The Politics of Fear

   The Know Nothing Party has returned to American politics. This time, the target of anti-immigrant bigotry is not the Irish Catholics of the mid-19th Century, but Hispanics and Muslims. The "Others," the ones who "don't look like us," who will never be able to become "Real Americans."
   But how long does that take? How many generations does it take for a family to become "Real Americans"? According to so-called nativists and their favored candidates, only "real Americans" are entitled to be here, and those whose arrival was in any way questionable should be sent back to where they came from, regardless of the turmoil in that country.
   Meanwhile, anti-immigrant groups are also gaining strength in Britain, France, Germany and several other major European countries, for similar reasons that activate the "America First" sentiments here. In fact, one group of partisans in Europe calls itself the "Austria First" party.
   For years, the violence of "Paki-bashing" was done mainly by street gangs in Britain, but now anti-immigrant prejudice is spreading with opportunistic politicians fomenting such bigotry to gain favor with voters and win office.
   If the label of "Real American" is to be applied only to those whose families have been here longest, then only those native tribes who were here before Columbus would qualify. All other Europeans, Asians, Canadians and newcomers from Central and South America would be banned, and their descendants already here would be sent back to where their great-great-great-grandparents came from.
   That, however, would take a Constitutional amendment to rescind the provision -- approved just after the Civil War -- which specifies that those born here are citizens. Specifically, Amendment XIV, ratified in July, 1868, reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
   And while it may have been originally intended to protect those born in slavery, it also applies to anyone born here. The exception would be those born to members of the international diplomatic corps who, as accredited diplomats and citizens of another nation, are not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Even so, lawyers will argue that there are some exceptions to what's known as diplomatic immunity.