The ugly politics of migration

Immigration is becoming a defining political topic worldwide [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. It’s created a fresh headache for Emmanuel Macron. Rishi Sunak, too. Joe Biden might wish it would go away. Immigration is making life [especially hard for political leaders]( right now. In the UK this week, Sunak pushed through legislation aimed at allowing the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda against opposition from members of his Conservative Party demanding tougher measures still. Sunak survives, for now, but the rebels are merely biding their time, and [immigration is the stick]( with which they’ll beat a prime minister they distrust. In France, President Macron’s planned immigration overhaul was rejected by lawmakers on Monday. It would have facilitated the expulsion of illegal migrants while creating a path to legal status for others, but succeeded in pleasing nobody. Biden’s military aid for Ukraine and Israel is meanwhile held hostage to Republican demands for more money to secure the southern border. Immigration has been a hot-button issue for generations. But it suddenly seems to be everywhere, increasingly defining the political right and dragging the left onto the same ground. Australia’s Labor government is moving to curb record migration amid a voter backlash over a system Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledges is “broken.” In Germany, where the far right is polling at a record, Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz is curtailing benefit payments and helping local authorities straining under the burden of refugees from Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere. The politics of migration are emotive and invariably ugly, but that’s not to say there isn’t a problem that needs to be addressed. Take New Zealand, where the population is witnessing its biggest increase in 30 years. The central bank has cited arisk the influx pushes up rents and house prices, potentially stoking inflation. Wherever one disadvantaged group comes up against another, tensions arise. That’s fertile ground for immigration to become the defining arena for politics worldwide. — [Alan Crawford]( A US Customs and Border Protection officer near migrants at the Mexico border in Lukeville, Arizona, on Monday. Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg Global Must Reads Russia remains determined to achieve its military aims in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said, as divisions over US and European aid threaten to undermine Kyiv’s ability to repel the invasion. “There’ll be peace when we achieve our goals,” he said today at his [marathon televised news conference]( that was held for the first time since he ordered the February 2022 attack. European Union leaders gathered in Brussels today for their final summit of the year, with Hungary’s self-styled illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orban, threatening to [block funding for Ukraine]( and obstruct talks on Kyiv’s accession to the bloc. Orban’s opposition to a €50 billion ($55 billion) support package comes as Republicans stall further US military assistance. Since Hamas operatives crossed into Israel on a killing and kidnapping spree on Oct. 7, a nation that enjoyed 15 years of calm and rising prosperity [remains haunted]( by the scenes of slaughter. Israelis are traumatized by the fear that thousands of militants on their borders will mount another attack — and that their security services might fail again. Patrons sit with an automatic rifle at an outdoor wine bar in Tel Aviv in October. Photographer: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet today to try to [contain a funding scandal]( that threatens the future of his struggling government. He replaced four ministers who are among those accused of concealing income from fundraising events, including his chief cabinet secretary. Biden is trailing Donald Trump in seven US swing states he needs to win reelection next November, according to the latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll. The survey shows 23% of Democrats in those states who voted for him in 2020 say they have an unfavorable view of him today, with support among Black voters slumping since October and young voters unimpressed with his actions to [erase student-loan debt](. Republicans in the US House voted to authorize an [impeachment inquiry]( into Biden, escalating a probe that has been underway for several months. Conflict, coups and poverty are rising at alarming rates in Africa, where the number of [armed groups has more than doubled]( over the past decade, the International Rescue Committee said. South Korea scrambled fighter jets after two warplanes from China and four from Russia briefly entered airspace maintained by Seoul, [raising tensions]( on the highly militarized peninsula. Washington Dispatch The National Institutes of Health in Maryland will be the setting for remarks today by Biden on his administration’s efforts to rein in prices for prescription drugs, which he has presented as an important accomplishment in his campaign for reelection. Last week, the White House announced steps to lower health-care costs, which included calling on the Food and Drug Administration to make hearing aids available over the counter and establishing a “cross-government public inquiry into corporate greed in health care.” The government’s ability to bargain over drug prices had been barred by a 2003 law that created Medicare’s Part D program which covers some costs. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last year partly in response to public dismay over the cost of medicines, mandated negotiations. Medication costs continue to outpace the growth in [total health expenditure]( with spending on retail prescription drugs rising 8.4% to more than $405 billion in 2022. One thing to watch today: Retail sales for November are reported by the Census Bureau. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day The world’s top tourist destination [relies on migrant workers]( to help keep its hotels and restaurants running, as well as its construction, care and transport sectors, and many are undocumented. One in 10 jobs in France is filled by an immigrant, according to a 2021 government study. And Finally When Russia invaded Ukraine, gas prices soared more than 150% in 11 days. Around the same time, Swiss-based commodities firm Gunvor cut communications with the Pakistani government before terminating a deal to supply the country with five tankers’ worth of liquefied natural gas. It then sold the fuel elsewhere for more than three times the value, helping prompt an energy crisis in Pakistan that continues today. [Read our deep dive]( into how energy traders left a country in the cold. Vendors sell fruit under lights lit by batteries in Lahore, Pakistan. 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