For three decades establishment Democrats and Republicans have led a bipartisan assault on immigrants. Pulled further and further right by a vocal and organised group of nativists, they have turned the southern border region into a conflict zone, breaking up millions of families in the process.

In All-American Nativism, Daniel Denvir delivers a caustic takedown of liberal triangulation on the border, showing how concessions to "enforcement first" law and order immigration politics hasn't placated the nativists--it has only inflamed them. Establishment officials from both parties have allowed the right-wing to dictate our policy on migration, even as popular opinion clamours for a more humane and just approach. With the centre collapsed, the left can either demand full amnesty now, or cede the ground of national belonging to nativists and white supremacists.