Only thing I’d add to immigration debate is I think it was a huge mistake for Republicans to fall into the same mindset as 20th century Democrats that immigrants should be heavily scrutinized for their citizenship.
My understanding is this stems from the fact that they are more likely to vote Democrat or be more liberally sympathetic so the reason Republicans try to make it as difficult as possible, from their perspective, to achieve citizenship. When Republicans actively pursue such rigorous ways of achieving citizenship, it is only natural that they do become liberal or Democrat which is unfortunate for those seeking America to avoid socialism or communism. They should be a boon to Republicans, and they still could be if Republicans eased up on their immigration policies.
But after 9/11 the Republican Party became a little too anti-immigrant. Not without good reason but it has been overall detrimental to their image in regards to foreign citizens who should be more inclined to be conservative or even vote Republican. And it should be noted that many do, but that it’s far from a majority.
That could change if the Republican Party would stop catering to those who fall for the flawed mindset that they are all out to “steal our jobs” or that their “cultural influence is detrimental to our overall traditions”. This is not just inaccurate but detrimental if there are any conservatives or moderates who genuinely want immigrants to assimilate and legally become citizens.
Conservatives should know better that more government influence and bureaucracy is not beneficial to any individual and using those as a way to narrow the influx will only cause more crime and not less.
We should always beware of any legislation that criminalizes something that was previously legal so that the government reaps the financial rewards for what essentially amounts to legal traps.
Whether you’re liberal, Democrat, Republican, conservative, moderate, independent, whatever.