Presidential elections in the United States are almost always decided by domestic issues. Once in a while a global concern like terrorism or a particular war will affect voters’ choices. But Americans care most about their own livelihoods: jobs, housing, the cost of food.
In 2024, a number of global issues should weigh heavily on the minds of Americans. There’s the overwhelming threat of climate change. Voters should also care deeply about the horrific destruction of the Palestinian community in Gaza and the ongoing efforts of Ukrainians to defend their country.
But there’s really only one foreign policy issue that could decide the election in November. That issue is immigration.
America is a country of immigrants. It also desperately needs immigrants right now to do the essential jobs that keep America healthy, well-fed, and housed: pick vegetables, process meat, care for the elderly, do low-paid construction work. The unemployment rate in the United States is currently around 3.7 percent. Historically, that is very low. Many of the job sectors that have traditionally employed immigrants—health care, landscaping, cleaning services, restaurant work—have the greatest number of open positions at the moment.
Despite the need for these workers, many Americans believe falsely that immigrants are taking away their jobs. It’s not just that immigrants are working the jobs that native-born Americans generally don’t want to do. Because of all the retiring Boomers, millions of immigrants are necessary every year just to keep the economy afloat.
And yet, more than a quarter of the American population thinks that immigration, on balance, is a bad thing. Compared to 2020, when only 28 percent of Americans thought that immigration should be decreased, that number........