For three decades establishment Democrats and Republicans have led a bipartisan assault on immigrants. Pulled further and further right by a vocal and organised group of nativists, they have turned the southern border region into a conflict zone, breaking up millions of families in the process.
In All-American Nativism, Daniel Denvir delivers a caustic takedown of liberal triangulation on the border, showing how concessions to "enforcement first" law and order immigration politics hasn't placated the nativists it has only inflamed them. Establishment officials from both parties have allowed the right-wing to dictate our policy on migration, even as popular opinion clamours for a more humane and just approach. With the centre collapsed, the left can either demand full amnesty now, or cede the ground of national belonging to nativists and white supremacists.
