There are two sides to American immigration: the first is a story of economic benefit and promise; the other is a report of economic harm and despair.
The two “stories” stand in stark contrast with each other. Nevertheless, they define the two prisms by which immigrants are viewed. What is interesting is that the tension between the views is a constant component of our nation’s history. Whether the immigrants came in by a sailing ship in 1790 or 1840, a steamer in 1900, or an airplane in 2004; whether they were German, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Italians, east European Jews, Cubans, Vietnamese, Koreans, Russians, or Hispanics; the same two perspectives inform the immigration debate.
