- Suella Braverman, Britain's Home Secretary, addressed challenges related to illegal immigration and multiculturalism
- She emphasized the need for controlled immigration, despite being the child of immigrants herself
- Braverman argued that illegal migration is a permanent issue for developed nations, particularly the West
- She advocated for well-planned, long-term legal migration and warned against the negative consequences of uncontrolled immigration and misguided multiculturalism
- Braverman highlighted the impact of uncontrolled immigration on border communities and the need for governments to protect citizens and support legal immigrants in the face of increasing migration due to climate catastrophes and conflicts
Suella Braverman, Britain's home secretary, recently spoke at the event organized by the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank in Washington, on the challenges presented by illegal immigration and multiculturalism to the First World. For her remarks, the Conservative MP drew fire from many quarters, from the United Nations Refugee Agency to MPs from the opposition party.
Proudly declaring, "I am the child of immigrants, and it's no betrayal of my parent's story to say that immigration must be controlled," the Home Secretary noted, "Illegal migration is not merely an event-driven or cyclical problem. It's a permanent and structural challenge for the developed nations, in general, and the West, in particular."
Illegal immigration continues to tremendously impact destination countries, severely eating into their budgets, straining the system, and posing a threat to law and order. According to Ms. Braveman, "A 2021 Gallup poll found that 16 percent of adults worldwide, around 900 million people, would like permanently to leave their own country, and those numbers are not evenly distributed around the world. Thirty-seven percent of people living in sub-Saharan Africa, some 481 million people, and 27 percent of those living in the Middle East and North Africa, around 156 million, say they'd like to migrate." She further stated that four percent of those, or close to 14 million people, named Britain their preferred destination, and even more, 18 percent, i.e., approximately 162 million people, wanted to come to America.
While countries like America have always welcomed people from all over, a gradual change has occurred among those leaving their homelands behind. The "melting pot" scenario that created vibrant "multicultural" societies has slowly given way to disjointed foreign communities and isolated populations. The Home Secretary pointed out, "...allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it. They could be in the society but not of the society, and in extreme cases, they could pursue lives aimed at undermining the stability and threatening the security of our society. We are living with the consequence of that failure today. You can see it play out in the streets all over Europe, from Malmo to Paris, Brussels to Leicester."
Making a strong case for well-planned, long-term, legal migration, Ms. Braveman said, "Something that is all too often forgotten, integration inevitably takes time. If immigration is uncontrolled, it makes it harder for society to adapt and accommodate new cultures and customs and for communities to meld together. Uncontrolled immigration, inadequate integration, and a misguided dogma of multiculturalism have proven a toxic combination for Europe over the last few decades."
The British Home Secretary's opinions should not have shocked many as former German Chancellor Angela Markel, former British Prime Minister David Cameron, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have also expressed similar views regarding the failure of multiculturalism.
Uncontrolled immigration has changed the fabric of many border communities. Besides, illegal immigrants are those people who enter through the cracks in the borders and fall through the cracks in the system. The number of illegal immigrants in the country at any given time is just an approximation, as many of them are not on the records of any institutions. Their "invisibility" makes them fall prey to human trafficking, prostitution, and other nefarious exploitative schemes.
Warning that climate catastrophes, wars, and political instability are only going to push more people out of their native country in search of a brighter future, the illegal migrant crisis is only going to get worse unless governments act with a clear vision to protect citizens and support legal immigrants.
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