Immigration security

Immigration Reaches Critical Mass

Half a century ago Congress enacted two transformative laws. The Voting Rights Act struck the political system like a lightning bolt. The other law, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, has been like a time-release capsule whose effects build over time.

It’s hard to say which has done more to change American society. But one thing is clear: During this election concerns about the consequences of our post-1965 immigration regime reached critical mass and found their voice. To be sure, the explicit critique focused on illegal immigration rather than the law itself. But it wasn’t hard to detect broader worries.

A 2016 immigration survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that 21% of Americans say the prospect of the U.S. becoming a majority nonwhite country would “bother” them, up from 14% three years earlier. Among working-class whites, the figure was 28%; among Americans 65 and older, 29%.