Immigrants: Let them in; we need them

America has experienced one ridiculous government shutdown and it looks like it will narrowly avoid another, all because of a manufactured crisis with a medieval solution.

We need to look at the refugees coming to our southern border in light of our history and ancestry. America was built by immigrants, most fleeing poverty and/or persecution.

Think of the Pilgrims looking for religious freedom, the Irish fleeing the potato famine, Italians and Eastern Europeans fleeing extreme poverty and Jews fleeing Tsarist pogroms.

Given the logic of our current administration, we would block those fleeing Castro’s Cuba or the boat people fleeing communist Vietnam.

I say let these new refugees in. We need young workers. Let them come to realize their American dream and contribute like our ancestors did.