Refugee Policy: When 'Make America Great' Means 'Make America White'
While Trump's explicit rhetoric is certainly alarming, The Hill's outrage conveniently sidesteps the long, bipartisan history of restricting non-white immigration, often under the guise of 'national security' or 'economic protection.' Both Democratic and Republican administrations have enacted policies that disproportionately impact refugees from the Global South, from the immediate aftermath of
9/11's draconian measures to current border policies under the Biden administration. Remember, it was President Obama who deported more people than any other president in US history – 2.8 million over eight years, a number that primarily affected non-white immigrants. The Hill might gasp at Trump's words, but the actions have been a consistent, if less explicitly stated, reality across
administrations. So, while the opinion piece correctly identifies the racist implications of Trump's proposals, it presents it as a singular aberration rather than a stark continuation of a deeply embedded, albeit often veiled, preference in U.S. immigration policy. How novel, for a mainstream outlet to suddenly notice racial undertones in immigration policy only when a Republican says the quiet
part out loud.