I sat down with Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, to discuss why he believes we should significantly reduce immigration levels. Often, the immigration debate is so focused on illegal immigration that equally important questions about legal immigration are entirely ignored. As Mark points out, even President Trump—smeared as an anti-immigrant radical—has generally supported high levels of legal immigration. Mark, on the other hand, is an unapologetic restrictionist. Our conversation digs deep into the economics of immigration, the importance of assimilation, and practical solutions to our current immigration conundrum.
Learn more about the Center for Immigration Studies: https://cis.org/
Follow Mark on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/MarkSKrikorian
Outline:
[0:00] Modern immigration isn’t like Ellis Island
[8:51] What does assimilation mean?
[20:48] Trump’s reelection and cultural alignment
[29:39] Isn’t more workers better for the economy?
[43:05] Consumer prices, farm labor, and automation
[55:37] The problem with libertarian utopianism
[59:11] How can we know the “right” amount of immigration?
[1:03:44] What’s the problem with H-1B visas?
[1:07:46] Trump isn’t an immigration restrictionist
[1:13:11] What do we do about non-criminal illegal immigrants?
[1:28:02] Should we “build the wall”?
[1:33:38] Should we rethink birthright citizenship?
[1:40:42] Was Mitt Romney right about self-deportation?
[1:47:49] Population decline and the welfare state
[1:55:55] We are communities, not just individuals
Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DRRsKtoml3I
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