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Relevant Reading:
Melting Pot or Civil War?: A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders
Reihan Salam
These days, no issue divides the American electorate quite like immigration, as Donald Trump’s supporters on the Right thrill to his enforcement-heavy agenda and promises to build a wall, while activists on the Left increasingly call for open borders and abolishing ICE. With such disparate positions on both sides of the issue, there is precious little political incentive for compromise, or even for partisans on either side to entertain the good-faith arguments of their opponents.
In his new book Melting Pot or Civil War?, Reihan Salam attempts such a good-faith argument, advocating for tighter restrictions on immigration. Himself the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, Salam explains why a policy of unrestricted immigration is harmful to both immigrants and native-born Americans, and threatens to deepen our national divides. He also offers concrete policy solutions that can lead the way out of our current impasse.
Tune in this week as Reihan joins Richard Aldous to discuss the book. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow @aminterest and @reihan on Twitter.