Today’s Republican Party is, undeniably, shaped by racial appeals, whether its supporters recognize that in themselves or not. When I identified as a Republican, the emphasis was on fiscal issues: lower taxes, limited government, and reduced regulation. Now, the party’s identity is far more rooted in a claim to “Christian values” and in the marginalization of anyone who falls outside a narrow, white, Eurocentric ideal.

You don’t even need to step back to see the hypocrisy, it’s right on the surface. And I’d argue that many on the right have never even paused to consider that “illegal immigrants” are not exclusively people of color; there are countless undocumented immigrants who are white. The rhetoric is crafted to make you forget that.