Land of Opportunity

One of the lures that America has always had to immigrants is that you can do better here then you can where you are.

America was the land of opportunity.

Its of course accepted that this was true and clearly for many millions of immigrants it did offer a better situation then starving because of a potato blight or being persecuted for religious beliefs.

Of course this varied by country and while we did have in many ways more opportunity here than a country with rigid social castes it wasn't like immigrants had won the golden ticket, they still faced tough conditions, bias and in some cases terrible living conditions and years of poverty.

However, we were a growing country and work was fairly plentiful so they were generally able to establish themselves and in fact build a better future for themselves and their families.

They contributed greatly to their new country and most would agree they added greatly to the fabric of this country.

Current immigrants are no different than their predecessors and to portray them as crime ridden hoards intent on destroying our way of life is just repeating things that were said about Irish, Italians, Poles, Russians and Cubans.

They are people looking for a better, safer life and they are needed here as we don't have enough willing workers to do many of the jobs they will fill.

There are issues with American workers who see less opportunity then there once was in our manufacturing sector, but the immigrants aren't displacing them, they were displaced by economic forces and automation.

To hear the dontard talk about immigrants is to hear the same old song and dance that has been said about previous immigrants, and it is just as wrong now as it was then.