Mollie Gerver
@mgerver.bsky.social
Assistant Professor in International Ethics at King’s College London, focusing on immigration, consent, and experimental philosophy. www.mgerver.com
Pinned
Mollie Gerver
@mgerver.bsky.social
· Oct 16
Opposition to ICE violence is consistent with studies conducted over the years: people opposing immigration still oppose very violent enforcement. They oppose violent enforcement even when it’s necessary to force migrants to leave. See our studies here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Oh yeah that makes sense.
January 2, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Oh yeah that makes sense.
Wishing everyone a prosperous year but not this prosperous.
Potential House of the Year on #SaturdayNightZillow! $177M LA playground "Villa Siena" has 35K sf, 8 BR, 25 BAs w/tons of eye candy. The ceiling of the main BR retracts "for stargazing." +Jazz Club, bronze staircase, hot & cold plunge pods, hydrotherapy chamber. Enjoy! www.zillow.com/homedetails/...
January 1, 2026 at 10:23 AM
Wishing everyone a prosperous year but not this prosperous.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Good point made by @parth0.bsky.social: “Having become used to opponents who challenge them mainly on grounds of economic equality, progressives now find themselves locked in conflict with those who reject far more basic tenets of human equality.”
Number of people who say Britons must be born in UK is rising, study shows
Exclusive: Research finds ‘worrying’ surge in support for hard-right narratives on national identity
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 11:38 AM
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Good point made by @parth0.bsky.social: “Having become used to opponents who challenge them mainly on grounds of economic equality, progressives now find themselves locked in conflict with those who reject far more basic tenets of human equality.”
Reposted by Mollie Gerver
“The reason why Israel is suddenly recognising Somaliland, which has been a breakaway region for decades, is because they and the US are working on a plan to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza to there-despite the risk to regional security”
Julia McFarlane BBCNews
apnews.com/article/isra...
Julia McFarlane BBCNews
apnews.com/article/isra...
December 28, 2025 at 8:21 AM
“The reason why Israel is suddenly recognising Somaliland, which has been a breakaway region for decades, is because they and the US are working on a plan to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza to there-despite the risk to regional security”
Julia McFarlane BBCNews
apnews.com/article/isra...
Julia McFarlane BBCNews
apnews.com/article/isra...
Time and again - during war, pandemics, or wildfires - governments express gratitude towards migrants keeping citizens safe, and then a year later begin deporting them. These policies, we’ve found in our research, are wildly unpopular. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...
‘It’s Just Us’: The Firefighter, His Son and a Treacherous Choice
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Time and again - during war, pandemics, or wildfires - governments express gratitude towards migrants keeping citizens safe, and then a year later begin deporting them. These policies, we’ve found in our research, are wildly unpopular. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...
This researcher claims pro-immigrant researchers cherry pick evidence to reach conclusions, but doesn’t mention that the PNAS article he cites shows NO bias. Only a second one does. So he cherry picks evidence to show researchers cherry pick evidence! laurenzguenther.substack.com/p/why-immigr...
Why immigration research is probably biased
Public opinion surveys across Western countries consistently show that majorities prefer lower immigration levels.
laurenzguenther.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
This researcher claims pro-immigrant researchers cherry pick evidence to reach conclusions, but doesn’t mention that the PNAS article he cites shows NO bias. Only a second one does. So he cherry picks evidence to show researchers cherry pick evidence! laurenzguenther.substack.com/p/why-immigr...
Really looking forward to @naomiaklein.bsky.social’s forthcoming book, but was surprised to see that you can’t *not* consent to cookies on her website, with only “accept” as an option. That’s contrary to UK law, and also seems inconsistent with Klein’s principles!
December 19, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Really looking forward to @naomiaklein.bsky.social’s forthcoming book, but was surprised to see that you can’t *not* consent to cookies on her website, with only “accept” as an option. That’s contrary to UK law, and also seems inconsistent with Klein’s principles!
Reposted by Mollie Gerver
Slides from a Home Office presentation for employers on “earned settlement” — note the case studies: they explicitly play the “good migrant” versus “bad migrant” narrative. Guess which category Sarah, the American, is placed in?
December 12, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Slides from a Home Office presentation for employers on “earned settlement” — note the case studies: they explicitly play the “good migrant” versus “bad migrant” narrative. Guess which category Sarah, the American, is placed in?
Why do people use words like “remigration” and not deportation? Maybe because “remigration” is very abstract. It can refer to migrants voluntarily leaving OR violent deportations, and so claiming most people support “remigration” seems plausible, while still used to justify violent deportations.
pretty wild seeing just how far right the average conservative has gotten now that they all say that a standard nazi germany era policy is “moderate” in their bubbles
December 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Why do people use words like “remigration” and not deportation? Maybe because “remigration” is very abstract. It can refer to migrants voluntarily leaving OR violent deportations, and so claiming most people support “remigration” seems plausible, while still used to justify violent deportations.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/immigratio.. @akoustov.bsky.social defends looking at the effects of immigration policies, not immigration itself. I think we can say something similar about public opinion: don’t ask people which immigrants they like. Ask them which immigration policies they like.
alexanderkustov.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:44 PM
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/immigratio.. @akoustov.bsky.social defends looking at the effects of immigration policies, not immigration itself. I think we can say something similar about public opinion: don’t ask people which immigrants they like. Ask them which immigration policies they like.
Reposted by Mollie Gerver
This is an excellent thread about varieties of eugenicist thought and why we should worry about so-called "positive" benefits. Biology educators & psychologists have noted the way we (often) teach genetics seems to "cause" more essentialist thinking so one may imagine www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Humane genomics education can reduce racism
Moving instruction “beyond Mendel” can counter inaccurate, essentialist views
www.science.org
December 4, 2025 at 12:59 PM
This is an excellent thread about varieties of eugenicist thought and why we should worry about so-called "positive" benefits. Biology educators & psychologists have noted the way we (often) teach genetics seems to "cause" more essentialist thinking so one may imagine www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
There’s some useful info here, but also some misleading statements, such as the statement that focusing on small boats could be justified due to asylum seekers making up 10% of all migrants - the article fails to clarify that the vast majority of asylum seekers don’t arrive on small boats!
December 4, 2025 at 1:02 PM
There’s some useful info here, but also some misleading statements, such as the statement that focusing on small boats could be justified due to asylum seekers making up 10% of all migrants - the article fails to clarify that the vast majority of asylum seekers don’t arrive on small boats!
This looks like a great opportunity for someone interested in doing a PhD related to autonomy. Essex has an excellent group of political and moral philosophers.
www.essex.ac.uk/postgraduate...
www.essex.ac.uk/postgraduate...
Fulfilling the Broken Promise of Support for Mental Capacity in an Era of Assisted Dying: A Comparative, Applied-Philosophy Approach | University of Essex
www.essex.ac.uk
December 4, 2025 at 7:26 AM
This looks like a great opportunity for someone interested in doing a PhD related to autonomy. Essex has an excellent group of political and moral philosophers.
www.essex.ac.uk/postgraduate...
www.essex.ac.uk/postgraduate...
Great article by @kkale.bsky.social defending having elections everyday: everyday you vote for your preferred candidate/party, with winners determined by counting up all votes after a given cycle. So no more elections resulting from whatever happens to be in the news right before election day.
My paper defending a new electoral system out now at Free & Equal!
Every Day an Election Day
Voting occurs on Election Day. In the history of electoral democracy, this fact has been closely identified with the practice of elections. However, I argue the temporality of election time generates ...
freeandequaljournal.org
November 29, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Great article by @kkale.bsky.social defending having elections everyday: everyday you vote for your preferred candidate/party, with winners determined by counting up all votes after a given cycle. So no more elections resulting from whatever happens to be in the news right before election day.
Reposted by Mollie Gerver
Shameless self-publicity. My new book "Why Immigration Policy Is Hard And How To Make It Better" is out.
www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
Why Immigration Policy Is Hard: And How to Make It Better
Why Immigration Policy Is Hard: And How to Make It Better, Immigration policy will never satisfy everyone. It’s a stubborn fact that more people will want to move to high-income countries than residen...
www.politybooks.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Shameless self-publicity. My new book "Why Immigration Policy Is Hard And How To Make It Better" is out.
www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
Note that she was *legally* overstaying her visa, as far as I understand, because this is allowed while waiting the outcome of a green card application.
ICE arrests, detains British woman with US husband and newborn when she shows up for her green card interview. She’s now in a detention center, separated from her 6-month-old. No criminal record. She had overstayed her visa.
www.lbc.co.uk/article/brit...
www.lbc.co.uk/article/brit...
British mum detained by ICE agents in California as six-month old baby and stunned husband watch on | LBC
Katie Paul, 33, was in the process of applying for a green card when she was ambushed by immigration agents
www.lbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Note that she was *legally* overstaying her visa, as far as I understand, because this is allowed while waiting the outcome of a green card application.
Larry Summers: maybe women in academia aren’t as successful because of genetics.
Also Larry Summers: I think I’ll stop mentoring this female economist unless she has sex with me.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Also Larry Summers: I think I’ll stop mentoring this female economist unless she has sex with me.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ | News | The Harvard Crimson
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender Jef...
www.thecrimson.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Larry Summers: maybe women in academia aren’t as successful because of genetics.
Also Larry Summers: I think I’ll stop mentoring this female economist unless she has sex with me.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Also Larry Summers: I think I’ll stop mentoring this female economist unless she has sex with me.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
The weird jewellery policy, first in Denmark, is back! I wonder why these kind if strange policies are proposed. Any ideas? One possibility: they distract people from other unpopular policies, or make other unpopular policies seem relatively more reasonable. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum seekers’ jewellery could be seized to pay for processing costs, says Home Office minister
Idea borrowed from Denmark is latest attempt to reduce number of people seeking asylum in UK
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The weird jewellery policy, first in Denmark, is back! I wonder why these kind if strange policies are proposed. Any ideas? One possibility: they distract people from other unpopular policies, or make other unpopular policies seem relatively more reasonable. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
You might think that, if you increase the minimum wage, then this won’t affect workers in the informal economy. It might even decrease their wages. This article shows that minimum wages are associated with an increase in informal workers’ wages.
1/2 Super interesting bit of research we have supported which looks at how the minimum wage affects workers in the informal economy (looking at Brazil). Turns out informal workers in formal firms see about 88% of the increase that formal workers experience...
www.nber.org/papers/w3444...
www.nber.org/papers/w3444...
Minimum Wages and Informality
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:06 PM
You might think that, if you increase the minimum wage, then this won’t affect workers in the informal economy. It might even decrease their wages. This article shows that minimum wages are associated with an increase in informal workers’ wages.
The US actually has a dearth of public toilets precisely because of previous policies banning paid public toilets, as this excellent @planetmoney.bsky.social episode discusses. www.npr.org/2025/05/02/1....
November 11, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The US actually has a dearth of public toilets precisely because of previous policies banning paid public toilets, as this excellent @planetmoney.bsky.social episode discusses. www.npr.org/2025/05/02/1....
The Home Office initially decides whether an asylum seeker is a child by just having two members of staff “look at the child and decide whether, based on their appearance and demeanour, they think that they could be a child.”
In case you missed it: Age assessments: what happens when a child arrives in the UK? | Francesca Sella
Age assessments: what happens when a child arrives in the UK? - Free Movement
The Home Office does not publish statistics regarding children who are wrongly assessed as adults on arrival nor regarding the number of initial age
freemovement.org.uk
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
The Home Office initially decides whether an asylum seeker is a child by just having two members of staff “look at the child and decide whether, based on their appearance and demeanour, they think that they could be a child.”
Reposted by Mollie Gerver
So you should really watch this. Just 2 minutes. But a window into the truly radical nature of the people Trump is nominating.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
October 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
So you should really watch this. Just 2 minutes. But a window into the truly radical nature of the people Trump is nominating.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
“Using administrative student data from New York City, we…find the standard deviation of teacher effects on height is nearly as large as that for math and reading achievement, raising obvious questions about validity.”
www.nber.org/papers/w26480
www.nber.org/papers/w26480
Teacher Effects on Student Achievement and Height: A Cautionary Tale
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
October 24, 2025 at 7:02 PM
“Using administrative student data from New York City, we…find the standard deviation of teacher effects on height is nearly as large as that for math and reading achievement, raising obvious questions about validity.”
www.nber.org/papers/w26480
www.nber.org/papers/w26480
But it’s ok because everyone clapped for these nurses four years ago.
Tory policy is to revoke permanent residence (ILR) for everybody who does not earn £38k - deporting most nurses who have ILR
This is put in the video as "who is unlikely to contribute more than they cost"
NB: video does not say EU settled status is exempt
No govt since Idi Amin has done this
This is put in the video as "who is unlikely to contribute more than they cost"
NB: video does not say EU settled status is exempt
No govt since Idi Amin has done this
October 22, 2025 at 7:10 PM
But it’s ok because everyone clapped for these nurses four years ago.
When I meet someone with ILR who can afford to apply for citizenship but doesn’t, I tell them “apply if you can!” But many people can’t: it’s too the expensive. Those people would be eligible for deportation under the Tories even if they had lived in the country for over a decade.
Mass deporting millions of people legally living here in order to make the UK "culturally coherent" is "broadly in line" with Conservative party policy, says Kemi Badenoch's spokesman
October 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
When I meet someone with ILR who can afford to apply for citizenship but doesn’t, I tell them “apply if you can!” But many people can’t: it’s too the expensive. Those people would be eligible for deportation under the Tories even if they had lived in the country for over a decade.