Amity Shlaes will second that:

Yesterday I wrote how I felt the immigration debate has arisen not because Americans are concerned about them stealing jobs but because they have become threatened by their refusal to assimilate into American culture. Today one of my favorite columnists, Amity Shlaes, also proposes the same theory in an editorial in today’s New York Sun.

The article titled, “Why Now”, brings up some of the same points I made yesterday while diving into them deeper.

She mentions, like I did, how with unemployment less then 5% the “traditional argument that immigrants are taking jobs from locals simply doesn't make sense”. She also points out how immigrants have been one of the driving forces behind our countries above average growth for a developed nation.

My favorite point she brings up though is related to the second post I made yesterday on how today’s immigrants are not assimilating. She states how historically when it came to immigrants, “The welcome assumed that immigrant families would assimilate in later generations. Most Americans assumed too that English would always be the common language of the public sector”.

She concludes like I do that Washington is in denial over the fact that the failure for today’s immigrants to assimilate is a big part of the problem and how a way to “solve the identity problem is missing in his (President Bush) plan”.

If you have today’s New York Sun, it’s a great read for those interested in the topic.