Thirty years ago, a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, said that the U.S. “cannot tolerate illegal immigration” and pledged that he would “firmly oppose welfare benefits for illegal immigrants.”
How times have changed.
Today, Democrats support government benefits for illegal immigrants, oppose deportation, and refuse even to use the word “illegal” to describe those who have snuck into the country. How did we get here?
“At a time when states are governed increasingly by one party or another, the latest migration trends, released last week, show Americans continuing to move heavily away from states with politics dominated by Democrats, and toward Republican locales—significantly shifting population, political power, and economic resources,” Steven Malanga explains. This dynamic, he writes, illustrates “why Democrats have been anxious to welcome immigrants (legal or not) and see that they get counted in the decennial tally.”
Indeed, the numbers don’t look good for blue states. Of the top ten states gaining residents from other parts of the country, seven are governed by Republican trifectas, where the party controls the governorship and both legislative houses. The other three have divided governments, but lean Republican. And of the ten states losing the most residents, nine are Democratic.
Read more from Malanga on the migration trends and what they could mean for Democrats.
