Although there is certainly a legitimate debate to be had over how much immigration is appropriate, anti-immigration conservatives are often recently disingenuous about the facts. For example, many of them believe that undocumented workers should leave the United States and apply for US residency and citizenship from their home countries. The problem is, for the vast majority of people overseas, there is no procedure whatsoever for them to do so. Similarly, the so-called “dreamers” (children who were brought here with their parents at a young age) don’t have anywhere to go back to because their relatives no longer live in their home countries.
The Immigration Debate Made Simple
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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In 1790, all you had to do was reside in the country for two years and you became a citizen.
Ellis Island didn’t open until 1892. So, by today’s “standards” anyone who came to this country prior to 1892 is an “illegal.” (Or perhaps an ‘anchor baby’ – just as bad per the RWNJ’s)
Of course, that’s assuming they had the legal right to come here in the first place. Some king or other may have told your ancestors they could live here – but he didn’t really have any right to do so. There were people already living here, and they didn’t bother to ask their opinion.
As usual, the American Motto is “Fuck you Jack, I got mine.”
Crazy: Right the fuck on. How many of us have to go back more than a generation or two to find our own immigrant roots?
lb:
My father was the son of a travelin’ preacher man. He was delivered at home – an event recorded only in the family bible – and nobody was sure whether he was born in Canada or the Alaska Territory. The US magnanimously allowed him to fight in WWII, but didn’t recognize him as a citizen … and neither did Canada.
Strangely enough, he continued to exist even without government recognition.