--- title: Trump's Abortion and Immigration Policies May Share a Goal description: Trump's policies to restrict abortion and immigration appear separate and disjointed. But growing number of his supporters understand that they are intertwined—as means of preserving a white, Christian America. canonical: https://time.com/5748503/trump-abortion-immigration-replacement-theory/ author: Reva Siegel article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-13T21:35:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:47.123Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Trump's Abortion and Immigrant Policies May Share a Goal og:description: It's no coincidence that many white evangelical Protestants support Trump’s wall og:url: https://time.com/5748503/trump-abortion-immigration-replacement-theory/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fdf0d749b4ae3e9/698a074d457a521f2fd633d6/Viktor-Orban-Donald-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump Welcomes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban To The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Abortion and Immigrant Policies May Share a Goal twitter:description: It's no coincidence that many white evangelical Protestants support Trump’s wall twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fdf0d749b4ae3e9/698a074d457a521f2fd633d6/Viktor-Orban-Donald-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump's Anti-Abortion and Anti-Immigration Policies May Share a Goal > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Here Are the Details of the Abortion Legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Elsewhere [Watch (HLS stream): Here Are the Details of the Abortion Legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Elsewhere](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/V1cnUpT3.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2019-06-20. On May 15, Alabama’s governor signed the most aggressively anti-abortion law in recent American history_ by [Reva Siegel](https://time.com/author/reva-siegel/) and [Duncan Hosie](https://time.com/author/duncan-hosie/) Dec 13, 2019 9:35 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting in the Oval Office on May 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump took questions on trade with China, Iran and other topics. U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting in the Oval Office on May 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump took questions on trade with China, Iran and other topics.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Reva Siegel](https://time.com/author/reva-siegel/) and [Duncan Hosie](https://time.com/author/duncan-hosie/) Dec 13, 2019 9:35 PM UTC As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to restrict [abortion](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4538293%2Fdonald-trump-partial-birth-abortion-third-debate%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964040021&sdata=azR1duTmPTbn1YNoucBBx9h0AxDQQIEKPP%2Fn%2BS7e1fQ%3D&reserved=0) and[ immigration](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4475349%2Fdonald-trumps-speech-immigration-transcript%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964050017&sdata=B0cGLUcacf2INB2tNvP11a6GT090Fv03XqhysH7S%2BvU%3D&reserved=0). As President, he has delivered on these promises. He has stacked the federal bench with [conservative judges](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5139118%2Finside-trumps-plan-to-dramatically-reshape-us-courts%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964050017&sdata=tSjbSFRr4g5HoVtuW55ML7KAtAebEvkITCo7RB3xRGg%3D&reserved=0) hostile to reproductive rights. He has emboldened states to pass [strict abortion laws](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5591166%2Fstate-abortion-laws-explained%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964060010&sdata=9TDVatIrLgIhnXS5pd2tfbl4T4xBsc7v%2FDI%2FGd1bZXY%3D&reserved=0). Simultaneously, he has initiated sweeping changes to American [immigration law](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4927495%2Fdonald-trump-statement-daca-rescind%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964060010&sdata=skpxD52OaZM00Ebvppjy97iXo0dXjQURvvk1PKNzrHs%3D&reserved=0) and demonized immigrants. In the abstract, these two issues—restricting abortion and immigration—appear separate and disjointed. On this account, those who oppose abortion are worried about life-taking and those who oppose immigration are worried about job-taking. But the President has a growing number of supporters who understand opposition to abortion and immigration as intertwined—as means of preserving a white, Christian America. And the Trump Administration is taking concrete steps to encourage this ideational fusion. Consider the events of last week. The Trump Administration dispatched officials to the International Conference on Family Policy. There, Trump officials lauded Hungary’s [“procreation, not immigration”](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2019%2Fsep%2F06%2Fviktor-orban-trumpets-far-right-procreation-anti-immigration-policy&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964060010&sdata=JOE6mL4mbmHCzjd7m06%2FQhL3YUd0gmMPmcEWq83A%2F%2Fk%3D&reserved=0) policies, which oppose refugees and immigration and instead subsidize traditional, nuclear Hungarian families to have more children. These policies coincided with a new Hungarian constitution, which protects fetal life from the moment of conception. Joe Grogan, an assistant to the president and director of the Domestic Policy Council, [praised Hungary](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianpost.com%2Fnews%2Fhungary-brazil-and-us-talk-declining-birth-rates-abortion-at-capitol-hill-conference.html&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964070004&sdata=vULJVK03agQXO%2FfgIXO0tqRpH1qcFxu4K2xaEnDQXr8%3D&reserved=0) for the “courage and creativity” of these policies and said the Trump Administration was “inspired” and came “in support and solidarity.” He took the occasion of celebrating Hungary’s fertility-boosting programs to affirm the Administration’s opposition to abortion. Hungary’s “procreation, not immigration” policies have their roots in “replacement theory.” This doctrine [holds](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F03%2F18%2Ftechnology%2Freplacement-theory.html&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964070004&sdata=ooiOSNM5kwUrXrWMZrhVUR6ECPz2Xn6kSpYP86ZqBsI%3D&reserved=0) that white women are not producing enough babies and Christian, western civilizations will be “replaced” through the twin forces of falling birth rates and increasing immigration. [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5590134%2Fhungary-foreign-minister-interview%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964080000&sdata=4J55qSSCor8tMdTnn7qLkms5Q2s2vO3UZ%2BMzVloaf2s%3D&reserved=0), for example, [has argued](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2019%2Fsep%2F06%2Fviktor-orban-trumpets-far-right-procreation-anti-immigration-policy&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964080000&sdata=xxBy2osRvBQKeIp2lzTEo2qsis0NRYatzTR1V6fpkM8%3D&reserved=0) that “there are political forces in Europe who want a replacement of population” and [has vowed](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2019%2Fsep%2F06%2Fviktor-orban-trumpets-far-right-procreation-anti-immigration-policy&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964089993&sdata=pqo9QQLY621wsT2SdHaJfD6nL6%2BnP2zGU0pddxspp6g%3D&reserved=0) to fight those who want “an exchange of populations, to replace the population of Europeans with others.” Orbán was once a rare world leader to explicitly engage in this demographic discourse. Not anymore. Many were shocked when Trump defended the white supremacists who marched in [Charlottesville](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4902129%2Fpresident-donald-trump-both-sides-charlottesville%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964089993&sdata=RMnbGMHUD4u1tsKoPtvBPKvCsPpqi7wpRFOr3AJdjTQ%3D&reserved=0) while chanting “you will not replace us.” Fewer commented on his remarks this year, when Trump [told](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fbriefings-statements%2Fremarks-president-trump-74th-session-united-nations-general-assembly%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964099987&sdata=RT4D%2Bm0FJtqHLWlQjEogLryAckImROvUvUMbaEV0EdI%3D&reserved=0) the U.N. that the “free world must embrace its national foundations … not attempt to erase them or replace them.” As President, Trump has ominously [tweeted](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frealdonaldtrump%2Fstatus%2F1008696952559734787%3Flang%3Den&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964099987&sdata=3wTt0sS5%2FqAx9xLDrGkxQNfRtnsMnKayTWdErr3%2FSFY%3D&reserved=0) that “we don’t want what is happening with immigration in Europe to happen with us!” and [denounced](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F08%2F04%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Ftrump-mass-shootings.html&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964099987&sdata=jMQxiS3ytajUXiPq5u8DcVcWTfnvAbvDjRZoDhyXaJk%3D&reserved=0) an ostensible immigrant “invasion” of America. And he’s appointed aides on the far-right of immigration policy like former chief strategist [Steve Bannon](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-bannon-camp-of-the-saints-immigration%5Fn%5F58b75206e4b0284854b3dc03) and senior adviser [Stephen Miller](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/22/stephen-miller-bannon-interview-immigration-america), as well as [aides](https://mondediplo.com/outsidein/white-supremacists-mainstream) who have dabbled in replacement talk. Miller, the President’s chief immigration adviser, has [recommended articles on white nationalist websites](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F11%2F25%2F782732922%2Fcalls-grow-for-stephen-miller-to-leave-white-house-after-leaked-emails&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964119976&sdata=kx%2BaiUrkFMK9PDSjEhqwAsSwXXcC5MhXmtNJf%2FyUDc4%3D&reserved=0) at the forefront of disseminating “replacement theory.” The International Conference on Family Policy was not a one-off. In March, White House officials, Republican members of Congress and [evangelical leaders](https://www.christianpost.com/news/make-families-great-again-hungary-seeing-more-babies-less-abortions-through-pro-family-policies.html?page=1) attended the [“Make Families Great Again”](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fhealth%2F2019%2F03%2F21%2Fwhite-house-officials-attend-hungarian-embassy-event-urging-women-have-more-children%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964129971&sdata=YhZr5cEVFXPZIRS2er7Uixi7toK335d0uHqmN6EBG88%3D&reserved=0) conference at the Library of Congress. Hosted by the Hungarian Embassy, the event focused on Hungary’s policy response to the decline of its [birth rate below replacement level](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianpost.com%2Fnews%2Fmake-families-great-again-hungary-seeing-more-babies-less-abortions-through-pro-family-policies.html%3Fpage%3D1&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964139967&sdata=ycOblAS4%2BGeVwg3osC73sgKiGztOu6hTA4QN8Q1gQ%2FA%3D&reserved=0) and promoted Orbán’s “Family Protection Action Plan.” Speakers at the event [exhorted](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fhealth%2F2019%2F03%2F21%2Fwhite-house-officials-attend-hungarian-embassy-event-urging-women-have-more-children%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964139967&sdata=ax%2B9paqq7c3x1w6tkRvwhllCDFSloaoQChzkHI%2BEfyw%3D&reserved=0) women to have more babies. Prominent conference attendees [included](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FKatalinNovakMP%2Fstatus%2F1106170846148739073%2Fphoto%2F1&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964149960&sdata=hB2aDTDYK1Ogs04M8upP7Kgd8XLuUTp64zwe5spNI20%3D&reserved=0) Valerie Huber, a U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) official and prominent advocate of abstinence-only education; Mercedes Schlapp, then White House Director of Strategic Communications; Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to President Trump; and Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council. Also in March, Trump’s HHS awarded [$5.1 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/us/politics/trump-grant-abortion.html) in Title X family-planning funds to Obria, an organization that [subsidizes crisis pregnancy centers](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/18/the-new-front-line-of-the-anti-abortion-movement), refuses to provide or [refer for abortion _or contraception_](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/the-trump-administration-is-giving-family-planning-funds-to-a-network-of-anti-abortion-clinics-obria/) and aims to be the pro-life “[led by God](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/us/politics/trump-grant-abortion.html)” alternative to Planned Parenthood. In 2015, Obria’s founder and current chief executive [explained](https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2015/01/09/fighting-the-culture-of-death-and-planned-parenthood-in-california/), “When \[Europe’s\] nations accepted contraception and abortion, they stopped replacing their population. Christianity began to die out. And, with Europeans having no children, immigrant Muslims came in to replace them, and now the culture of Europe is changing.” She warned that America is “on the same track as Europe” and that “\[i\]n only two of the past 40 years have we replaced our population.” The _New York Times_ has [reported on](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/us/politics/trump-grant-abortion.html) regulatory changes initiated by HHS that “make it easier to provide money to faith-based organizations like Obria.” _Mother Jones_ [suggested](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/the-trump-administration-is-giving-family-planning-funds-to-a-network-of-anti-abortion-clinics-obria/) that “Obria may represent the future of the Title X program” under Trump. Most troubling, certain Republican [members](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FKatalinNovakMP%2Fstatus%2F1106170846148739073%2Fphoto%2F1&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964159958&sdata=lbMEa76dx%2FT36tx7%2BXrt7Wz%2BEFJu2i7LCbgQKKbMvXU%3D&reserved=0) of Congress seem to be embracing this fusion of abortion and immigration, which suggests this ideational framework will outlast the Administration. Congressman Andy Harris (R-Md.), a staunch pro-life advocate, [told](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianpost.com%2Fnews%2Fhungary-brazil-and-us-talk-declining-birth-rates-abortion-at-capitol-hill-conference.html&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964169951&sdata=AOsq3h%2Fi%2FUoY3%2FgTEJecVOdtJKN2HK5J44B7bGVxF58%3D&reserved=0) the International Conference on Family Policy that “civilizations actually can become extinct” without “an adequate replacement.” He warned that the American birth rate has fallen “below replacement birth rate” and called for preserving the American “culture of civilization” through more births, not immigration. He added that the United States should craft policies that recognize the benefits of the “presence of a man in the family.” Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) believes, [in his words](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fstevekingia%2Fstatus%2F777568225538088960%3Flang%3Den&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964169951&sdata=JcGjXjAXVs%2BLllOglZY2UOTHa5EW9qzotAp5o%2FaFtw4%3D&reserved=0), that “cultural suicide by demographic transformation must end.” He[ told](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Foutlook%2F2019%2F08%2F27%2Fhow-white-nationalists-aligned-themselves-with-antiabortion-movement%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964179943&sdata=D%2BVkr6s27M602oFNvVjf%2B6f%2FXafzUXOnMG7SWTgKqsk%3D&reserved=0) a right-wing Austrian website that “if we continue to abort our babies and import a replacement for them in the form of young violent men, we are supplanting our culture, our civilization.” Replacement theory, of course, is not new in American political culture and history. The doctors who led the Civil War-era campaign to enact laws criminalizing abortion warned that “native born” Americans were not bearing children at the same rate as immigrant families. Dr. Horatio Storer, the leader of the physicians’ campaign to criminalize abortion, [asked](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fpast%2Fdocs%2Fissues%2F97may%2Fabortex.htm&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964129971&sdata=2vTp4sRRc5%2BASbZifTey85H1l8RgK8RS12m7ceb42bk%3D&reserved=0) whether America would “be filled by our own children or by those of aliens? This is a question our women must answer; upon their loins depends the future destiny of the nation.” Now, about 150 years later, the Administration is yoking “family values” to openly nationalist and racialized demographic anxieties that Trump himself invokes – a move that seems to appeal to his loyalists. We observe, for instance, that white evangelical Protestants are among the strongest supporters of [Trump’s plan to build a wall](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.prri.org%2Fspotlight%2Fdata-shows-how-passionate-and-partisan-americans-are-about-the-border-wall%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964179943&sdata=hoMZS3Ck%2BOaB4DznkQtfgnaATOjNfIga464PtVjMeUM%3D&reserved=0) along the U.S. border with Mexico. While some pro-life organizations joined religious leaders in opposing the Administration’s treatment of immigrant children at the border, other pro-life organizations were [conspicuously silent](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F06%2F16%2Fopinion%2Fsunday%2Fpro-life-immigrant-children-separation.html&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964179943&sdata=hq3rBtUQRDvJKiwpPkSzyzj3sYxkncPJEr57cA6m2Mg%3D&reserved=0), or even [supported](https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frewire.news%2Farticle%2F2018%2F06%2F19%2Fanti-choice-activists-say-trumps-policy-families-seeking-asylum%2F&data=02%7C01%7Creva.siegel%40yale.edu%7C8b01163ee07f4e2d1f1908d77e7b355b%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637116939964189939&sdata=mRkJV2NeD%2B%2FUZCL5hvnaN4Tb%2BFBherxIXD%2FRlrqvs6M%3D&reserved=0), Trump’s family-separation policies. For some growing number of Americans, two seemingly disparate goals of restricting abortion and immigration are beginning to align as serving convergent ends. President Trump’s critics have described the “Make America Great Again” movement as unprincipled and unsystematic—a transactional vehicle for winning spoils, from conservative judges to tax cuts to deregulation. Yet we are witnessing the emergence of a disturbing internal logic in Trump’s agenda. Trump, of course, has not yet built a wall between the United States and Mexico. But he’s helped build something far more durable: a bridge between abortion and immigration restriction that is infusing pro-family advocates with the energies of nationalism. These advocates talk about protecting life—but care _whose_ life is saved. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5748503/trump-abortion-immigration-replacement-theory/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5748503/trump-abortion-immigration-replacement-theory/"},"headline":"Trump's Anti-Abortion and Anti-Immigration Policies May Share a Goal","datePublished":"2019-12-13T21:35:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:47.123Z","description":"Trump's policies to restrict abortion and immigration appear separate and disjointed. 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