Dinesh D’Souza: America is a nation of immigrants “but not a nation of refugees”

On Fox and Friends Sunday morning, conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza gave his take on Donald Trump’s immigration ban, noting that although America is a nation of immigrants, it is not a nation of refugees.

“An immigrant is somebody who has made a decision of the will to choose America. Immigrants want to come to this country because they believe in America. They want the kind of life that America makes possible,” D’Souza explained. “A refugee is someone who just wants to get away from some problem, a civil war, a famine, something that’s going on in his or her own country.” (RELATED: See how Germany is responding to the massive number of refugees entering their country).

D’Souza’s explanation, though simplistic and straightforward, was much needed considering all of the rhetoric swirling throughout the mainstream media and Washington DC. America does and always has celebrated immigration, as the liberals like to tell us nowadays, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be certain requirements upon admittance into our country. For example, if someone who is trying to come into this country doesn’t embrace our values and has no interest in assimilating, should we really still bring that person in?

The problem with the Left’s plan of bringing in unlimited numbers of refugees is the same as the problem with illegal immigration through the southern border: We don’t know a thing about these people. Without a proper vetting system, it is impossible to determine whether or not they have criminal records, whether they intend on contributing to our society, and whether they will embrace Americanism. (RELATED: You won’t believe how many criminals have been released by America’s sanctuary cities). Wanting to accept only the best and brightest into our country is not something that we should be ashamed of; rather, it is something that we as a people should cherish and embrace.

The Founding Fathers had a similar view on immigration. In a House debate on naturalization in 1790, James Madison explained that the sole purpose of immigration into America was “to increase the wealth and strength of the community,” adding that, “those who acquire the rights of citizenship, without adding to the strength or wealth of the community are not the people we are in want of.”

Similarly, George Washington wrote in a letter to John Adams that immigrants have the responsibility to embrace the American way of life so that, “by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, laws: in a word soon become one people.”

Alexander Hamilton in the year 1802 wrote, “The safety of a republic depends essentially on the energy of a common national sentiment; on a uniformity of principles and habits; on the exemption of the citizens from foreign bias and prejudice; and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education, and family.”

The framers held nearly the same view as D’Souza – we need to be sure that we are only bringing in those who believe in America. We are a nation of immigrants, but even more than that, we are a nation of Americans. It is our duty as patriots to keep it that way and fight back against those who seek to undermine this centuries old belief.

Sources

DailyCaller.com

NationalReview.com