“This country was built on immigration.”

This argument is routinely offered in support of maintaining – or increasing – the level of immigration.

“This country was built on fossil fuels.”

This argument is never offered, by the same people who offer the previous argument, because they are opposed to the use of fossil fuels.

So, in the first case, our future is supposed to be a linear extension of our past. In the latter case, there is supposed to be a point of departure from the past – and that point is NOW.

The hard fact is that the needs of a society are ever-changing. Consequently, all policies need a dispassionate reappraisal. There should be no sacred cows when it comes to policies – including the immigration policy.