Living in fear

The so-called American Dream was a part of Manifest Destiny. Note the locations of capitalization, too. It is not random. The American Dream was coming to a land of opportunity where accidents of birth did not determine social status...you could, by virtue of intellect, hardwork, luck, or some combination of such advance yourself in life. The dream was open to all who would come.
When the railroads needed workers, the influx of Chinese was tremendous. The harsh, bitter, dangerous jobs were given to them. Go back and find out how many Chinese were killed building railways through the mountains of California and Colorado. Open immigration was not just a luxury, it was a necessity. You had to replace the laborers that were killed. Irish people filled the plains and put farms everywhere. Further back, forced immigration occurred via the slave trade. Thousands of people were "welcomed" as immigrants.
People would come to the United States hoping for opportunity for economic advancement. Their own, privately owned homes were within reach. Some, in a burst of entrepreneurialism, started their own businesses, often with considerable success. For instance, you may have heard of a Bavarian immigrant who, actually by accident, started a trend in the mining fields that is still with us today. Odds are, you have contributed to his still-thriving business. If you have ever worn a pair of Levis, well...without immigration, those might never have come into being.
The point here is that immigration has brought many quality people. While the days of open immigration MIGHT no longer be a good idea, the idea of being a bad neighbor always has, is now, and always will be out of season. What am I talking about?
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/11/03/mexicanborder-051103.html
Build a fence? To keep our neighbors out? Hmm. I interact with numerous immigrants virtually every day. I see them working at McDonalds and Fred Meyer and for landscaping and construction companies...and I find, as a rule, my Mexican immigrant neighbors are cheerful, friendly, and hard-working...hardly the fear-and hate inspiring terrorists this fence and its proponents see. No, I see good things coming in to the country from these people...people whom, by the way, I neither know nor care if they are legal immigrants or not.
Remember...national boundaries are artificial in the sense they are constantly changing due to purchase, warfare, etc. Now, I don't want it thought that I propose laws be broken. Lawbreakers should be prosecuted even-handedly without regard to race, gender, social status, etc.
What I am, however, advocating is a change in mindset to where we do not have such a climate of fear that some of the most powerful men on the continent think building thousands of miles of fence, hiring thousands of men, and installing massive technology simply to keep people out is a good idea.
There is one good idea in this; anyone you see who proposed, endorsed or voted for this legislation...vote them out.