Best of 2020: Immigration Reads You May Have Missed

Updated: January 13th, 2021, 11:50 am

Published:  

  by  Andrew Good

As the curtain closes on 2020, the NumbersUSA staff who work as part of the Media Standards Project have each pulled together a list of 10 noteworthy media items* from the year that advanced a healthy, civil, productive conversation on immigration-related issues.

These pundits and reporters provided their consumers with high-quality commentary and information, allowing the space to explore nuances, trade-offs, and policy prescriptions with intellectual integrity.

It is an encouraging fact that there were a number of pieces and writers we considered writers who didn't make any of our lists, but also had worthy cases.

Without further ado, I present our exemplars of 2020:

*Our lists pair with our colleague Lisa Venus' more-extensive counterpart blog, which you can read here.

Andrew Good's list (ranked):

  1. Worker Power, Loose Borders: Pick One; by Oren Cass; American Commons (December 16)
  2. The New Class War; by Michael Lind; Penguin Random House (January 21)
  3. They're Not Listening; by Ryan Girdusky & Harlan Hill; Simon & Schuster (June 16)
  4. US: Don't obsess about population size; by Lex Rieffel; the Globalist (February 11)
  5. @esaagar Immigration Twitter; by Saagar Enjeti; Twitter (2020); (Bonus Video: Saagar and Krystal debate Bernie's immigration policy; The Hill, January 31)
  6. Losing Control; by Jerry Kammer; Center for Immigration Studies (June 25)
  7. How to Paralyze the Immigration System in One Ill-Conceived Step; by Fred Bauer, National Review (December 14)
  8. Whatever Happened to Immigration?; by Matthew Continetti; The Washington Free Beacon (October 9)
  9. Trump's order banning immigration puts Democrats in a bind; by Henry Olsen; The Washington Post (June 23)
  10. Democrats' troubling adventure in a 'Wonderland' without 'rule of law'; by Nolan Rappaport; The Hill (September 23)

Sharon McKinnis' list (in no particular order):

  1. Where Do Republicans Go From Here?; by David Brooks, The New York Times (August 7)
  2. Labor For The Future; by Micah Meadowcroft; American Compass (September 14)
  3. Trump's gains in Texas and Florida don't tell the full Latino story; by Laura Barrón-López, Sabrina Rodriguez, and Renuka Rayasam; Politico (November 6)
  4. Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite; by Michael Lind; The Wall Street Journal (January 10)
  5. How Trump Grew His Support Among Latinos; by Geraldo Cadava; The Atlantic (November 9)
  6. Woke Inc.; by Michael Lind; Tablet Magazine (August 11)
  7. 2nd Amendment Sanctuaries Are Acts of Faithlessness in Government; by the Editorial Board; Los Angeles Times (January 19)
  8. The Return of Class Conflict; by Samuel Hammond; National Review (February 6)
  9. How to Revive Family, Community, and Other Resources of Liberty; by Fred Bauer; National Review (October 12)
  10. The Simple Reason the Left Won't Stop Losing; by David Leonhardt; The New York Times (March 8)

Chris Johnson's list (in no particular order):

  1. Nation's immigration issues are more than just numbers; by Brian Norris; The Post and Courier (November 15)
  2. Whatever Happened to Immigration?; by Matthew Continetti; The Washington Free Beacon (October 9)
  3. How to Fix America's Broken Guest-Worker System; by Timothy Noah; The Soapbox (June 24)
  4. If Black Lives Really Matter, End H1-B Visa Giveaways; by Jessica Vaughan; Inside Sources (June 29)
  5. DeSantis' E-Verify proposal helps Florida workers, deprives big corporations of cheap illegal labor; by David Caulkett; The Sun Sentinel (January 29)
  6. I'm a Liberal Who Thinks Immigration Must be Restricted; by Jerry Kammer; The New York Times (January 16)
  7. Why prevailing wage reform matters for H-1B visas; by Nolan Rappaport; The Hill (October 12)
  8. Woke Inc.; by Michael Lind; Tablet Magazine (August 11)
  9. The Cascading Complexity Of Diversity; by Andrew Sullivan; The Weekly Dish (August 7)
  10. How Trump Grew His Support Among Latinos; by Geraldo Cadava; The Atlantic (November 9)

ANDREW GOOD is the Director of the Media Standards Program for NumbersUSA