Populism, backlash morality and immigrants

What is it about?

This article looks at how rising populism in many countries is shaping public attitudes and government policies on immigration. Populist movements often use immigration as a way to justify weakening legal protections and introducing increasingly harsh immigration laws. Some commentators even argue that public resentment towards immigrants and refugees is understandable or justified, and that legal frameworks protecting them are to blame for creating this backlash. The article challenges these ideas. It argues that legal safeguards are essential precisely because popular opinion can be biased or hostile, and that such safeguards must be defended rather than weakened. While community values matter, the article maintains that they cannot override the rights of immigrants and refugees. In short, legal protections are needed to uphold basic rights, especially when public sentiment becomes hostile or exclusionary.

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Photo by Thiago Rocha on Unsplash

Photo by Thiago Rocha on Unsplash