GLUESENKAMP PEREZ: You know, these policies like Title 42, I mean, I think it's been one of the fundamental mistakes around immigration, is to debate whether or not an immigration policy is, you know, motivated by racial animus. By the way, I think a lot of them are, but a lot of people in rural and working-class communities like mine, we come from communities that have been hollowed out by fentanyl, and so we're watching our cousins, our neighbors, our coworkers overdose and die, and we are demanding operational control of the southern border. That can't wait for a perfect immigration policy to come along. (emphasis added)
MARTÍNEZ: Did you think that the way Donald Trump's administration used Title 42 was an effective way to stem immigration?
GLUESENKAMP PEREZ: I don't think it's a question of stemming immigration. I mean, immigration itself is not the problem. The problem is that the U.S. does not have operational control of the southern border, and so a lot of Americans, a lot of American politicians have had this real focus on the very visceral images of the humanitarian crisis of the southern border, but what they're not seeing is what it's like to live in a country that is being run by a cartel. And so Biden needs to exercise his existing authority under Remain in Mexico, and Congress needs to give him back the presidential expulsion authority under Title 42.
One of the interesting things about the first long quote is how she suggests that immigration policy is influenced by racial animus--but also that there are other considerations, like the devastation being wrought by fentanyl, which Gluesenkamp Perez suggests is coming across the Southern border. In other words, we can hold both of these notions--perhaps both of these truths--simultaneously: some people advocating greater control at the Southern border are acting on racial animus, but they also have legitimate concerns about what is happening at the border, including fentanyl that may be coming through that border.
This duality is something I suggested in this recent publication regarding why many rural residents support Trump: they may both experience economic distress and racist impulses. It does not have to be an "either or." Also, as I have suggested elsewhere, if we are going to use terms like "racial animus," we should define them--that is, we should develop a shared definition. That has not happened. In fact, I have not seen any media outlet--or any academic--take that task seriously.
Prior posts featuring Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez are here, here, here, here, here and here. More still are here (including those on right-to-repair).
Meanwhile, here's a report on Americans' broad support for enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.
Cross-posted to Legal Ruralism.