[ahamilton]

> The US was built on the hard work of immigrants.

The US was built by the descendants of Europeans who nearly wiped out the existing native population. How did immigration work out for the Native Americans and their descendants?

[snitko]

The reason the native population was wiped out was primarily because of the diseases brought by Europeans, not because Europeans were particularly brutal. In fact, Indians were as brutal to the colonists as colonists were to Indians. The first colonists themselves died in large numbers, mostly due to hunger and malaria. Also, Indians were technologically behind Europeans. Modern western countries, to which immigration is desirable, are more technologically advanced and we certainly don't have a problem with immunity to diseases - at least you can't call it an equally serious problem.

So, comparing colonists and indians to the current immigration problems is simply unfounded.

[walshemj]

Who then set up a political system where WASP land owners had more political power than the later RC immigrants from Europe Italians Irish and so on.