Derb – Your points are well-taken. But to say that Europe’s problems are different is not to say they aren’t worse, I think you’ll agree. I don’t know how bad of a problem illegal immigration is in Britain, but I do know that everytime I go there I read stories in the British press about Afghans and North Africans sneaking into Britain on trains and trucks, knowing that once they arrive refugee laws will permit them to stay. My point wasn’t to say that America’s illegal immigration problem isn’t a problem. But I would still rather have our problems than most of Europe’s. Our immigrants are overwhelmingly Christian from a culture that is significantly European (i.e. Spanish) in its political assumptions and they are eager to become part of the American story. Complain as we might — and with good reason — about those pining for the “reconquista,” it’s a lot better than having large numbers of people pining for a new caliphate.

Important disclaimers: I do not mean to suggest that Muslim immigrants are per se worse than Latin American ones. It is a testament to both America’s success at assimilation as well as the decency of Muslim immigrants that our Muslim community is not nearly so radical as Europe’s. But there is an assumption one hears in a lot of the immigration debate that other countries “do it better” than America. That may be true. But, often, it is not.