The New York Times Book Review - Kay Hymowitz
In Melting Pot or Civil War? Reihan Salam brushes past the familiar hashtag denunciations into less well trod territory to ponder the forgotten question that underlies this standoff: What immigration policies would best inch us toward the elusive goal of a fair and just society?…Salam has written a book that is simultaneously a personal reflection, an accessible summary of current research and a nuanced policy discussion. It is also an implicit reprimand, suggesting that when it comes to debating immigration, we've been doing it very, very wrong…This bracing book could be a conversation-changer—if only the outraged on both sides would let it.
Publishers Weekly
07/30/2018
National Review executive editor Reihan Salam is optimistic that a solution to the United States’ immigration crisis can be found, though it will require compromise and a rethinking of the role of immigrants in American society. The son of Bangladeshi immigrants, Salam (Grand New Party: How Conservatives Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream) speaks to the current immigration impasse from the perspective of a political conservative and a second-generation American. He draws attention to the extreme, false dichotomy between open borders and highly restrictive immigration that limits political debate on these issues. The real focus going forward, he writes, should be on how America treats its immigrants: the United States needs to work to ensure that immigrants assimilate into American society, treating them like free and equal citizens rather than “permanent strangers.” Currently, he argues, too little is done to lift immigrants out of poverty, which perpetuates a lack of upward mobility and solidifies racial and economic divides between citizens and immigrants. He offers ambitious solutions, such as “large-scale amnesty followed directly by resolute enforcement” of immigration laws, a rebalancing of admissions toward highly skilled immigrants, and the creation of a universal child benefit program to alleviate the economic demands on poor immigrant families. This well-researched analysis adds relevant possibilities to the immigration debate in the U.S. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
The choice between 'melting pot or civil war' may seem a stark one. But in this clear-sighted and courageous book, Salam persuasively argues that without a radical reform of the U.S. immigration system, our already polarized society might very well come apart at the seams.”
—Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution
“Tackling a complex and emotional subject with thoughtfulness and charity, Salam has issued a clarion call to everyone who cares about the American nation and every person who calls it home. Melting Pot or Civil War answers the question of how we can have an immigration policy that is beneficial, humane, and fair to everyone—from ninth-generation Americans to new immigrants.”
—J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy
“Should we lock people out of the middle class, or should we lock people out of the country? That is what is really being asked when we debate whether American immigration policy should be open or closed. Thankfully, Reihan Salam reveals this dichotomy to be a false choice. We can live in a middle class country that welcomes newcomers—if we can live with middle-of-the-road limits rather than absolutist extremes.”
—Peter Thiel, author of Zero to One
"No matter where you stand on the issue of immigration, Salam's book does something marvelously dangerous: it threatens to change your mind."
—Kristen Soltis Anderson, author of The Selfie Vote and cofounder of Echelon Insights
“For far too long, advocates of open immigration have dismissed their critics without even bothering to answer them. Reihan Salam should make that impossible. He offers a smart, informed, humane, and powerful case for an immigration policy that better serves all Americans. This is essential reading for understanding our country and its future.”
—Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs and author of The Fractured Republic
“Reihan Salam has written the most honest and insightful treatment of immigration you will find right now. I do not agree with everything he says in this book, but I highly recommend it.”
—Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University and author of The Complacent Class
Kirkus Reviews
2018-07-02
A vigorous, controversy-courting argument for limiting immigration, especially of low-skilled workers.Salam (co-author: Grand New Party: How Conservatives Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream, 2008), the son of Bangladeshi immigrants who is now the executive editor of the National Review, delivers a nuanced case for closing the border to all but a certain desired class of newcomers and restructuring immigration policy in order to stave off ever increasing Balkanization. By his account, when low-skilled immigrants arrive in America, they are shunted off to second-class status and not expected to take their part in a melting-pot ideal that has become more a series of separate-but-not-equal enclaves. Donald Trump and company are capitalizing on that separation in forging a racially and ethnically tinged nationalism. Their opposition, to which he himself seems opposed, notwithstanding, Salam reckons on the possibility of a future in which "we might even have to countenance the creation of a new class of guest workers who would be permanently barred from citizenship." As it is, he argues, second-generation Americans are often at the barricades leading the fight against the gentrification of their run-down neighborhoods, foot soldiers in a race-based struggle over inequality that itself is a repudiation of the melting-pot ideal. The author's suggestion that immigrants be denied "the myriad…benefits for which low-income households are eligible" is among the more tendentious possibilities, while the scenario of wealthy Americans' replacing air conditioners with "a rotating cast of earnest young people who would be willing to fan them around the clock" is absurd but makes a point. Mostly, Salam ventures a hard but reasonable case. Allowing that some level of amnesty is likely to be required as a compromise, and even endorsing the thought of a universal child benefit by way of welfare, he pushes for a skill-based visa that "gives some (slight) weight to family ties" and other reforms.An intelligent and reasoned take on what has become a third-rail issue.
