Fact for the Day

An interesting factual tidbit from a recent Bloggingheads. Megan McArdle informs Daniel Drezner -- and me -- that in 1890, ~ 50% of Americans were foreign-born. Now, it's less than 10%. The Republic didn't collapse in 1890, and it won't collapse now if we allow more immigrants, whether skilled or unskilled, to come to the States. In fact, the new immigrants were instrumental in improving the nation's economy in the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, and building towards American hegemony in the 20th-century. A similar thing could happen in the 21st-century, if only Lou Dobbs would get the hell out of the way.