The European left is starting to cave on immigration. By The Economist.
Western attitudes are hardening. In Europe the views of social democrats and right-wing populists are converging.
The system is not working. Designed for post-war Europe, it cannot cope with a world of proliferating conflict, cheap travel and huge wage disparities.
Roughly 900m people would like to migrate permanently. Since it is almost impossible for a citizen of a poor country to move legally to a rich one, many move without permission. In the past two decades many have discovered that asylum offers a back door. Instead of crossing a border stealthily, as in the past, they walk up to a border guard and request asylum, knowing that the claim will take years to adjudicate and, in the meantime, they can melt into the shadows and find work.
Voters are right to think the system has been gamed. Most asylum claims in the European Union are now rejected outright. Fear of border chaos has fuelled the rise of populism, from Brexit to Donald Trump, and poisoned the debate about legal migration. …
The Economist is very ruling establishment, so this is a significant change of direction. Vox Populi:
It’s obvious why they are alarmed. In Britain, the two mainstream parties have been destroyed. And the convergence of SOCIALIST democrats and right-wing NATIONAL populists is always going to terrify a media controlled by a small group of people who were not historically very popular with socialist nationalists.
The Economist again, trying it on:
Mr Trump’s policy of mass deportation is both cruel and expensive. Far better to let those who have put down roots stay, while securing the border and changing the incentives for future arrivals. If liberals do not build a better system, populists will build a worse one.
Vox Populi again:
After their policies fail, they always try to move the goalposts in order to prevent those failures from being adequately addressed. At this point, they’re just trying to lock in their gains.
The Restore party in Britain basically aims to restore Britain to year 2000 demographics by reversing most all the migration since then. Imagine how much better off the natives would be.