IMMIGRATION BUILT AMERICA

As we live through another of America's periodic political fights over the issue of immigration, it is important to remember that immigration is the reason America looks the way it does today. First came the Europeans and their African slaves (the Native American experience cannot correctly be placed in the context of immigration, as they were the indigenous people who were displaced or exterminated by the conquering Europeans and, later, Americans). At first the majority were English, Scots, French and Dutch, then wave after wave of other nationalities...Irish, Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, Poles, Czechs, Jews of many countries, Italians and many others. Each great wave of immigrants was met with hostility and fear. (The case of African-Americans, because of slavery and white supremacy, is a very different one, and cannot rightly be put into the context of an immigration discussion. This is not to say that African-Americans are not an important part of the building of America, they are, it is just to say that the circumstances of their arrival and their exclusion from the mainstream of economic and political life makes their narrative quite different from that of all other immigrant groups). Each wave created political upheaval. Some of that upheaval was ephemeral, like the formation of the Know-Nothing Party in the mid-19th Century. They quickly faded away. Other changes were more substantial, like the development of our system of taxpayer-funded schools, created in the 19th Century primarily to educate the teeming masses of Irish, German and other immigrants to become good, patriotic, English-speaking Americans.

All sorts of economic, social and political changes were directly the result of the masses of immigrants who came to America. Everything from the growth of government at all levels to the growth of industry to the creation of a new narrative that defines the American experience, the narrative of the children and grandchildren of immigrants who made their fortunes in the New World. My favorite line from that great American movie, "The Godfather", is the opening line, when the undertaker, in explaining his predicament to the Godfather, says, "I love America. America has made my fortune". Mario Puzo, who wrote the script, and Francis Ford Coppola, who directed, understood that the central narrative of American life is now that of the immigrant who comes to these shores and prospers, and that it cuts across all lines. "The Godfather" is not just about gangsters, or Italians, but about the struggle of all immigrants as they try to reconcile (or assimilate, which is the word du jour) their customs, language and traditions with that of their new country.

Today, the new bogey man is the Mexican immigrant. Like the Irish, Jews, Italians and others before him, the Mexican is being portrayed as dirty, lazy, ignorant, and criminal. When he speaks the language of his birth country, or waves its flag, he is considered "un-American". I invite you to read the comments made about the Irish in the 1850s, the Germans in the 1860s, the Italians and Jews in the 1900s. The similarities are striking.

Does this mean I believe we should keep our borders open and unsecured? Absolutely not. Because the Irish, Jews, Italians, Poles and others had to come across the ocean to reach our shores, we always had the power to limit their numbers. In fact, we did just that when we virtually shut the door in 1920. We should be able to exercise the same power over Mexican immigrants, and others from Central and South America. The control of borders is a basic right of a sovereign nation.

So build the fence. As was done in the past, it is the people of the United States through their elected representatives who should decide how many immigrants we want to join us here in the greatest country in the world. But remember, the Mexicans who want to come here and work are just like the Irish and Italians and Jews and Poles and Scots and French and all the rest who created this country as we know it today. They will add their muscle, their brains, their cuisine, even words from their language into the melting pot of America. That is a very good thing, indeed.