America 2.0: Immigration Conundrum for USA

A little over 14 million immigrants lived in the U.S. in 1980; by 2014, the number had grown to more than 42 million. There is simply no precedent in istory for the sheer number of human being who recently come, legally and illegally, into America. As a percentage of the entire population, immigrants are now very close to the peak of 14.8 percent set in 1890.

by: Andrew Sullivan

New York magazine (Jan 23-Feb 5, 2017)

Andrew Sullivan, the journalist for New York magazine,  emigrated to the United States from Britain. He seems more honest than most writers about the United States' extraordinary ability to absorb the 42 million immigrants, many from Mexico, Latin America, and Asia, and he credits our country with the flexible approach to the demographic and racial shift that has occurred. Pressure seems to be building though, and the rise of President Trump is a clear indicator of the tensions that arise when a population experiences so much change. Trump speaks about wanting people who "love our country" and share our values but it seems like a thinly veiled (no pun intended) reference to racial, cultural and ethnic pressures. The racial composition of the USA is changing in fundamental ways. That's a big deal.

Ironically, the immigrants seem to have made the United States a better place to live. Trump talks about "Make America Great Again" but from my vantage point, living in a prosperous city (Austin, Texas), America seems pretty great already. I remember New York City in the 1960s being a dirty, lousy, dangerous place. Remember Taxi Driver (1976), Martin Scorsese cinematic depiction of the mean streets of New York? New York now seems revived and safer and I credit the immigrants as a big part of that improved environment. In fact, back in the 1970s most American cities seemed like dreary, abandoned, economically depressed places with the white middle class having moved to the suburbs. American cities have been revived by a combination of hardworking, law-abiding immigrants and a return of the white intelligentsia back to the urban centers.

Everything works pretty well in America. We have always had great infrastructure-- clean drinking water and highly efficient electrical and utility services. Now we have even more luxury. The land is blanketed with an amazing electronic computer network and almost every citizen has a computer (called a cellphone) in their pocket that would have been the envy of the NASA scientists who put a man on the moon. 

I understand that rural America does not feel it is enjoying the economic benefits of the present day. The jobs have left their communities. The wonderful cars we drive are often built by Japanese or Korean companies. Even in the great Apple iPhone is manufactured in China. If you walk past a construction site the crew of workers usually speaks Spanish. The quality of the work is impeccable on new home construction and in the home improvement projects done by Hispanic workers, legal and illegal. Everything in Austin is humming along-- from great restaurants to clean streets.

None of this solves the problem. Many Americans feel treated and under siege by the vast numbers of people who do not look like the original white European settlers and citizens. The Europeans and African-American population brought here forcibly and enslaved dominated the North American continent from 1600-1950-- a 350 year run of dynamic change and prosperity, though clearly not for everyone. Now we seem to be on America 2.0. And the upgrade, just like computer upgrades, seems to have advantages and flaws. 

The question remains-- does President Trump have any insights into how to work out the bugs and problems that plague and drag down America 2.0?