JFK wrote: “A Nation of Immigrants”, a book by John F. Kennedy that advocates for humane immigration policies and celebrates the contributions of immigrants to American society. The phrase also generally describes the United States as a country whose population has been shaped by waves of immigration, though this idea is also challenged by critics like Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, who argue that the concept obscures the role of settler colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. Ortiz however misses or discounts the often savage and murdering nature of some of those so called indigenous peoples who had little or no written language, no concept of property, private, public or military. To refer to America as a nation of immigrants is somewhat distorted. The nation was not created by immigrants. The Declaration of Independence which began the legal process of creating the nation of The United States, “America” was signed by 56 men. Only seven (7) were immigrants. Forty Nine (49), eighty eight percent, (88%) were not immigrants. That’s such an overwhelming set of numbers that the idea of a nation of immigrants is a fiction bordering on a massive lie. In addition, the Declaration of Independence was the beginning of the legal process to create America. The actual creation was done by The Constitution and that wasn’t signed by any immigrant. Thirty nine men signed The Constitution and all were born in America. No immigrant signed the founding document so America is a country of citizens, not of immigrants. Does America owe immigrants anything? To the contrary, immigrants to America owe a lot to America. America is a country of citizens, not immigrants. that should be remembered whenever one hears the misleading, inverted idea that America is a nation of immigrants.
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