Bloomberg Finds Fewer Survey Participants, Not Fewer Immigrants
A Bloomberg piece, citing a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis study, wants us to believe official immigrant population declines are 'overstated' because immigrants are less willing to participate in surveys. The article conveniently sidesteps the real factors at play—like the 2018 'zero tolerance' policy that separated families and effectively deterred asylum seekers, or the previous
administration's Title 42 expulsions, which were anything but welcoming. To suggest these policies didn't actively reduce the number of people entering the country, or at least push them further into the shadows, is a masterclass in deflection. This isn't about survey fatigue; it's about a climate of fear. When the government actively demonizes migrants and builds walls, both physical and
bureaucratic, it's hardly surprising numbers might shift. Perhaps those 'less willing to participate in surveys' are also less willing to be targeted by an increasingly hostile state apparatus. (Imagine that.) This narrative isn't about accurate data; it's about softening the public perception of policies that deliberately curtailed immigration, trying to make an engineered crisis seem like a
statistical anomaly.