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Comment by silenced_trope | Hacker News Reader

Unfortunately everywhere in the Western world there seems to be denialism about this.

And I'm actually legitimately afraid to actually voice that opinion in-person. I can vent here anonymously. But in the circles I'm in in San Francisco, I wouldn't dare suggest that certain migrants may not be compatible. There could personal, social, career impacts. You're automatically branded a xenophobe of some kind.

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Well, isn’t it some kind of xenophobia? Saying that some “types” of outsiders are bad news full stop and should be kept outside else they’ll ruin the country is at least xenophobia adjacent, no matter how true you think it may be (probably unsurprisingly, I disagree on it being true, but that’s beside the point).

Doesn't being labeled a phobia strictly require the fear to be irrational in nature? Being afraid of an approaching train while standing on a train track isn't "train phobia", for example.

Phobia as a suffix has long been a non-sequitur smear. Unless you witness an armed robbery or gang activity, at which point the fear is justifiable.

I don't think so, as it's not about where you come from but about what values you hold.

I feel in both my European countries I can voice with most anyone all the concerns I have. They share them for the most part but at least will be open to discuss if not. But with my American friends and colleagues I feel I could risk my reputation and have it affect my career. It’s sad to see really.

I mean, if you're branding people as "incompatible" based purely on their heritage or religion, then you know ... that's not great.

I don't know about San Francisco, but across Europe there's a fairly wide recognition that acceptance of liberal values is and should be an "entrance requirement" for migrants. This includes people on the left. There this myth of "people on the left refuse to acknowledge this", but broadly speaking that's just not the case, and hasn't been since at least the 90s.

There's all sorts of points of disagreements about immigration, but this really isn't one of them.

You're not "automatically" as if there's some process you can't intercede in. This is a xenophobic position, you can avoid being called xenophobic by not holding it.

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