# Immigration would not be a hot-button issue . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 15, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285 "2019-09-15T21:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/1 "2019-09-15T21:00:09Z")
. . . if the immigration pressure were coming from Canada instead of Mexico. And not because Canadians speak English. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/2 "2019-09-15T21:17:09Z")
Wow, that’s a blistering hot take. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/3 "2019-09-15T21:38:50Z")
I think it still would be, just not as much. I could easily see Republicans getting agitated if many of these Canadian illegal-immigrants were liberal and getting the right to vote in America and pushing U.S. politics to the left, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/4 "2019-09-15T21:43:24Z")
Do you realize how many minorities there are in Canada? Do you honestly think they’re all WASPs? But yes, thank you so very much for your contribution on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/5 "2019-09-15T21:55:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Do you realize how many minorities there are in Canada? Do you honestly think they’re all WASPs? I think there are Anglophone whites, Francophone whites, Indians and Asians. No others in significant numbers. Who have I missed? ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/6 "2019-09-15T21:56:52Z")
I’ve seen an ICE ad on YouTube that characterizes their mission as fighting terrorism. If that were their priority, they would have as many agents on the northern border as the southern. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/7 "2019-09-15T22:00:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I think it still would be, just not as much. I could easily see Republicans getting agitated if many of these Canadian illegal-immigrants were liberal and getting the right to vote in America and pushing U.S. politics to the left, for instance. Except that Mexican illegal immigrants aren’t doing that, either… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/8 "2019-09-15T22:08:23Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Do you realize how many minorities there are in Canada? Do you honestly think they’re all WASPs? It’s far worse than that. Some of them are even _French_! ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/9 "2019-09-15T22:08:28Z")
We’re close to a record percentage of the population being foreign born since we first started keeping track in 1850. When we’ve had very high percentages of immigrants, immigration has become a hot button issue in our political history. That was true when the immigrants were dominantly European. It’s true now when they aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/10 "2019-09-16T01:58:24Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Except that Mexican illegal immigrants aren’t doing that, either… The Pubs’ fear is that their children might. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/11 "2019-09-16T02:01:18Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > We’re close to a record percentage of the population being foreign born since we first started keeping track in 1850. When we’ve had very high percentages of immigrants, immigration has become a hot button issue in our political history. That was true when the immigrants were dominantly European. It’s true now when they aren’t. The perception of the “other” changes over time. Back in the 19th Century, there was a lot of prejudice against German and Irish immigrants because many of them were Catholic. There was a widespread CT that the RCC was plotting to take over the USA. Now a majority of SCOTUS judges are Catholic and nobody protests. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/12 "2019-09-16T02:56:55Z")
> [@kirkrapine](#): > > I’ve seen an ICE ad on YouTube that characterizes their mission as fighting terrorism. If that were their priority, they would have as many agents on the northern border as the southern. Especially since the US government has made a formal, legal finding under federal law that Canada is a threat to the national security of the United States. If we’re really a threat to your national security, why hasn’t the US ramped up border controls on the 49th? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-would-not-be-a-hot-button-issue/840285/13 "2019-09-16T04:52:48Z")
The OP is essentially accusing people who hold different views than them to be racists. Pretty lazy OP, though if more fleshed out it could be a proper rant. Since it’s not, closed. [/moderating]