Immigrants

 

Immigrant Song

We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
How soft your fields so green
Can whisper tales of gore
Of how we calmed the tides of war
We are your overlords

Should we afraid of immigrants?

I would like to cite another song lyric as a counterpoint.

How Have You Been

How have you been my darling children,
While I have been away in the west?
Though you are strangers,
I feel that I know you.
By the way that you treat me
 And offer to feed me
And eagerly ask if I'll stay for a rest.

My maternal grandparents were immigrants from Poland who never learned to speak English.  My paternal great-grandparents were all immigrants from Ireland.  ( My paternal grandmother was born in the US, but my father’s father was an illegal immigrant from Canada!).  Everyone in the United States is a descendant of immigrants.  You may fear new immigrants if you think that the world is a zero-sum game and immigrants/strangers will take what you have.  If the world is NOT a zero-sum game, a group is stronger when it is larger, and immigrants can contribute to your group, then it makes sense to treat immigrants/strangers well and welcome them into your group.  I understand that the fear of strangers (stranger danger) is part of out human psyche.  But every major religion has admonitions about treating strangers well.  So are you religious punk? Do you believe in taking or sharing?