What Do We Do With All Those Immigrants?

America finds itself grappling with immigration levels not seen in over a century while having lost much of the cultural machinery that once made mass immigration manageable. Foreign-born residents now comprise 15.6% of the population, the highest share in American history, surpassing even the previous peak of 14.8% in 1890. But the real challenge isn't the scale—it's that we've forgotten how to absorb newcomers into a coherent national culture.

The Commitment Problem
Current immigration differs fundamentally from previous waves. When millions arrived at Ellis Island, crossing an ocean was expensive and largely irreversible. Immigration represented profound commitment—burning bridges to start over. Today's jet age has transformed immigration into something more fluid, where maintaining strong ties to home countries becomes not just possible but expected.

Earlier generations faced clear expectations: learn English, adopt American customs, become American. The melting pot wasn't just metaphor but cultural imperative backed by institutions and necessity. Schools and government operated in English only. Economic advancement required cultural adaptation.

Modern America has largely abandoned this integrative approach in favor of multicultural accommodation. Government documents come in twelve languages. Ethnic enclaves sustain themselves without significant interaction with broader American culture. What we've gained in cultural sensitivity, we may have lost in social cohesion.

The European Warning
European nations provide sobering examples of what happens when immigration outpaces integration. Sweden, Germany, France, and the Netherlands face challenges with unassimilated immigrant populations persisting across generations—not temporary adjustment difficulties but entrenched parallel societies with different values and relationships to their host countries.

America's advantage was always cultural confidence—belief that American values were worth adopting. But that confidence has weakened precisely when we need it most. Instead of expecting newcomers to adapt to us, we increasingly adapt to them, making integration unnecessary rather than essential.

The Trump Response
The current administration combines legitimate policy concerns with deliberately inflammatory tactics. Goals of removing all illegal immigrants represent dramatic escalation, while proposals to restrict immigrants' constitutional rights venture into dangerous territory. When ICE operates in masks and enforcement becomes intimidation theater, we risk losing moral authority even when addressing real problems.

The cruelty often appears intentional—designed to deter through visible harshness. But this generates more backlash than support, turning immigration policy into national division rather than renewal.

Beyond False Choices
Current debate presents false alternatives: either embrace unlimited immigration with minimal integration requirements, or engage in mass deportations with maximum cruelty. Neither serves American interests.

A thoughtful strategy would combine controlled immigration levels with serious integration expectations. This means making English proficiency essential for citizenship, employment, and advancement. It means ending assumptions that maintaining separate ethnic identities is preferable to developing shared American identity.

It also requires honest conversation about numbers. Even successful societies have limits on how quickly they can absorb newcomers without social strain. Rapid demographic change creates anxiety even among well-meaning people, and pretending otherwise doesn't make those reactions disappear.

The Integration Framework
Successful immigration policy requires both limits and expectations. Limits on volume to ensure manageable integration. Expectations that newcomers will learn English, understand American civic traditions, and participate in American rather than separate ethnic institutions.

This doesn't mean cultural erasure but creating conditions where becoming American represents attractive choice rather than optional afterthought. It means rebuilding confidence in American culture so integration feels like advancement rather than loss.

Most importantly, immigration should create Americans, not just provide global humanitarian relief. If we can't turn immigrants into Americans—linguistically, culturally, civically—then we're engaged in population replacement rather than immigration policy.

The current crisis stems not from hatred of immigrants but uncertainty about what America expects from them and what it means to be American. Until we resolve that deeper question, immigration will remain a source of division rather than renewal.

Discussion Questions

1. How do we balance humanitarian concerns for immigrants with practical requirements of successful integration into American society?

2. What specific policies would most effectively promote English acquisition and civic integration without being punitive or discriminatory?

3. How can communities experiencing rapid demographic change manage social tensions while remaining welcoming to newcomers?

4. What lessons from successful historical immigration periods could be adapted for contemporary challenges, and which approaches are no longer viable?