I can accept that as an explanation for the rhetoric. My concern is that it’s being used to create policy that functions like a membership test: who counts by default and gets presumed legitimate, and who has to prove they belong, or gets treated as suspect or disqualified.

jamalderrick

That's also a simple answer. It's much easier to rile up the masses with scapegoats than to deal with real economics of supply and demand. It's far more politically expedient to blame foreigners taking everything than to admit companies don't need as many people and those who want jobs have to repeatedly retrain to keep or grow their income.