'Convulsive demographic changes': George Will explains why US should encourage — not discourage — immigration

23 October 2024

Never Trump conservative and veteran Washington Post columnist George Will, who supported now-President Joe Biden in 2020, has been vehemently critical of both Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. But after their debate, Will described a possible Harris victory as the "least unpalatable November outcome" for "traditional conservatives" in his September 12 column.

Fellow Never Trumper Peter Wehner even considered that column a Harris endorsement from a "monumentally significant figure in conservatism." But Will certainly isn't enthusiastic about the prospect of a Harris presidency, and he said that if she does defeat Trump in November, he hopes Republicans regain control of the U.S. Senate.

Nonetheless, Will's disdain for Trump remains intense. And in his October 23 column, the 83-year-old columnist parts company with MAGA Republicans on a key issue: immigration — which, Will writes, is a plus for the United States in light of "convulsive demographic changes."

While Trump is calling for mass deportations, Will's column is headlined, "If Demography Is Destiny, Bring On Immigration. We're Going to Need It."

Will's October 23 column draws heavily on the writings of political economist Nicholas Eberstadt, known for his work with the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

"Eberstadt, who is incapable of writing an uninteresting paragraph, is an economist and demography-is-destiny savant at the American Enterprise Institute," Will explains. "He says a large excess of deaths over births will be driven not by a brute calamity like the bubonic plague, but by choices: those regarding fertility, family structures and living arrangements, all reflecting 'a worldwide reduction in the desire for children.'"

The conservative journalist adds, "Today, two-thirds of the world's population lives in countries with below-replacement levels — 2.1 births per woman — of fertility."

U.S. demographics, according to Will, make a case for more — not less — immigration.

"One issue in this year's presidential campaign is germane to the convulsive demographic changes that are coming: immigration," Will argues. "Concerning this, Donald Trump is obtuse, and Kamala Harris has, as about most things, vagueness born of timidity."

George Will's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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