I come from immigrant stock, all of us pretty much do. It’s just the degree to which we’re separated from those immigrants. By that logic, I’m fourth generation.

But those members of my family immigrated here during the early 1900’s. It was a very different world back then. For example, the area that I live in is called Federal Hill. Back in the day this was an exclusively Italian enclave. There’s still evidence of it, with street names like DePasquale, or restaurant and store names ending in vowels. It’s changed a bit since the 1970’s. But there are few Italians living on the hill these days.

Instead we’re home to a polyglot. Students from all over the place live here, and Providence in general is home to immigrants from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Dominican Repubic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela and a whole host of other countries that I’ve completely left off the list.

But we must urge congress to put the brakes on LEGAL immigration. Because if we don’t, we’re going to strain the resources of our country to the breaking point, until we too become a third world nation.