Immigration without assimilation is invasion.
– Gov. Bobby Jindal

Headline: “Crossing the Rio Grande, we all came with dreams.” Yes, but what dreams?

When my family, and my wife’s family, and probably your family came to America, they came with the dream of becoming Americans. Yes, often they kept their native language, customs, and foods. They almost surely kept their religion. But they insisted that their children speak English and go to public schools, where they were taught to be good Americans.

Our families saw America as a shining example of freedom and prosperity. They were eager to learn the methods that produced this freedom in the midst of tyranny, and produced this prosperity in the midst of a wilderness. But no more.

Today many immigrants – not all – arrive with no intention of becoming Americans. Large groups approach our southern border waving the flags of foreign nations. Did my mother’s family arrive waving czarist flags? Are you joking? They wanted to get away from the tyranny, class system, and bigotry of their homelands. But today’s immigrants were taught that warlike Europeans arrived and stole a rich, free land from Native Americans, who lived in peace with their neighbors and in harmony with nature. Who would want to join a thieving, warmongering society like that?

So many immigrants – not all – establish little replicas of the homelands, with shops, restaurants, and houses of worship that resemble as closely as possible the lands from which they came. They do not seek to learn the methods of freedom and prosperity. They were never taught to admire them. Instead, they work to reestablish the corrupt governments, socialist systems, and racial and religious bigotry from which they fled. How unutterably sad.

Yes, we all have dreams upon which we build our lives. But what dreams?