The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“We are a nation of immigrants. The vast majority of the population of the United States are descendants of people who were born elsewhere.
“Some of us have arrived recently, while many others (like myself) are the children or grandchildren of immigrants. According to the Pew Research Center, the United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. . . .
“Former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois said, “Uncertainty and fear and ignorance about immigrants, about people who are different, has a history as old as our nation.”
“Gutierrez was right. In the 1750s Benjamin Franklin wrote of German immigrants, “Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own nation.”
“It would be comforting to think that this view expressed by a Founding Father has long since dissipated and that we have come a long way in over 250 years. Only a few months ago, in reference to the heavy flow over our southern border, we heard one public comment to the effect that immigrants are . . . “poisoning the blood of our country . . .” One might think that this must be an extremist view not shared by many, but recent polls suggest otherwise.
“I have always found it surprising, considering that so many of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, or have family members or friends who came from other countries, that anti-immigrant feelings are so strong in the U.S. At times the rhetoric gets downright mean and heartless. . . .
“I have often thought that if those who are stridently anti-immigrant watched this recording it might give them pause and begin to open their hearts. . . .
[I]n this great country with all of our resources and opportunities, I hope that more of us can find the empathy and compassion to view and treat immigrants and refugees with kindness and respect. . . .” — We Should Celebrate Our Heritage as a Nation of Immigrants, CT Mirror, Richard Frieder. 1/8/24 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: “A nation of immigrants” is not the overriding definition of America. What we are, first and foremost, is a nation of Americans. If we are not that, then we are not a nation at all. As a nation based on representative government, we Americans have the right to set policies which serve our national interest, including immigration policy.
Our country does indeed have a heritage of immigration, but the “nation of immigrants” sloganeers twist this heritage to mean that accepting people from foreign lands is the sole reason we exist. With this tactic, a manipulation of sentiment, they aim to silence any reasonable discussion of immigration policy, specifically on such topics as how many immigrants and what kinds of immigrants we should accept..
The article above is a perfect example of this kind of manipulation. By the author’s telling it is an act meanness and heartlessness to impose any restraint on immigration, legal or illegal. The author tells us to have boundless compassion for immigrants. Yet he offers no sympathy for tired huddled Americans who mourn the impending loss everything familiar about their country to a relentless advance of “diversity” and multiculturalism.
Mass immigration advocates pretend that their advocacy places them on the moral high ground. But quite commonly their motives stem from base self-interest. Specifically, it’s Republicans wanting it for cheap labor and Democrats wanting it for cheap votes. A perfect example of the latter is Luis Gutierrez, the former congressman cited in the article. While in the House Gutierrez advocated civil disobedience to force Congress to give amnesty to illegal aliens. After stating that he added “I have only one loyalty, and that’s to the immigrant community.” By his own words he has no loyalty to his country.
When immigration advocates obsess about a “nation of immigrants,” it seems that a nation of Americans is one of the least of their concerns—if indeed it concerns them at all.