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Immigration and American Identity
An Open Letter to Tamar Jacoby
Posted July 25, 2005

John Fonte, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Hudson Institute


Dear Tamar:

You are everywhere these days promoting the McCain-Kennedy "slow motion" amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. I commend your energy and spirited advocacy, while strongly disagreeing with your recommendations and the "tempered" multicultural ideology behind them.

My principal objection is that you over-emphasize economics and deal only superficially with America's twin national interests in border security and patriotic assimilation. Further, the economic points that you raise are themselves open to question.

You and I agree that the United States has been more successful in assimilating immigrants than any other country in the history of the world. The reason for that success, however, is that from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt, Americans have insisted upon the "Americanization" or patriotic assimilation of immigrants. Today, America's elites no longer promote serious assimilation.

Instead, our de-facto policy is mass, low-skilled immigration combined with weak border security and anti-assimilation practices (ethnic group preferences for newcomers, bilingualism, multiculturalism and tolerance of dual citizenship). Your policy recommendationsâ€â€