The President’s rhetoric on immigration makes no sense.

“No one should pretend that immigrants are threats to America’s identity…”

That depends how many there are. We are told that by 2050, France will be a majority-Muslim nation. So immigration will have threatened France’s identity pretty decisively, won’t it? As Enoch Powell used to say: Numbers are of the essence. If one-tenth of China’s population managed to cross the Pacific and enter the USA, that would increase our population by 44 percent. That wouldn’t threaten America’s identity? All right, it’s an extreme, but it makes the point. Numbers are of the essence.

“…because immigrants have shaped America’s identity.”

Either they have, or they haven’t — it’s debatable. Some people would say that America’s identity is still fundamentally Anglo-Saxon-Celtic. But suppose the statement is true. Then presumably, permitting the continued mass influx of Mexicans would further “shape America’s identity” — by making this country more like Mexico. Is this what Americans want, for our country to more closely resemble Mexico? Is it a thing that any sane person would want?

“No one should claim that immigrants are a burden on our economy…’

Of course immigrants are a burden on our economy. To the degree that they need housing, transportation, medical care, schooling for their children, Social Security, possibly welfare, all human beings are a burden on our economy. The question is, are immigrants — especially illegal ones — a **net** burden on our economy? Do they take out more than they put in? This is in fact a topic of debate among economists, with respectable scholars on both sides. The debate has been going on for years, at least since George Borjas published Heaven’s Door. To say “No one should claim…” is absurd when a Harvard professor of economics claims it.