This essay, adapted from an op-ed published in the New York Times, uses the occasion of Donald Trump’s racist disparagement of immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations to explore racism’s deeper roots in US immigration policy, and role in shaping in the dominant terms of the immigration debate. How exactly did the conversation end up in a place where the question of whether immigrants are sufficiently white, civilized and obedient—phrased grotesquely or politely—would come to take up so much space? Asking this can aid us in making room for tough new questions that reframe migration in ways more suited to securing justice, rights and well-being for humans on the move.
