The Founders on Immigration
By Joshua Charles Published on January 31, 2017 • 4 Comments
Joshua Charles
Immigration, and who comes into our country, has obviously become an incredibly pertinent subject the last few years, and even more so in the last few days. What did the Founders have to say about it? As it turns out, quite a bit. Throughout their comments can be discerned one consistent thread: those that come to this country must share our values, fully support our unique and exceptional institutions, and immigration policy should be dictated by the interests of those who already live here.
For example, to Vice President John Adams, President George Washington observed as follows:
[T]he policy or advantage of [immigration] taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for, by so doing, they retain the language, habits, and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them. Whereas by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, and laws: in a word, soon become one people.[1]
https://stream.org/the-founders-on-immigration/
