A no-strings-attached immigration policy is an incomprehensible phenomenon – also for people who themselves have immigrated. Rosalia, who came to the United States as a nine-year-old, asks herself how it is possible not to integrate into one’s new country at all. “They should not receive welfare benefits; there is always a job to get. How can you allow yourself to have to support immigrants?”

The conversation begins in the way that is so common here in the United States – by someone simply starting to make small talk with you in the most everyday situations. This conversation began on a water taxi in Fort Lauderdale.

As I think about how much it costs to fill the fuel tank of a luxury yacht in the hundred-million class, I suddenly hear someone politely ask whether it is all right if she stands next to me, or whether that would block my view ..?

The voice turns out to belong to an elderly and very frugal lady who, in genuine American fashion, continues to make small talk after I have assured her that it is perfectly fine for her to stand next to me.

Within a few minutes we had discussed that the lady’s name was Rosalia and that she was 69 years old, that I was visiting from Sweden (although Rosalia assumed that I was from Switzerland), and that she herself had Italian roots.

– I came to the United States with my parents and seven siblings when I was nine years old. But it took a long time; we had to move one or two siblings at a time as my father earned money.

The family house is still in Italy, but Rosalia cannot imagine moving back.

– No. From what I hear … It is not so good in Italy any longer. They have far too many …

She pauses and weighs her words.

– Immigrants.

The statement frankly sounded a little strange coming from someone who had herself immigrated, and that was something Rosalia understood. Yes, she had often been asked how she, as an immigrant herself, could be both conservative, pro-Trump and in favour of a strict immigration policy?

According to Rosalia, the answer was simple: it was her background that had made her conservative.

– It was not easy to come here; we had to struggle, but we built a good life here.

When the conversation turns to American versus Swedish and Norwegian migration policy, Rosalia cannot conceal her surprise – and indignation. I explain that Sweden, without requirements for integration, has received two million immigrants since the turn of the millennium, from countries that have few or no cultural similarities with Sweden.

My newly found conversation partner is curious and naturally wants to know how all these people earn their living and how they affect society, so I try to explain both how the welfare system works and how society has changed as a consequence of the policy that is being pursued.

Many questions arise: Who pays? The taxpayers. How high are the taxes? The highest effective marginal tax rate is estimated at 75 per cent. When can one retire? The retirement age has been abolished.

Rosalia thinks for a while before exclaiming:

– But how can one allow that? They should not receive welfare benefits; there is always a job to get. How can you allow yourself to have to support immigrants?

Yes, that is something one can ask oneself. The answer is that a Swedish taxpayer does not have many choices. The tax is deducted before the salary is deposited in the account, and there is tax on everything you buy and consume. An ordinary wage earner rarely has money to save. At the same time, an immigrant is entitled to lifelong support and a pension as high as someone who has worked for 40 years or more. It is provocative and unjust, but the revolution has not taken place.

Does that mean that we allow it?

No parties have ever gone to an election with campaign promises of open borders for terrorists, increased crime and a lower standard of living. Yet that is exactly what Swedish voters have received, regardless of which party they have voted for over the past 60 years. The development during the past year may be somewhat more sober, but is any politician willing to promise real change: mass deportations of illegal immigrants à la ICE, a moratorium on immigration and requirements of self-sufficiency?

Such decisions would be political suicide, even though they are necessary to save the nation.

Rosalia immigrated, struggled, succeeded – and became conservative. It is a journey she shares with many immigrants in Sweden, and it is a journey that many left-wing sympathisers struggle to understand. For them, “immigrants” are a homogeneous group – weak and in need of a continuous stream of economic and social support. Human beings are individuals with different driving forces and preconditions, but most people need stimulation and incentive to act: human beings are lazy by nature, so why should one work and do what is right for oneself if one does not have to ..?

Some, like Rosalia and her Italian family, can do most things on their own because their culture and personalities make them want to work, build their lives and contribute positively to society. Most people need both a carrot and a stick, but as things are today, the carrot is reserved for the newcomer and the stick is reserved for the taxpayer.

The conversation ends when it is time for me to go ashore; there are sincere smiles, “have a nice day” and “nice talking to you”.

But the question still pursues me.

– How can one allow that?

Yes. How can we?