Legal immigration to America has rebounded
Is anyone paying attention?
![The Statue of Liberty with downtown New York skyline in New York, United States](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240622_USP508.jpg)
REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS often compare America’s southern border to Swiss cheese. It is more like a black hole. Its gravitational pull is so strong that officials can think only of enforcement and security (or the good electoral politics that come with harping on about enforcement and security). The names of small, dusty border towns—Eagle Pass, Jacumba Hot Springs—have never been so well known. The black hole leaves little time to consider the other parts of America’s creaking immigration system, such as refugees, skilled-worker visas or reforming quotas that are decades out of date.
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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Beyond the border”
United States June 22nd 2024
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