So, there’s been a fair amount of soul-searching in the Republican Party about its stance on immigration. The biggest questions seems to be whether they want to actually change their policy position or whether it’s simply a matter of tone.
All of which reminds me of this classic bit from Not the Nine O’Clock News, just as the Thatcher government was coming into power:
You should watch the video because Rowan Atkinson is hilarious. But here’s the relevant bit:
Firstly, immigration. Now, people really do get this party wrong every time on this issue, don’t they. We don’t think immigrants are animals, for God’s sake! I know a lot of immigrants personally, and they’re perfectly nice people. They’re Black, of course, which is a shame. But honestly, some of them can do some jobs almost as well as White people…and we acknowledge this. Now, a lot of immigrants are Indians and Pakistanis for instance, and…I like curry, I do! But now that we’ve got the recipes, is there really any need for them to stay? Conservatives understand these problems, you see.
All of which is to say: this is not some kind of new problem. And it’s going to take some serious work to convince people you despise that they should vote for you.