Progressives in the United States tend to be hostile to “American exceptionalism,” which they regard as tantamount to the chauvinism they deplore in President Trump and his MAGA agenda. Yet in many of their criticisms of Trump’s policies, it is progressives who are “exceptionalists,” holding the United States to entirely different standards than the rest of the world. By contrast, much of Trump’s agenda looks quite normal by global standards.
Nowhere is this reversal clearer than on immigration policy. If we believe the progressive mainstream media or many liberal politicians, Trump’s immigration policy is a display of unparalleled cruelty. But despite their cosmopolitan pretenses, those convinced of this seem to have little interest in how immigration is handled in other countries. When we compare current US policies on illegal immigration to those of other nations, rather than those of the Biden administration, Trump’s approach looks unexceptional.