New Democrats

• In early February 2024, a group of senators proposed new immigration legislation that would have slowed the migrant influx at the border.
• This is far from the first time that Democrats and Republicans have failed to pass legislation that was intended to improve the country’s immigration system.
• Here are four key reasons why meaningful immigration policy change has been so difficult to achieve – and why it remains a pipe dream:

1. Immigration reform has always been hard

• The U.S. has faced major roadblocks every time it has tried to achieve immigration reform.
• The final bipartisan bargain removed racist quotas but appeased those who wanted to restrict immigration by prioritizing new immigrants’ connections to family already in the country – a preference that lawmakers thought would favor Europeans.
• The last big immigration reform happened in 1986, when Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

2. The US is more polarized on immigration than ever before

• But partisan and ideological polarization over border control and immigrants’ rights is greater today than any other time.
• Over the past 20 years, Democratic and Republican voters and politicians alike became more firmly aligned with rival pro- and anti-immigration rights movements.
• In 2008, 46% of Republicans and 39% of Democrats said they thought immigration to the U.S. should be decreased.
• In 2023, GOP support for decreased immigration soared to 73%, compared with just 18% of Democrats who said they wanted that.

3. There’s little bipartisan agreement over what the problem actually is

• Yet different political groups cannot agree on what exactly is wrong and how to solve it.
• For some Republicans, including former Trump, the problem is lax border control and permissive policies that allow dangerous migrants to enter and stay in the country.
• Right-wing politicians and commentators, like Tucker Carlson, have exploited these anxieties, warning that large-scale immigration will “replace” white Americans.
• There are also conservatives who think immigration is consistent with the principles of individual liberty, entrepreneurship and national economic growth.

4. Immigration reform is especially messy in a presidential election year

• Presidential election years are fertile ground for politicking on immigrants and borders, but not lasting policy reform.
• In 2021, President Joe Biden and his supporters introduced an immigration bill that would offer a pathway to legal residency for nearly all undocumented immigrants.
• Now, Biden finds himself underwater with voters, including Democrats, on immigration and the perceived chaos at the border.

Daniel Tichenor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• And the environment appears to be getting increasingly hostile, with the common ground between progressives and conservatives shrinking election by election.
• After four decades of Progressive Conservative governments, Albertans appeared to swerve left in 2015 by electing the New Democrats led by Rachel Notley.

Return of the Conservatives

• The status quo appeared to return, however, when Jason Kenney’s new United Conservative Party (UCP) took back control of the provincial government in 2019.
• Under new leader Danielle Smith, the UCP retained power with a narrow majority, losing most of their seats in Calgary while tallying massive victories in rural areas.
• Ongoing Common Ground research conducted by our University of Alberta research team suggests: in some ways, yes.
• Regardless of their own political leanings, most Albertans see their community as overwhelmingly conservative and resistant to change.

Albertans more united than it appears

• This is true in both urban and rural areas, as Albertans are more united than meets the eye.
• A full 40 per cent of Albertans believe government should be spending more on social programs, while only one in 10 think the province should be spending less.
• Results from the same survey show that many Albertans simply don’t view their broader community in the same progressive terms.
• This sort of factionalism breeds instability, as witnessed in countries like the United Kingdom via Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement in the United States.

Talking to Albertans

• Over the past four years, we’ve been impressed at the level of civility and moderation displayed by everyday Albertans.
• There’s more that unites Albertans than election results and political rhetoric suggests.

• SAN FRANCISCO and BOSTON, April 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voltus, Inc. ("Voltus"), the leading distributed energy resource (DER) technology platform and virtual power plant (VPP) operator, today announced that it will host a free in-person customer event, The Future of Energy Summit, in the D.C. area on Tuesday, April 25 from 10 am-1:30 pm ET.
• The event will be hosted at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia.
• An RSVP by April 14, 2023 is required to attend the event.
• Customers and partners can RSVP here .

• December’s CPI numbers showed that inflation is moderating in Canada, but workers continue to see their wages lagging.
• “Let’s hope they are just as quick to start reducing rates as they were hiking them.
• Meanwhile, before noon on January 3, Canada’s top CEOs had already pocketed the average workers’ annual salary.
• To tackle the never-before-seen staff shortage, the government must invest in health care workers with better pay, benefits, pension plan and working conditions.