The Immigrant Superpower

One century ago, in 1921, as the American colossus was emerging on the world stage, a populist backlash against foreign immigration was reinforced by fears of a global pandemic known as the Spanish flu. The backlash was bipartisan, and emergency" legislation passed the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly. That decision was strategically myopic, undercutting the source of America's surprisingly sudden strength. Indeed, immigrants and the sons of immigrants filled the ranks of the victorious U.S. Army coming home from Europe after World War One, and it was the sons of immigrants who would fill the ranks in World War Two as well. Only during the Cold War era did America's leaders realize that its isolationist immigration laws were harmful. In 2021, the U.S. is stronger than ever on the world stage, yet ironically finds itself in a situation that mirrors that of 1921: populism combined with a global pandemic. Even as Joe Biden's Democratic Party takes over the reins of the federal government, limits on foreign travel are more extreme than ever. Whole countries are all but blockaded, and the emergency justification for keeping out potentially diseased foreigners in the Covid era will be hard to overcome. People, even enlightened voters in great democracies, are not very good at measuring short-term gains against long-term costs"--