I think the problem with people from India is that it seems like our jobs are going to them versus Americans already here. Then when Indians get in positions of leadership, more jobs go to Indians. I have no problem with Indians that are Americans but our jobs need to be offered to American citizens first. Americans, particularly white Americans can’t even make it into our own school programs, much less jobs. This is so frustrating for parents of American citizens.
I would add that massive amounts of immigration has made housing prices soar, lowers wages & benefits as immigrants will work for less of both, emergency rooms over run, esl costs in public schools, and demands of cultural catering to some groups while erasing Americans culture
I think you are close to the edge of calling it a racist perspective to feel that American boys suffer absurd levels of foreign Visa competition for jobs they studied their whole lives for. The American boys being cut out of the marketplace by the millions bec of OPT, H1B and J1 etc — are DIVERSE American boys. I see it at my children’s Ivies — American kids from Korean, Indian and Chinese families can’t get ANY interviews in stem and banking. It’s an outrage and you are confusing justified support of AMERICAN BOYS with something else.
America's successful history with immigration included a half-century near total ban in the middle of the 20th century, which the voters demanded when the foreign-born fraction was lower than it is today. If we want to remain successful, we need another ban. But I'm not opposed to immigration in principle. It just needs to go slowly enough to not disrupt the politics, culture, or demographics of the host country.
Because the key identity of being American is a responsibility for self-government, we should preferentially admit immigrants from countries with long histories of successful self-government. We should admit immigrants of both sexes in roughly equal numbers (unlike the UT photo). And we should have a very tough line against chain migration.
Back in the 1990s I went to a STEM magnet school that was basically all Asian and Jewish with five white kids (one hispanic, one black).
Japan and the East Asian tigers hadn't yet experienced decades of stagnation.
The TFR of Korea was 1.5 instead of 0.7.
People debated whether Democratic India would overtake Autocratic China (which itself was expected to liberalize as it got rich). Answer: Autocratic China won.
Places like California and New York were not dysfunctional one party leftist states with white minorities, but aspirational places you wanted to move to instead of move away from.
Places like Canada hadn't run experiments importing lots of Indians that worked out disastrously yet.
Back then, I thought Asians, and specifically the Asian work ethic, were superior and would overtake us. I grinded a lot when I was younger to imitate my peers. Only a small portion of that grinding really led to anything, and most of my success today is definitely of the white person "work smarter not harder" mentality.
I didn't know anything about genetics or IQ or HBD or anything. I didn't know much about Goodhearting or what really creates innovation and growth. I came from a working class household that basically assumed hard work = good outcomes and working harder pretty much always made you a better person who deserved more and everyone gets what they deserve more or less.
Chris, you're about the same age as me. I know what your expected the world to be like based on the facts at the time. It didn't happen. After twenty years of new evidence, most of which was devestating for Asia, I updated my priors. This evidence comes at both the statistical level (GDP, birthrates, etc), the personal level (all my fresh of the boat "based" asian friends assimilated to being shitlibs), and then a catastrophe of COVID (watching the way asians behaved during COVID made me realize assimilation is impossible and that electoral changes due to demographic change could have real impacts on my daily life).
I think you get all this "let's stop the rate of immigration but talk nicely about it and not be racist."
I just think it's hard to shut off immigration without discussing WHY. What specific traits do these foreigners have that you don't want impacting the system. Citing record high foreign born % is sort of a way to dodge the question, if people are good to have then more is better and any problems in the short term will reverse in the long term. Are you going to force people to live in a country with a GDP of $2,800 a year where there is shit in the street everywhere just because a statistic has reached a certain level? I don't think that's going to hold up. But if you think that immigration is gong to make us more like the place they come from, that's a good reason.
That's last is the key. Every Indian immigrant makes America a little bit more like India. There are worse countries to resemble. But there are also better. We should have legal preferences to admit immigrants primarily from the better.
Well-stated by CR: we need to have a thoughtful slowdown + reasonable requirements for assimilation.
Does anyone recall reading about the very high-performing secondary schools (charter schools maybe?) that would try ro incorporate lower-performing students? Predictably, these students would thrive in the better schools, but when a certain percentage of incoming new students (versus existing high-performing) was crossed the entire system would suffer - the school was no longer performing at its' previous level.
The other issue regarding immigration that must be included in any discussion is that of "family reunification".
Personally, I would like a near total ban on all immigration for a decade, at minimum, but I don't see that happening unfortunately. (I am married to the son of legal immigrants so I am absolutely not "anti immigrant" but the current system is broken and needs to be completely overhauled.)
However, barring a total ban, the one change that MUST be implemented immediately is an end to chain migration and family reunification! Our social service networks are overwhelmed with older family members of those who came here on some type of work visa. As soon as it was permitted (usually within a few years) they brought their parents, their in-laws, and anyone else they possibly could, in many situations! These are the ones that have ZERO interest in assimilation, refuse to learn English, and end up on Medicaid, while collecting SSI and other benefits intended for low income elderly Americans! If the one person who is working has three, four, five family members all collecting $1000 per month in cash, plus SNAP, from systems into which they never paid a dime, it all adds up to a nice sum, which is why the price of housing in my area is completely out of reach for my kids, who have lived here their whole lives and have decent jobs but still can't afford even a starter house!
When my in-laws came here, they had to say goodbye to their parents, their siblings and their country. They also had to sign agreements that they would NEVER be eligible for ANY public assistance. They learned English (which was the only language available in the business world, the schools, and in the halls of government) and they worked hard! They kept aspects of their old culture but they also did their best to integrate fully into their new country and I simply do not see that happening now!!
This is the correct take. And we already have a fine mechanism to reduce immigration that's extremely popular: completely cut off illegal immigration and implement mandatory e-verify, the dream of immigration hawks for a generation. Then reform! He H1B program away from being an indentured servant program for big tech to bring an actual color-blind high skill visa for professionals we actually need (much more than tech workers: WE NEED MORE DOCTORS) and you've solved immigration
Good thoughts on the subject. Looking at Canada, I think the answer is clear, and with what you write, you know as well, but tip-toe the line.
However, it’s not the 1920s where we still have a high birth rate to offset immigration need. Yet we do have AI/tech intervention to possibly offset immigration need.
Two hundred years ago, the Irish and the Italians and others had their enclaves and ghettos. We’re way beyond that now. But there is still Chinatown.
Asians seem a bit more resistant to assimilation. I still see American born Indians, for example, having their spouses selected for them and sent back to India for the wedding. How do we get that ethos to morph into, say, our Second Family? First generation trailer park, second generation Asian, all American! That’s the goal, isn’t it?
Another wise essay from Christopher Rufo. I would add that I think assimilation is a problem that lasts 1 or 2 generations. In the 19th c. immigration from Catholic countries was thought to be a threat to Protestant American culture. Now Catholics are among the strongest defenders of traditional American morality.
You can't refer to America's success with integration without recognizing that we had a near total ban for the middle of the 20th century. That's when assimilation happened. We would not be thinking as fondly now of our European Catholic neighbors if we hadn't shut the spigot off at some point.
Well said! I think the challenge is that this all happened too quickly. I’m in Ground Zero for Indian migration and the transformation has happened all in the past decade. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s a lot to handle for all sides. Still, I think the generations growing up here will have much to contribute and, like you say, they’re assimilating quickly. I actually wrote a piece on this issue before it was cool to talk about.
I’m a huge fan of your work! But I have a dumb question:
“ On average, they earn better grades, take harder classes, and score higher on the SAT and AP exams. And it’s true that most of this really does come from their cultural and ethnic background. Asian households generally value education, and this is a good thing.”
Let us stipulate this as true. If that is the case, what makes India India and America America? That is, why are they coming here and not we clamoring to go there?
If one country is full of smarter, harder working people, shouldn’t the country be far superior to ours?
Doesn’t that suggest - or at least hint at the possibility- that there is some other unknown factor (cultural? Religious?) that is so poisonous that it harms a country with such intelligent, hardworking people? It would be one thing for an 80 iq nation to be a basket case, but for a super smart one to struggle so much despite its gifts… I dunno, seems like a good idea to be wary of importing that harmful X factor here en masse…
I live in a neighborhood in Texas that is highly populated with Indians. I have not necessarily had issues with Indians in the past, and to be honest they aren't the worst neighbors to have however my city has taken in so many of them it is overwhelming. I do agree there is something to the massive wave in such a short time being a big part of the problem. Also they do tend to stick to their cliques and not really socialize with Americans in my experience. We need to turn the spicket off and send off the ones committing H1B fraud.
The fact that more than 70% of the H1B go to a single country is ridiculous. India is not the only country in the world, there are talented people everywhere
I think the problem with people from India is that it seems like our jobs are going to them versus Americans already here. Then when Indians get in positions of leadership, more jobs go to Indians. I have no problem with Indians that are Americans but our jobs need to be offered to American citizens first. Americans, particularly white Americans can’t even make it into our own school programs, much less jobs. This is so frustrating for parents of American citizens.
That would be the nepotism Chris speaks of.
I would add that massive amounts of immigration has made housing prices soar, lowers wages & benefits as immigrants will work for less of both, emergency rooms over run, esl costs in public schools, and demands of cultural catering to some groups while erasing Americans culture
I think you are close to the edge of calling it a racist perspective to feel that American boys suffer absurd levels of foreign Visa competition for jobs they studied their whole lives for. The American boys being cut out of the marketplace by the millions bec of OPT, H1B and J1 etc — are DIVERSE American boys. I see it at my children’s Ivies — American kids from Korean, Indian and Chinese families can’t get ANY interviews in stem and banking. It’s an outrage and you are confusing justified support of AMERICAN BOYS with something else.
America's successful history with immigration included a half-century near total ban in the middle of the 20th century, which the voters demanded when the foreign-born fraction was lower than it is today. If we want to remain successful, we need another ban. But I'm not opposed to immigration in principle. It just needs to go slowly enough to not disrupt the politics, culture, or demographics of the host country.
Because the key identity of being American is a responsibility for self-government, we should preferentially admit immigrants from countries with long histories of successful self-government. We should admit immigrants of both sexes in roughly equal numbers (unlike the UT photo). And we should have a very tough line against chain migration.
Back in the 1990s I went to a STEM magnet school that was basically all Asian and Jewish with five white kids (one hispanic, one black).
Japan and the East Asian tigers hadn't yet experienced decades of stagnation.
The TFR of Korea was 1.5 instead of 0.7.
People debated whether Democratic India would overtake Autocratic China (which itself was expected to liberalize as it got rich). Answer: Autocratic China won.
Places like California and New York were not dysfunctional one party leftist states with white minorities, but aspirational places you wanted to move to instead of move away from.
Places like Canada hadn't run experiments importing lots of Indians that worked out disastrously yet.
Back then, I thought Asians, and specifically the Asian work ethic, were superior and would overtake us. I grinded a lot when I was younger to imitate my peers. Only a small portion of that grinding really led to anything, and most of my success today is definitely of the white person "work smarter not harder" mentality.
I didn't know anything about genetics or IQ or HBD or anything. I didn't know much about Goodhearting or what really creates innovation and growth. I came from a working class household that basically assumed hard work = good outcomes and working harder pretty much always made you a better person who deserved more and everyone gets what they deserve more or less.
Chris, you're about the same age as me. I know what your expected the world to be like based on the facts at the time. It didn't happen. After twenty years of new evidence, most of which was devestating for Asia, I updated my priors. This evidence comes at both the statistical level (GDP, birthrates, etc), the personal level (all my fresh of the boat "based" asian friends assimilated to being shitlibs), and then a catastrophe of COVID (watching the way asians behaved during COVID made me realize assimilation is impossible and that electoral changes due to demographic change could have real impacts on my daily life).
I think you get all this "let's stop the rate of immigration but talk nicely about it and not be racist."
I just think it's hard to shut off immigration without discussing WHY. What specific traits do these foreigners have that you don't want impacting the system. Citing record high foreign born % is sort of a way to dodge the question, if people are good to have then more is better and any problems in the short term will reverse in the long term. Are you going to force people to live in a country with a GDP of $2,800 a year where there is shit in the street everywhere just because a statistic has reached a certain level? I don't think that's going to hold up. But if you think that immigration is gong to make us more like the place they come from, that's a good reason.
That's last is the key. Every Indian immigrant makes America a little bit more like India. There are worse countries to resemble. But there are also better. We should have legal preferences to admit immigrants primarily from the better.
India has the 3rd highest muslim population
Well-stated by CR: we need to have a thoughtful slowdown + reasonable requirements for assimilation.
Does anyone recall reading about the very high-performing secondary schools (charter schools maybe?) that would try ro incorporate lower-performing students? Predictably, these students would thrive in the better schools, but when a certain percentage of incoming new students (versus existing high-performing) was crossed the entire system would suffer - the school was no longer performing at its' previous level.
The other issue regarding immigration that must be included in any discussion is that of "family reunification".
Personally, I would like a near total ban on all immigration for a decade, at minimum, but I don't see that happening unfortunately. (I am married to the son of legal immigrants so I am absolutely not "anti immigrant" but the current system is broken and needs to be completely overhauled.)
However, barring a total ban, the one change that MUST be implemented immediately is an end to chain migration and family reunification! Our social service networks are overwhelmed with older family members of those who came here on some type of work visa. As soon as it was permitted (usually within a few years) they brought their parents, their in-laws, and anyone else they possibly could, in many situations! These are the ones that have ZERO interest in assimilation, refuse to learn English, and end up on Medicaid, while collecting SSI and other benefits intended for low income elderly Americans! If the one person who is working has three, four, five family members all collecting $1000 per month in cash, plus SNAP, from systems into which they never paid a dime, it all adds up to a nice sum, which is why the price of housing in my area is completely out of reach for my kids, who have lived here their whole lives and have decent jobs but still can't afford even a starter house!
When my in-laws came here, they had to say goodbye to their parents, their siblings and their country. They also had to sign agreements that they would NEVER be eligible for ANY public assistance. They learned English (which was the only language available in the business world, the schools, and in the halls of government) and they worked hard! They kept aspects of their old culture but they also did their best to integrate fully into their new country and I simply do not see that happening now!!
This is the correct take. And we already have a fine mechanism to reduce immigration that's extremely popular: completely cut off illegal immigration and implement mandatory e-verify, the dream of immigration hawks for a generation. Then reform! He H1B program away from being an indentured servant program for big tech to bring an actual color-blind high skill visa for professionals we actually need (much more than tech workers: WE NEED MORE DOCTORS) and you've solved immigration
Good thoughts on the subject. Looking at Canada, I think the answer is clear, and with what you write, you know as well, but tip-toe the line.
However, it’s not the 1920s where we still have a high birth rate to offset immigration need. Yet we do have AI/tech intervention to possibly offset immigration need.
Interesting times ahead.
Excellent points and I agree wholeheartedly!
Two hundred years ago, the Irish and the Italians and others had their enclaves and ghettos. We’re way beyond that now. But there is still Chinatown.
Asians seem a bit more resistant to assimilation. I still see American born Indians, for example, having their spouses selected for them and sent back to India for the wedding. How do we get that ethos to morph into, say, our Second Family? First generation trailer park, second generation Asian, all American! That’s the goal, isn’t it?
Another wise essay from Christopher Rufo. I would add that I think assimilation is a problem that lasts 1 or 2 generations. In the 19th c. immigration from Catholic countries was thought to be a threat to Protestant American culture. Now Catholics are among the strongest defenders of traditional American morality.
You can't refer to America's success with integration without recognizing that we had a near total ban for the middle of the 20th century. That's when assimilation happened. We would not be thinking as fondly now of our European Catholic neighbors if we hadn't shut the spigot off at some point.
Well said! I think the challenge is that this all happened too quickly. I’m in Ground Zero for Indian migration and the transformation has happened all in the past decade. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s a lot to handle for all sides. Still, I think the generations growing up here will have much to contribute and, like you say, they’re assimilating quickly. I actually wrote a piece on this issue before it was cool to talk about.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/02/19/what-the-asian-grind-culture-panic-gets-wrong-about-american-education/
I’m a huge fan of your work! But I have a dumb question:
“ On average, they earn better grades, take harder classes, and score higher on the SAT and AP exams. And it’s true that most of this really does come from their cultural and ethnic background. Asian households generally value education, and this is a good thing.”
Let us stipulate this as true. If that is the case, what makes India India and America America? That is, why are they coming here and not we clamoring to go there?
If one country is full of smarter, harder working people, shouldn’t the country be far superior to ours?
Doesn’t that suggest - or at least hint at the possibility- that there is some other unknown factor (cultural? Religious?) that is so poisonous that it harms a country with such intelligent, hardworking people? It would be one thing for an 80 iq nation to be a basket case, but for a super smart one to struggle so much despite its gifts… I dunno, seems like a good idea to be wary of importing that harmful X factor here en masse…
I live in a neighborhood in Texas that is highly populated with Indians. I have not necessarily had issues with Indians in the past, and to be honest they aren't the worst neighbors to have however my city has taken in so many of them it is overwhelming. I do agree there is something to the massive wave in such a short time being a big part of the problem. Also they do tend to stick to their cliques and not really socialize with Americans in my experience. We need to turn the spicket off and send off the ones committing H1B fraud.
The fact that more than 70% of the H1B go to a single country is ridiculous. India is not the only country in the world, there are talented people everywhere