Immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 7, 2023, in Lukeville, Arizona. (Getty Images)
Why did Kansas lawmakers waste time passing a nonbinding resolution about a crisis more than 700 miles from our state’s border when there are so many more pressing issues to deal with at home?
It’s the same reason a bill was introduced in the Kansas Senate to outlaw foreign land ownership and why some individuals lost their minds over a Topeka initiative to attract workers to the city.
In a word, xenophobia.
There’s some political calculus involved for the red state faithful, to be sure, but none of the posturing and hand-wringing would be of value if the legislators weren’t callously exploiting a xenophobic bent in the American soul.
Since at least the Know Nothing party of the 1850s, American politicians have leveraged the hatred of others to gain or keep power. The historic intolerance has been directed at nearly all manner of “outsiders,” from Irish Catholics to Jewish intellectuals to Black preachers. Now the hate is directed toward Spanish-speaking asylum seekers, Chinese nationals and anybody who might suggest that leveling of the Gaza Strip might not be in line with the Biblical teachings of Jesus.