This Land Is Our Land

by Suketu Mehta

  Americans think that the foreign-born make up around 37 percent of the population: Ana Swanson, “Here’s How Little Americans Really Know About Immigration.” Washington Post (September 1, 2016). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/01/heres-how-little-americans-really-know-about-immigration/.

  The French think that one out of three people in their country is Muslim: Pamela Duncan, “Europeans Greatly Overestimate Muslim Population, Poll Shows.” Guardian (December 13, 2016). https://www.theguardian.com/society/datablog/2016/dec/13/europeans-massively-overestimate-muslim-population-poll-shows.

  A quarter of the French, one in five Swedes, and one in seven Americans: Eduardo Porter and Karl Russell, “Migrants Are on the Rise Around the World, and Myths About Them Are Shaping Attitudes.” New York Times (June 20, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/20/business/economy/immigration-economic-impact.html.

  whose economy had the strongest growth in the G7 in 2017: Eshe Nelson, “Canada Was the Strongest G7 Economy in 2017.” Quartz (March 2, 2018). https://qz.com/1220265/canada-was-the-strongest-g7-economy-in-2017/.

  Hate crimes against Muslims actually went down in Canada in 2017: Monique Scotti, “Hate Crimes Against Muslims Are Down as Overall Number of Hate Crimes Increases.” Global News (November 28, 2017). https://globalnews.ca/news/3884829/hate-crimes-against-muslims-down/.

  in its southern neighbor, they jumped by 5 percent: Mark Berman, “Hate Crimes in the United States Increased Last Year, the FBI Says.” Washington Post (November 13, 2017). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/11/13/hate-crimes-in-the-united-states-increased-last-year-the-fbi-says/.

  10. A BRIEF HISTORY OF FEAR

  The legend began with the “Black Hole”: Partha Chatterjee and Ayça Çubukçu, “Empire as a Practice of Power: An Interview.” Asia-Pacific Journal 10, issue 41, no. 1 (October 8, 2012). https://apjjf.org/2012/10/41/Partha-Chatterjee/3840/article.html.

  “What we are ashamed of as if it were a disgrace”: Claude Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques. Translated by John and Doreen Weightman (New York: Atheneum, 1974), p. 134.

  “I have understood the population explosion intellectually”: Paul R. Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968), p. 15.

  “The United States could take effective unilateral action”: Paul R. Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968), pp. 151–152.

  “Sometime in the next 15 years”: Charles C. Mann, “The Book That Incited a Worldwide Fear of Overpopulation.” Smithsonian Magazine (January 2018). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/book-incited-worldwide-fear-overpopulation-180967499/.

  Churchill, in 1945, opined that Hindus: Mihir Bose, “Why Did Winston Churchill Hate the Hindus and Prefer the Muslims?” Quartz (April 4, 2017). https://qz.com/india/948392/why-did-winston-churchill-hate-the-hindus-and-prefer-the-muslims/.

  The Mein Kampf of the contemporary anti-immigrant movement: Sarah Jones, “The Notorious Book That Ties the Right to the Far Right.” New Republic (February 2, 2018). https://newrepublic.com/article/146925/notorious-book-ties-right-far-right.

  “First to land were the monsters”: Jean Raspail, Le Camp des Saints (France: Éditions Robert Laffont, 1973); translated by Norman Shapiro as The Camp of the Saints (New York: Scribner, 1975), p. 85.

  “Our hypersensitive and totally blind West”: Matthew Connelly and Paul Kennedy, “Must It Be the Rest Against the West?” Atlantic (December 1994). https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/politics/immigrat/kennf.htm.

  In 1995, Raspail’s disease-ridden book crossed over the ocean: Jason DeParle, “The Anti-Immigration Crusader.” New York Times (April 17, 2011). https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/17immig.html.

  Marine Le Pen, who keeps a signed copy at her desk: Cécile Alduy, “What a 1973 French Novel Tells Us About Marine Le Pen, Steve Bannon and the Rise of the Populist Right.” Politico (April 23, 2017). https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/23/what-a-1973-french-novel-tells-us-about-marine-le-pen-steve-bannon-and-the-rise-of-the-populist-right-215064.

  Tanton republished The Camp of the Saints in 2001: Paul Blumenthal and J. M. Rieger, “This Stunningly Racist French Novel Is How Steve Bannon Explains the World.” Huffington Post (March 4, 2017). https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-camp-of-the-saints-immigration_us_58b75206e4b0284854b3dc03.

  11. CULTURE: SHITHOLES VERSUS NORDICS

  “Civilization’s going to pieces”: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (New York: Scribner’s Sons, 1925).

  “Why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm”: Catherine Rampell, “Founding Fathers, Trashing Immigrants.” Washington Post (August 28, 2015). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2015/08/28/founding-fathers-trashing-immigrants.

  In the 1850s, the American Party, or the “Know-Nothings”: Lorraine Boissoneault, “How the 19th-Century Know Nothing Party Reshaped American Politics.” Smithsonian Magazine (January 26, 2017). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/immigrants-conspiracies-and-secret-society-launched-american-nativism-180961915/.

  “Californians have properly objected”: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “Editorial in the Macon Telegraph.” Macon Telegraph (April 30, 1925). https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/history/article/the-leo-frank-case/franklin-d.-roosevelts-editorials-for-the-macon-telegraph.

  “We favor reducing immigration to nothing”: Bruce Bartlett, “Donald Trump Doesn’t Need Latino Voters to Win.” Washington Post (September 4, 2015). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-doesnt-need-latino-voters-to-win-the-nomination/2015/09/04/9fd2e40c-524f-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html; A. Philip Randolph, “Immigration and Japan.” Messenger (August 1924), p. 247.

  The “Goddard” in Gatsby is a reference to Lothrop Stoddard: Lewis Turlish, “The Rising Tide of Color: A Note on the Historicism of The Great Gatsby.” American Literature 43, no. 3 (November 1971), pp. 442–444. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2924045.

  “Haiti? Why do we want people from Haiti here?”: Josh Dawsey, “Trump Derides Protections for Immigrants from ‘Shithole’ Countries.” Washington Post (January 12, 2018). https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html.

  “Today, the West is also confronted by the powers that seek to test our will”: Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump to the People of Poland (July 6, 2017). https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-people-poland/.

  “There is no Americano dream”: Samuel Huntington, “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy (March–April 2004). http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~tjdunn/Immign—Spg%2007/Huntington%2004—edited—07.doc.

  “I’ve never met an illegal Canadian”: Miriam Valverde, “Lindsey Graham: ‘I’ve Never Met an Illegal Canadian.’” Politifact (March 8, 2017). https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/mar/08/canadians-and-visa-overstay-data/. For more information, see “Fiscal Year 2017 Entry/Exit Overstay Report.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (August 2018). https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/18_0807_S1_Entry-Exit-Overstay_Report.pdf.

  Periodically, U.S. congressmen of Irish descent fought for legislation: Celestine Bohlen, “For Illegal Irish Immigrants, a Time to Test That Luck.” New York Times (March 17, 1989). https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/17/nyregion/for-illegal-irish-immigrants-a-time-to-test-that-luck.html?pagewanted=all.

  The terms of the diversity program were changed in 1989: Marvine Howe, “Irish-Americans Praise New Immigration Bill.” New York Times (October 7, 1990). https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/07/nyregion/irish-americans-praise-new-immigration-bill.html.

  Again, in 1995, the Irish had priority for unclaimed visas: Francesca Gaiba, “I’m a White Immigrant and I Benefited from a Racist Visa Lottery.” Time (December 8, 2016). http://time.com/4593985/immigration-visa-lotter-racism/.

  In 2012, the Massachusetts Republican senator Sc
ott Brown introduced a bill: Rose Arce, “Massachusetts Senator Pushes Bill for Irish Work Visas.” CNN (March 16, 2012). https://www.cnn.com/2012/03/16/election/2012/brown-irish-immigrant-visas/index.html.

  “Ireland estimates as many as 50,000 unauthorized Irish”: John Burnett, “Undocumented Irish Caught in Trump’s Immigration Dragnet.” NPR (January 22, 2018). https://www.npr.org/2018/01/22/578930256/undocumented-irish-unexpectedly-caught-in-trumps-immigration-dragnet.

  “Not all cultures are compatible with the culture in this country”: Thomas Sowell, “Abstract Immigrants.” Creators Syndicate (June 4, 2013). https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/06/13/abstract-immigrants.

  in the days and weeks after Trump’s anti-Muslim tweets: Karsten Müller and Carlo Schwarz, “Fanning the Flames of Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime.” University of Warwick (November 30, 2018). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3082972.

  12. THE COLOR OF HATE

  2044. That is the year when America is projected to stop being a majoritywhite nation: Sandra L. Colby and Jennifer M. Ortman, “Projections of the Size and Composition of the U.S. Population: 2014 to 2060.” United States Census Bureau (March 3, 2015). https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p25-1143.html.

  “You can shut the door to everyone in the world and that won’t change”: Jeff Stein and Andrew Van Dam, “Trump Immigration Plan Could Keep Whites in U.S. Majority for up to Five More Years.” Washington Post (February 6, 2018). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/06/trump-immigration-plan-could-keep-whites-in-u-s-majority-for-up-to-five-more-years.

  For the first time, half of the babies under the age of one were nonwhite: D’Vera Cohn, “It’s Official: Minority Babies Are the Majority Among the Nation’s Infants, but Only Just.” Pew Research Center (June 23, 2016). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/23/its-official-minority-babies-are-the-majority-among-the-nations-infants-but-only-just/.

  In 2018, deaths among whites outnumbered births in more than half the states: Sabrina Tavernise, “Fewer Births Than Deaths Among Whites in Majority of U.S. States.” New York Times (June 20, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/white-minority-population.html.

  Hispanics in the United States have an average age of twenty-eight: Eileen Patten, “The Nation’s Latino Population Is Defined by Its Youth.” Pew Research Center (April 20, 2016). http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/04/20/the-nations-latino-population-is-defined-by-its-youth/.

  The 18 percent of the population that is Hispanic is the biggest minority group: Jonathan Vespa, David M. Armstrong, and Lauren Medina, “Demographic Turning Points for the United States: Population Projections for 2020 to 2060.” United States Census Bureau (March 13, 2018). https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/demo/P25_1144.pdf.

  The fastest-growing race in the country is now Asian: Gustavo López, Neil G. Ruiz, and Eileen Patten, “Key Facts About Asian Americans, a Diverse and Growing Population.” Pew Research Center (September 8, 2017). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/08/key-facts-about-asian-americans/.

  The 2016 median U.S. income for Indian Americans was $110,026: Valerie Wilson and Zane Mokhiber, “2016 ACS Shows Stubbornly High Native American Poverty and Different Degrees of Economic Well-Being for Asian Ethnic Groups.” Economic Policy Institute (September 15, 2017). https://www.epi.org/blog/2016-acs-shows-stubbornly-high-native-american-poverty-and-different-degrees-of-economic-well-being-for-asian-ethnic-groups/.

  “White” Americans, as a group, earned $61,349: Gloria G. Guzman, “Household Income: 2016. American Community Survey Briefs.” U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration (September 2017). https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/acs/acsbr16-02.pdf.

  African immigrants are more accomplished than the average American: Ann Simmons, “African Immigrants Are More Educated Than Most—Including People Born in U.S.” Los Angeles Times (January 12, 2018). https://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-global-african-immigrants-explainer-20180112-story.html.

  Counties that voted for Hillary Clinton account for 64 percent of the U.S. GDP: Jim Tankersley, “Donald Trump Lost Most of the American Economy in This Election.” Washington Post (November 22, 2016). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/22/donald-trump-lost-most-of-the-american-economy-in-this-election/.

  Fifty-eight percent of Republicans now think that universities are bad for America: Hannah Fingerhut, “Republicans Skeptical of Colleges’ Impact on U.S., but Most See Benefits for Workforce Preparation.” Pew Research Center (July 20, 2017). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/20/republicans-skeptical-of-colleges-impact-on-u-s-but-most-see-benefits-for-workforce-preparation/.

  “One way to think of Trumpism is as an attempt to narrow regional disparities”: Paul Krugman, “Know-Nothings for the 21st Century.” New York Times (January 15, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/opinion/trump-american-values.html.

  In 2020, whites without a college degree will still be 44 percent of the eligible voters: Rob Griffin, Ruy Teixeira, and William H. Frey, “America’s Electoral Future Demographic Shifts and the Future of the Trump Coalition.” Center for American Progress/Brookings Institution (April 19, 2018). https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/States-of-Change-2018-Americas-Electoral-Future.pdf.

  “This is a real sea change”: Sabrina Tavernise, “Fewer Births Than Deaths Among Whites in Majority of U.S. States.” New York Times (June 20, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/white-minority-population.html.

  Fifty-four percent of all legal immigrants get naturalized within a decade: Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, “Mexican Lawful Immigrants Among the Least Likely to Become U.S. Citizens.” Pew Research Center (June 29, 2017). http://www.pewhispanic.org/2017/06/29/recent-trends-in-naturalization-1995-2015/.

  In the 2018 midterms: CNN, “2018 Midterm Election Exit Polls” (November 6, 2018). https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls. Historical numbers from K. K. Rebecca Lai and Allison McCann, “Exit Polls: How Voting Blocs Have Shifted from the ’80s to Now.” New York Times (November 7, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/07/us/elections/house-exit-polls-analysis.html.

  A total of $4.7 trillion: Ryan Edwards and Francesc Ortega, “The Economic Impacts of Removing Unauthorized Immigrant Workers: An Industry and State-Level Analysis.” Center for American Progress (September 21, 2016). https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2016/09/21/144363/the-economic-impacts-of-removing-unauthorized-immigrant-workers/.

  Half of all federal prosecutions already involve immigration: John Gramlich and Kristen Bialik, “Immigration Offenses Make Up a Growing Share of Federal Arrests.” Pew Research Center (April 10, 2017). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/10/immigration-offenses-make-up-a-growing-share-of-federal-arrests/.

  He was called the “deporter in chief” by immigrant advocates: Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Jessica Bolter, “The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not?” Migration Policy Institute (January 26, 2017). https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deportations-deporter-chief-or-not.

  “In U.S. presidential elections, persons of color whose roots”: Pat Buchanan, “Trump: In Immigration Debate, Race Matters.” Townhall (January 16, 2018). https://townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/2018/01/16/trump-in-immigration-debate-race-matters-n2434869.

  According to Nielsen, 94 percent of people who watch Fox News are white: Greg Price, “Fox News’s Audience Almost Exclusively White as Network Faces Backlash over Immigration Coverage.” Newsweek (August 10, 2018). https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-white-audience-immigration-1067807.

  “The America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore”: Tom Kludt and Brian Stelter, “White Anxiety Finds a Home at Fox News.” CNN (August 9, 2018). https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/media/fox-news-laura-ingraham-tucker-carlson-white-nationalism/index.html.

  An amateur genealogist named Jennifer Mendelsohn dug up a 1
917 court case: Jennifer Mendelsohn, “How Would Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Have Affected His Own Team?” Politico (January 18, 2018). https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/18/donald-trump-immigration-chain-migration-dan-scavino-tomi-lahren-216332.

  “Migrant memoirs and other documents are full of examples of people who lied”: Sewell Chan, “Immigration in New York City: Taking the Long View.” New York Times (November 14, 2007). https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/immigration-in-new-york-city-taking-the-long-view/.

  In March 2017, he ran with a story about two undocumented immigrant teenagers: David Neiwert, “Right-Wing Media’s Favorite Tale of ‘Immigrant Rape’ Evaporates.” Southern Poverty Law Center (May 12, 2017). https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/05/12/right-wing-medias-favorite-tale-immigrant-rape-evaporates.

  “For Miller to say his family came to America ‘legally’ is simply a ruse”: Rob Eshman, “Stephen Miller, Meet Your Immigrant Great-Grandfather.” Jewish Journal (August 10, 2016). https://jewishjournal.com/opinion/rob_eshman/214361/stephen-miller-meet-immigrant-great-grandfather/.

  “My nephew and I must both reflect long and hard on one awful truth”: Aiden Pink, “Stephen Miller’s Family Is Furious over Family Separation Policy.” Forward (June 18, 2018). https://forward.com/fast-forward/403382/stephen-millers-family-is-furious-over-his-immigrant-family-separation/.

  Researchers at the University of Warwick recently studied every anti-refugee attack: Amanda Taub and Max Fisher, “Facebook Fueled Anti-Refugee Attacks in Germany, New Research Suggests.” New York Times (August 21, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/world/europe/facebook-refugee-attacks-germany.html.

  “If shooting these immigrating feral hogs works”: Todd Fertig, “Rep. Apologizes for Remark About Shooting Illegal Immigrants.” Wichita Eagle (March 16, 2011). https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article1060073.html.