That is a common response, it is very hard to prove, and possibly only opinion, albeit old and now called reality.
In the past we were talking about 10s of thousands, we are now talking about 10s of millions, a slight difference, and of course the Europeans had to come by boat, and access was easily controlled.
The socialist state of our country is also a very large difference, at least when the Poles came, they knew they had to work, and weren't lined up waiting for others to pay for the birth of their children etc.
As the Italians came here, they weren't known for printing newspapers or starting organizations advocating the overthrow of the system of govt, and demanding that their children be taught in Italian.
How long until the tradition of working the lower paying jobs, becomes a demand for access to the higher paying jobs, without the work and education it requires.
Soon we will have a new group(the recently legalized illegals) demanding preference and affirmative action, and the Republicans will have to pour the gravy, or be buried electorally. Of course politicians being what they are (lower life forms than lawyers) they will give what is asked, taking from the producers at even greater rates, and calling it progress, or better yet compassionate conservatism.
In many ways this is past tense ... considering that its already difficult to impossible to secure employment in many of the service fields unless you are bi-lingual.
Reasonable point. Frankly, though, most of the Asians I've known have been quite anti-socialist, many because they've lived through it.
I wonder though, how much here is perspective. When I think of immigrants, I tend to think of the Asian grad students and professors I knew, who were pro-capitalist, planned to stay in the U.S., and were quite respectful of the U.S.'s history. No matter what immigration policy the nation pursues, we need to keep these people coming.
As the Italians came here, they weren't known for printing newspapers or starting organizations advocating the overthrow of the system of govt, and demanding that their children be taught in Italian.
The Germans who came in the 1840s and early 1850s were, however. Lots of associates and fans of that Karl Marx guy and started some of the first major socialist and communist organizations in America.
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! The early Italian settlers published many socialist and anarchist newspapers, the latter of which arose the ire of Theodore Roosevelt. Let's also not forget Sacco & Vanzetti.
I am half-Polish American and my grandmother was taught in a POLISH LANGUAGE parochial school in Newark, New Jersey.