Alright, let's pick the year 1840.. Were the hordes of Irish and Germans immigrants coming into the US invaders?
And my general stance on immigration is, if you are willing to accept the American social contract, assimilate some, and work, you deserve the chance to become an American. Just like most of our ancestors who became US immigrants without dealing with quotas or arbitrary limits.
We do control who becomes American citizens, and trying to stop immigration is the equivalent of trying to stop gentrification. It's an economic force that can't be stopped, only put on guiderails so you can reap as many of the benefits as possible.
And if you mean I'm part of the problem, I assume you mean the problem of subsidizing American construction and food costs, paying into social security without gaining access to it, and otherwise supporting retiring Americans by paying into the social safety net since the US is under replacement rate. Because that's what immigration does, it subsidizes the lifestyles of American citizens in exchange for immigrants eventually gaining citizenship. That's how the US has always operated.
Are you willing to pay, let's say, 10% more on all food and construction costs if we could waive a magic wand and eliminate illegal migration overnight? Because broadly speaking, that kind of inflation would happen.
