Britishness, immigration, and the velocity of change

I think about the anti-immigrant actions a lot because it strikes me as not much different from fears of difference that has happened before, such as anti-Irish or anti-Jewish or anti-German or anti-Chinese (San Francisco) sentiment more than 100 years ago.

Part of the problem today is a changing economy, where jobs are scarcer.

But the kind of crowding and doubling up and non-English "speakingness" today isn't any different than 100 years ago.

And today, Hispanics such as Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Alba don't even speak their family's native language (Spanish). I guess that is the kind of "progress" that the typical person concerned about immigration (judging by actions in Price William County, Virginia and elsewhere) would like to see.

Similarly, the Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom launched a "Britishness" campaign that I think has as its foundation the same kinds of concerns as expressed in Prince William County and elsewhere across the country. See "Lord Goldsmith calls for 'Britishness' day and oaths to the Queen."

Fly the flag: Pride is something we can encourage British children to feel every day at school. Getty Images.

I fell asleep for a few minutes in Brunswick and sadly awakened, staying up for hours when I needed to sleep. But as I awoke I thought that the college students in Virginia being denied in-state tuition rates in Virginia, because their parents are illegal immigrants, probably have a good 14th Amendment case against the State of Virginia. See "The University of Uncertainty," subtitled "Va. Children of Illegal Immigrants Lack In-State Status" from the Washington Post.

If the students are U.S. citizens, is it legal to deny them benefits of citizenship normally awarded to other citizens?

Ironically, today's Telegraph website features a story on Montreal, saying it is a city with "A thrilling collision of cultures." One of the photos has this caption: "Immigrants from Italy and Greece, Spain and China have spiced up the pot-au-feu that is Montreal."

Text of section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Section 1. 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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

But I am not a lawyer...