocks and almost certain to lose the next election -- badly, at least if it were to be held soon. The immigration kerfuffle is probably their last hope to garner some support among poorer less educated voters. Many undocumented immigrants facing the prospect of imminent Rwanda citizenship will no doubt be relieved if, as expected, this bizarre immigration policy is quickly halted.

So, cheerio from delightful London.

A shorter note this month since we’re traveling; next time I’ve prepared a discussion of the Second Amendment. As always I’d be delighted to receive any feedback, including criticisms -- that’s what frank conversation can be all about -- and even suggestions for future discussions.  The main point, however, is to encourage civil conversation between you and your friends on what I see as important social and political issues of the day. Please enjoy.

Arne Werchick, after fifty years as a litigation attorney, pro tem judge, law writer and lecturer, former Presiding Arbitrator of the State Bar of California, and past president of the California Trial Lawyers Association, moved to Hawaii and lives with his wife Ruth and their rescue dog Topaz.  He can be contacted at liberalmind@werchick.com.