There are times, depending to a significant degree, on who is or who is not controlling the narrative, that some American are most vociferous in their belief, that this nation, the United States of America, is not now and never has been a nation of immigrants. This is a lie, because those that founded what became the United States of America, were primarily Europeans that immigrated to this land, of which, this land, was not their own. Additionally, those people brought here against their will, as in enslavement, are themselves, immigrants, as well.
Somewhat disappointingly, a lot of the desire to protect our borders from illegal immigration and the like, has more than a hint of hypocrisy to it; for there seems to be a belief, that it was fine for certain people to immigrate here, but that was back then, but this is now, and therefore there should be steps that must be adhered to for those now desiring to immigrate here, and illegal immigration is therefore both wrong and inimical to the integrity of the United States.
As true as that might be, and in understanding that there are sensible reasons why any country, should and needs to have sensible immigration policies to adhere to, what seems to be missing from the discussion is that if America really believes that what it so represents is the best form of governance in the world, which is thereby second to none; then one would logically think that America would thereby highly desire to see more immigration to this land, in order to take in all those that want to be part of the American experience as well as this land of opportunity, so as to therefore strengthen the fabric of this country, as opposed to locking them out.
There are a lot of reasons why some people are so bent on being against immigration, of which, a lot of that resentment, really comes down to the fact that people mistakenly believe that the more people that immigrate here, that aren’t the “right” people, then the less goods and benefits that there will be available for those that are already here. If that was true, that would make sense; in fact, if more immigration meant less jobs for those that were born here, that would also make sense; but the reality of the situation is that humankind’s limits are limited only by its imagination, work ethic, and ingenuity.
Further to the point, it takes a whole lot of gall, for those that have been fortunate enough to be born here and to thereby become citizens by the simple virtue of that birthplace to somehow forget that their ancestors immigrated from a foreign land, for this then, is hypocrisy. America is a very large nation in the sense of landmass, and while its population is fairly large, it pales in comparison to both China and India, so there is definitely plenty of room to grow; and it should also be acknowledged that America still represents the breadbasket of the world, along with having the strongest university system in the world, as well. Finally, there would be less illegal immigration to this country, if the policies put in place by governmental officials was far more accommodating and well-nigh encouraging for those desiring legal immigration by therefore increasing substantially the amount as well as the complexion of those so being permitted to immigrate here. That then, would be consistent with a nation of immigrants, and would do justice to those immigrants that put forth the noble effort to build this nation into what it is today.