I have great respect for all immigrants but IMHO the politics of resentment are not helpful. Calling America ” stolen land” means , essentially that the USA flag, Constitution and the Union itself are illegitimate and so can be undermined or destroyed without any compunction. Ultimately it means one does what one wants and thus the strong will conquer and the poor die without mercy. That’s not what we want.

Talk of reconquest and “stolen land” is not the road to peaceful coexistence, It is, ultimately, the road to resentment and ultimately violence. I know you don’t want violence Jorge Orrantia I understand the words “illegal” and the non-English epithet “illegals” are used as a weapon. You will note recognize that “illegal alien” is a legal term (“illegals” is not) I NEVER use that term) but I myself often use the term undocumented person or “orphan of Empire.” The main crime of the vast majority of “undocumented aliens” is that they are unlucky and poor.

Of course, all nations were created and defended by force of arms. Remember wars, slavery, and oppression existed on a grand scale long before Columbus or William Bradford. It is a great historical error to romanticize Pre Columbian America. Historian Hugh Thomas reminded us of the history of the Aztecs whom he called “the Nazis of the New World.” The crimes and brutal conquests of the Aztecs were so vast they can, in truth be compared to the Armenian genocide or the Nazi holocaust. The crimes were not accidental, they were not because of disease but intentional. But we have to look at the larger historical picture. The introduction of the alphabet, modern medicine, rule of law,, schools, hospitals., and the concept that the rights of man come not from a King or Emperor but from the hand of God are all Western gifts. The very fact I consider all immigrants as equal human being deserving of dignity and just treatment derives from the ideas of the Declaration. American influence, despite its flaws and American government and society, have been, upon the whole, and it is upon the whole such things must be judged, a healthy and kindly influence. We have an imperfect society, with imperfect justice but we have gradually made life better and freer for more people of great diverse background than any other country in the history of the world.