Did Denmark Find the Answer to Immigration—While Trump Chose Barbarism Instead?
How a small nation’s pragmatic, humane approach exposes the lie behind America’s manufactured “crisis” and offers a roadmap for defeating the racist strongmen weaponizing immigration for power…
Razor wire in the sunrise, shadows waitin’ at the gate,
Families walk from fire only to meet another state.
Little hands on chain-link fences, tired eyes that plead for grace,
A journey made for freedom ends in fear they shouldn’t face.
’Cause the cruelty ain’t a bug—it’s the whole damn plan,
Turning hope into a weapon in the heart of this land.
But we can guard our borders without losing dignity;
We can choose the road of mercy over cold strategy.
The most gruesome feature of the Trump/Vance/Miller regime is their glee in brutalizing nonwhite people and terrorizing anybody who objects or tries to hold them to account. Their entire rationale is that the barbarity and savagery are “necessary” to deal with millions of “illegals.”
Denmark is onto something that could blow up their entire excuse for this violence against both people and our Constitution, and Democrats need to pay attention.
Back in June 2008 I did my radio program for a week from the studios of Danish Radio in Copenhagen. They let me hire one of their producers and I asked her to book prominent Danish conservatives, at least one a day, and she pulled it off. (I used to regularly debate conservatives until they started refusing to come on my show over the past decade.)
Several were prominent politicians, a few were well-known commentators, and one was the publisher of a major Danish newspaper. All identified themselves as conservatives, and a few even referred to themselves as “a right-winger.”
I asked every one a similar set of questions, and the answers I got were consistently pretty much the same. It went sort of like this:
Q. “So, you’re a Danish conservative. Does that mean you want to do away with your unions representing about 80% of the labor market, resulting in a roughly US$18/hour functional minimum wage?”
A. “No, of course not. Conservatives don’t want people living in poverty. And they have a right to representation to balance the power of giant corporations.”
Q. “So, you must want to do away with free college and the roughly $1000 stipend Danish college students get every month for living expenses?”
A. “Why would we ever want to destroy our country’s intellectual infrastructure? We conservatives value education!”
Q. “So, if you’re a conservative you must want to do away with your single-payer Medicare-for-All healthcare system that’s free for all residents, has no premiums, free doctor visits and hospital stays, and has very tiny co-pays for dental and drugs?”
A. “What, are you nuts? I don’t want to sit next to a sick person in a restaurant or on the bus. Healthcare is a human right that true conservatives have always embraced.”
Q. “Do you, like conservatives in America, want to do away with environmental protections and the move toward green energy?”
A. “Who would be stupid enough to want to do that? We conservatives are at the forefront of environmental protections and building out renewable energy.”
Q. “So, other than wanting to slightly lower taxes and supporting the Danish monarchy, what makes you a conservative here in Denmark?”
A. “I want the immigrants to leave. Denmark should be for Danes, and Danes only.”
That was 17 years ago, and the Danish conservatives largely got their way in the years since. In fact, they’ve been joined by Danish moderates and even Danish progressives in embracing what here in America we’d call comprehensive immigration reform.
The New York Times reports that — particularly since the 2015 influx of Syrian refugees into Europe — “the Danish government has enacted policies to make life challenging for asylum seekers, trying to discourage them from coming.”
For some it’s simple racism, but for most Danes, particularly those on the left, the changes in Danish law and policy just reflect the simple reality that no country can quickly absorb large numbers of immigrants without social and political disruption.
Immigration and accepting refugees is fine, in other words, but only in numbers that allow for successful integration into society. Social scientists have found that when those thresholds are exceeded, the result is a loss of social cohesion, a rise in racism and bigotry, and political chaos that can even threaten democracy.
The embrace across the Danish political spectrum of rational immigration limits and polite, nonviolent expulsion of undocumented immigrants has not just stabilized the political system in that country; by joining hands with conservatives, it’s also strengthened the power and influence of the center-left and progressive parties and politicians.
Left-leaning political parties across Europe are taking notice, and several are actively imitating or emulating Danish policies.
The result is a universal loss of support for radical rightwing parties that had been mostly focused on hating on immigrants, and a rise of centrist and progressive parties, politicians, and policy successes.
Democrats here should be paying attention, as I’ve argued for years, including in my 2010 book Rebooting the American Dream, which Senator Bernie Sanders delivered to all 99 of his colleagues with a personal note, and then read from on the floor of the Senate during his famous filibuster.
The chapter titled Put Lou Dobbs Out To Pasture basically argues the Danish position: we need immigration, but to avoid disruptions to labor and society it should be well-regulated.
Opposition to immigrants was where Donald Trump kicked off his 2016 presidential campaign. It’s the one consistent issue where Republicans beat Democrats in the polls, typically by double-digits.
Failing to address uncontrolled immigration also endangers our democracy: Viktor Orbán, for example, rose to power in Hungary by railing against immigrants, and has since used the issue as an excuse to create a secret police force, shut down media outlets, pass draconian “anti-immigrant-crime” laws that outlaw dissent, and pack the legislature and judiciary.
Trump, it appears, has similar plans for America. But there is a reasonable solution that would take the wind out of his sails.
In early 2024, Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford — a guy who’s about as close to a Goldwater conservative as you can get — and progressive Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced a bipartisan bill that would largely accomplish here in America what Denmark and other European countries are doing now.
It would have limited immigration, tightened asylum criteria, funded deportations of actual criminal immigrants, punished employers who hire people without legal status, and given then-President Biden the legal authority to close the southern border. It had widespread support among members of both parties in both the House and Senate and was sailing toward passage.
But because the bill would have neutralized the immigration issue as a political weapon — both parties openly supported it and it was written by a conservative Republican and a progressive Democrat — Donald Trump, then the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination, ordered his MAGA followers in Congress to kill it.
Enough Republicans bowed to Trump’s demand that the legislation died, setting the stage for Trump to demagogue the immigration issue all the way up to election day, and then use it to justify the creation of a massive new masked secret police force largely answerable only to Trump, based on the excuse that immigration was “out of control.”
The last time US immigration policies were significantly reformed was during the Reagan presidency, when he signed legislation that gave amnesty to around 3 million people and tightened up our southern border. A 21st century reform is long overdue.
Congress needs to step up and revisit the Lankford/Murphy bill to stop the brutality Trump’s ICE and CBP officers are inflicting on our nation and bring sanity to our immigration policies.
It’d not only be a good thing for the Democratic Party (and the Republicans) in next year‘s midterms, it’d help rescue American democracy from the racist demagogues Trump and Miller have unleashed and empowered.
Let your member of Congress know you support comprehensive immigration reform now. The issue, after all, is bipartisan, and it’s high time to end the brutality.
The switchboard number for Congress is 202-224-3121.
Louise’s Daily Song: “The Cruelty Isn’t a Bug - It’s the Strategy.”
The song that was inspired by this article is here.
My reading this article as an audio podcast is here.
My newest book, The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink is now available in bookstores nationwide.
You can follow me on Blue Sky here: https://bsky.app/profile/thomhartmann.bsky.social
Love today's song.
Clearly tRump/miller oppose this common sense approach to immigration for the exact same reasons Orbán did in Hungary, as you state. Work took me to Budapest in the summer of 1991. All of Eastern Europe was exploring new political territory as the oppression of Soviet rule was finally dying. The people were vibrant and very excited, and Hungary did indeed thrive - until Orban.
The USA will be facing increasing issues with immigration as the reality of climate migration takes hold - as will most of Europe. Sane & compassionate policies are vitally important.
Thanks for posting.
There are systemic reasons the USA cannot be as smart as Scandinavian countries, but that doesn't mean we cannot learn and emulate what we can from them. I keep hoping & praying the backlash to the current madness will be truly progressive politicians elected to offices across all levels of government, who are then able to implement truly progressive policies. We are at a tipping point where the very future of the planet depends upon it.
Great call to action. I use www.democracy.io to easily contact my federal legislators using my words on the subject instead of a canned letter. Brief and to the point.