Alien vs. Predator

W e are staring at a massive face-off between two opposing sides in an ongoing and escalating battle for what constitutes the “soul of America.” On the one hand, history tells us that immigration has always been part and parcel of what it means to be American; our ancestors all came from some place else. Our views of our own ancestors’ struggles in the Old World suggest that they thought (and we agree) that it was worth it to come here, to “the land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave.” That’s our back story.

O n the other hand, there are those (mostly older, obese white men) whose view of immigration is entirely different. They are afraid of immigrants. They cast aspersions on their character, personalities, their culture. They characterize them as “drug dealers, rapists, and/or murderers,” and equate their arrival here in the States to the Viking invasions of Scotland and England in the 8th — 11th centuries. The “invaders” want free education, free medical care, low-cost housing, and all the benefits of living in a First World country, claim their opponents.

In reality, there are two sides to this narrative. Liberals/progressives correctly point out that immigration has always been part of our history, and that immigrants have made innumerable positive contributions to America’s economy, educational system, military, and culture. The social conservatives look at the onslaught of…