The United States Should Welcome Immigrants from China

Alex Nowrasteh andJohn GlaserCompetition with China is dominating America ’s foreign policy discourse in a way reminiscent of Cold War hysteria. Our politics haven’t descended into McCarthyite crusades to purge federal departments of alleged communist infiltrators, but there are already examples of making policy out of paranoia.In addition tofueling wasteful defense spending, fear of China has led policymakers to push for cuts to Chinese immigration. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) believes dramatically reducing immigration from China is necessary to protect against Chinesespies stealing American secrets. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) went so far as to block abill allowing for Hong Kongers to get work permits and become refugees because he ’s afraid of spies. President Biden has maintained the anti-Chinese immigration policies adopted by the Trump administration.To the extent that China poses a serious threat to the United States, policymakers should be clamoring to liberalize immigration with China rather than restrict it. At the beginning of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, American politicians ignored the Know-Nothings of their time and encouraged refugees from communist countries.Starting with President Truman, who ordered the admission of 80,000 refugees from Soviet-occupied Poland, the Baltic countries, and from areas of Southern Europe where communist insurgencies were active in 1945, and ending with the Lautenberg Amendment of 1990, the U.S. government consistently liber...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs