What happens when there is no more opportunity in the land of opportunity?

For much of its history, the U.S. did not have much of an immigration policy. None at first, a bit lax after that, to say the least. And why not? - there was more land than anyone then could even dream of ever overcrowding.

The people that were already here when the Europeans showed up certainly began to get pushed around before too long, and I don't want to make that sound unimportant; but the issue wasn't not having enough land for both the Indians and the Europeans, but rather who got what. As usual, the strong took what they wanted and the weak moved to other land.

Along with those white Europeans, of course, came people that didn't want to come; people who, even now, are still trying to make this a place that feels like home to them.

The real immigrations to America began in the 19th century. The railroads need for cheap labor brought Asians and Irish. Troubles in Ireland brought more Irish. Then came Italians and Germans and Scandinavians and Eastern Europeans, not to mention a steady trickle of English and Scots. By the turn of the 20th century, some people (who were already here, of course) got to thinking that maybe someone ought to stem the tide a bit.

Ellis Island finally was closed in 1954 and by then the population of the USA was over 150,000,000. Suddenly the vast amount of land didn't seem so inexhaustible anymore.

Today, the population is a bit more than twice that many, and God still isn't making any more land. What to do?

Proponents of open borders will quickly point out that early white settlers didn't have to worry about quotas and application forms. I agree. Life is unfair. First come, first served, so to speak. The reality is, the world and the USA simply aren't like they were back in the old days. The USA - and the world, for that matter - are getting filled up. If the people who are supposedly in power don't find a way to control the situation any better than the Indians did at first, then they will go down the same path as the Indians and lose the power.

There is a bigger problem, though. America's "secret" of how it rose to be a great world power is no secret at all: the driving force for making America great was its hungry immigrants looking for a better life, and willing to do whatever it took to advance from one generation to the next. What now? Immigration and diversity has always been the lifeblood of America's continual renewal. The people who advocate open borders have a point.

And yet...

Immigration stupidity not confined to Democrats

(Washington Post, Aug. 7, 2010) Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says America faces a growing foreign threat: illegal immigrants and tourists who come here for the express purpose of giving birth so their children get citizenship.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and a few other top Republicans have jumped on the issue and called for hearings.

The senators said their concerns arose from recent reports of a burgeoning "birth tourism" industry, which helps expectant mothers travel to the United States to deliver their babies. They [the senators] also said that birthright citizenship, which is granted by the 14th amendment of the Constitution, provides an incentive for people to enter the country illegally.

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ARE THESE PEOPLE SERIOUS???

This blogger believes in controlled immigration. He believes any country has a right to control its borders and the integrity of its interior. But, JesusJosephandMary! A baby has a right to be a citizen of the country he is born in! It isn't the baby's fault what his parents do, and babies shouldn't be used as some sort of anti-illegal immigration pawn.

Control the borders. Make immigrants immigrate the way you want them to. But... god this makes me mad... if there is really such a thing as an "unalienable right" it is the right to be a citizen of the land upon which one is born.

Just stop it Graham. Just stop it McCain. If you want to "hold hearings," then hold hearings on how to compel the president to do his job. Or hold hearings on how to limit terms of geezer senators. Leave the innocent babies alone.

Some people (in California, at least) have expressed outrage that (indigent) Mexican mothers (who have successfully made it through Obama's porous borders) are allowed to give birth in U.S. hospitals, without having to show proof of citizenship, and having the birth paid for by the U.S. taxpayer under Medicaid. I say that ANY mother who shows up ready to give birth, at any hospital in the USA, should not have to speak English or should not have to show proof of citizenship. Why? Because it is already too late to talk about illegal immigration at that point; her child is obviously already an American citizen and has the right to be properly attended to. That's why. Get over it.