January - February 2025

Various U.S. agencies—the Department of Homeland Security and the Congressional Budget Office, for example—estimate the number of migrants who come here each year. It seems to be generally agreed that the number was 2.6 million in 2022, and then 3.3 million in 2023. Prepandemic the number of migrants each year was closer to 1 million. This problem is ever-increasing. And if you think this is a uniquely American problem, think again. To take just one example, Italy is dealing with a situation just as dire, and it’s also not new, as Eastern European and African migrants seek new lives in a country of promise that is very near, geographically, to their countries of origin. Even the Venice Biennale (an arts and culture festival) had as its theme this year, Stranieri Ovunque, “Foreigners Everywhere.”