United States should continue to welcome immigrants because they make the country great

Editor:

Make no mistake.  Whether it is—as the president has insisted—the “worst immigration” approach in the world, or not, America’s generous approach to immigration is likely the single most important ingredient in our greatness.  The result is a population that is—without doubt—exceptional by definition.

Those who have come here “willingly” have typically possessed extraordinary confidence, drive, intelligence, talent, and a willingness to do what others often have not. My grandparents’ Austrian neighbors stayed in their comfort zone after WW I, unsure that they could make it in a far off land which benefitted enormously from immigration but was nonetheless persistently hostile to it.

After all these years and personal experience, what has history taught us?  Might we actually benefit from an approach to the stranger that is arguably more welcoming than that of other nations? It has apparently always worked for us.

What if France demanded that we return the Statue of Liberty because it appears we no longer welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled, persecuted and downtrodden who feel they deserve dignity?  What if?

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion