Velshi: Immigration has been good to America

After four years of an administration that conflated our southern border issues with actual immigration policy, some Americans believe immigration should be severely curtailed or shouldn’t exist at all. That’s what you call ordering a side of xenophobia with your economically flawed main course. The idea that America has been a prime example of innovation and creativity is, in large part, because America has always attracted the best and hardest working immigrants from every corner of the world. But bad immigration policy is narrowing the innovation gap between the U.S. and other countries. America’s immigration is what makes America great --there’s even a 135-year-old statue in New York City, near where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean, right by where ships carrying immigrants used to come in, dedicated to the idea. But, over time, bad politics has eroded that idea. Despite that, it’s important to remember America is, historically, really good at immigration. And immigration has been really good to America.April 11, 2021