The BBC is mistaken if it thinks its interview with Irish tech billionaire John Collison will persuade Trump supporters towards a more pro-immigration viewpoint.
Still, in the interview titled, “World’s youngest billionaire warns on Trump,” Collison laments that President Trump’s immigration policies mean that “People are less willing to move to the U.S. They don’t even want to enter the visa process because of the perceived political climate here and how welcoming it is to immigrants.”
My issue here is not that Collison is wrong, but that the BBC is being delusional in expecting that the billionaire’s message will alter attitudes in Trump’s base. After all, the binding narrative of Trump’s presidential campaign and his current rhetoric sits on the idea that the working class has been betrayed by elitists who serve only themselves. In turn, a young foreign billionaire telling Americans to welcome more immigrants is not terribly predisposed to earning the favor of Trump’s supporters.
On the contrary, the BBC article risks reinforcing the Trump narrative that most billionaires and Europeans are elitists who are taking Americans for a ride.
Consider, for example, the BBC comment that Collison faces “perceived forces of deterrence [that] fly in the opposite direction to the way the world of commerce and technology are evolving.”
Though cloaked under Collison, it’s effectively a call for open borders.
I agree that we need to boost the numbers of higher-skilled immigrants being welcomed into our society. Ultimately, if Trump’s already immigrant-skeptical base believes they are being sold another line that more immigrants will be better for them, they’ll respond in exactly the same way: by doubling down on those like Trump who offer an alternative.
So, yes, we want to attract highly-skilled talent to our country. And yes, we should always be receptive to those like Collison who can invest in our economy. But these individuals and their media purveyors also need to be more realistic: If they’re trying to persuade others to their viewpoints, they need to understand why those others aren’t listening to them in the first place.
