At The Democratic National Committee (DNC) summer meeting, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said “immigrants … are America.”
“We have a message to Donald Trump. Immigrants don’t diminish America. They are America,” Klobuchar declared.
Klobuchar isn’t alone in making this type of statement. CBS News’ Margaret Brennan previously claimed “this is a country founded by immigrants,” while beloved conservative icon President Ronald Reagan proclaimed we are a “nation of immigrants.”
While it may seem innocuous at first, it’s a subtle sleight of hand to push the insidious lie that Americans have no right to defend their border, sovereignty, or culture out of fear of being un-American.
If America is “immigrants,” it must also mean that America is a nation of immigrants. But, as I previously wrote, this is a calculated lie the left — and even some misguided Republicans — push to justify loose immigration policies that fail to take into account the impact of mass migration on American communities and people.
To be clear, America is a nation of settlers. The 13 original colonies were established by Britain, and over the next century or so, hundreds of thousands of Brits moved to the British colonies. These Brits weren’t “immigrating” to anywhere. They came to barren land. There were no laws, borders, maps, or written language. The British settlers came to uncharted land to establish colonies under British rule.
Yet, the claim that America is a nation of immigrants is oft repeated — but for one insidious purpose: to justify endless immigration. If America is a nation of immigrants and founded by immigrants, then logic says it would be un-American to want to control mass immigration since our very nation was borne out of immigration.
And, if America is merely a nation of immigrants, then what exactly is an American? As I previously wrote, “nothing.” If being born here or moving here makes someone “American,” — as Klobuchar’s comments indicate — then being “American” is meaningless.
Repeating the false claim that America is either a nation of immigrants or that “America is immigrants” tears at the ties that bind Americans together.
The repetition of “America is a nation of immigrants” isn’t harmless rhetoric — it’s a political weapon. It suggests that anyone — from anywhere — has a right to be here, regardless of whether they share our principles, respect our culture, or can practice self-government. But without taking those things into consideration, you risk destroying the national identity — or what it means to be American — through mass migration.
Alexander Hamilton warned us in 1802 that “the safety of a republic depends essentially on the energy of a common National sentiment; on a uniformity of principles and habits; on the exception of the citizens from foreign bias, and prejudice …”
Flooding the country with millions of newcomers under the guise that we are obligated to — since “America is immigrants” — is a trojan horse.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
