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The Atlantic Daily: America Suffers From Immigration Amnesia

What’s happening at the border right now goes far beyond any single presidential administration’s policy, our reporters point out.

By Caroline Mimbs Nyce

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.

What exactly is the current border crisis? My colleague Adam Serwer asks: “Is it the recent surge of migrants, or is it the treatment of those migrants in detention facilities?” The answer may depend on your partisan alignment.

This spring’s rise in crossings is being greeted with familiar political sniping that, when mixed with frantic media coverage, is obscuring the true nature of the situation: The problems at the border are more complex than the distorted optics of the moment suggest, two staff writers remind us.

  • America suffers from immigration amnesia. Experts consider this type of rise in cases cyclical, Caitlin Dickerson reports. “Moments at the border like this should by now be considered almost routine, but our collective short-term memory—sometimes exacerbated by media hyperbole—allows elected officials to capitalize on them for their own political gain.”

  • The real crisis goes far deeper. “To the extent that the United States has a border crisis, it is an enduring one: the mistreatment of human beings in American custody,” Adam argues.

The news, in three sentences:

(1) The trial of Derek Chauvin, a former police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, began in Minnesota, the epicenter of last summer’s racial-justice protests. (2) COVID-19 vaccines, with their perhaps world-changing mRNA technology, continue to be dispersed in the U.S. (3) The Ever Given is finally on its way after being stuck in the Suez Canal (it isn’t the first ship to crash—nor will it be the last).

One question, answered: A year into this pandemic, your body is probably hurting. For those working at home, what’s the ideal desk setup?

Nearly a year ago, our staff writer Olga Khazan offered some advice that’s worth revisiting:

When you work on a laptop at a table, your entire body, neck to knees, is out of alignment. I could say this in a more scientific way, but your thoracic discs are already telling you everything you need to know.

I ruefully remember the day that, as a young blogger of 24, my entire right arm went numb. Many sessions of physical therapy revealed what I probably already suspected: My working setup sucked.

Fast-forward 10 years, and I’ve learned my lesson. First: Make it so the screen is roughly even with your eyes. I bought a cheap laptop riser from Amazon; you can also use a monitor, or just a stack of books or a box. I put a Bluetooth keyboard underneath the riser. To the right, I have a mouse, to keep my hand from going numb from constantly reaching for the laptop’s touch pad.

I also have a nice Steelcase office chair at home—a book-deal gift from my boyfriend. But previously I just used a combo of cheap lumbar supports and seat wedges, also from Amazon (for a total of about $40), and that solution was frankly 80 percent as good.

Cheaper than physical therapy, and your torso will thank you.

Tonight’s Atlantic-approved isolation activity:

Read a great poem: Here’s Tiana Clark’s “I Stare at a Cormorant.”

Today’s break from the news:

Some fans of The Bachelor have had enough: “I didn’t realize how much of a machine it is.”

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.