R: Immigrants Should Americanize

Inside the Statue of Liberty's pedestal, there is a bronze plaque inscribed with the poem A New Colossus, of which the famous second stanza reads:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 As romanticized in these lines, America is a land of immigrants, Yet, not all immigrants to this country have found themselves welcome. In particular, nativists have directed their criticisms against immigrant groups seen as resistant to assimilation. Examples include the Know Nothings' anti-Catholic sentiments, the "Yellow Peril" narrative, and contemporary concerns surrounding Latin American immigrants.

This week's debate, the Federalist Party considers whether Americans ought to demand that immigrants embrace their new home's customs, languages, and world view. After all, national identity encompasses one's most deeply held values, memories, and sentiments. Can we really expect immigrants to simply exchange one set of core beliefs for another? Further, America is not a textbook nation-state, in which citizens have shared historical experiences spanning centuries and common cultural practices steeped in countless generations of tradition. What degree of assimilation should Americans demand from immigrants, if we wish to ensure that the act of migration is beneficial to all parties affected? What are the mechanisms through which "Americanization" should occur, if at all?