I am Irish American, so I can say something. No, Irish Americans don’t claim parts of America for Ireland – but they do have a tendency to send money to Ireland to support the IRA – and there are millions of Irish affected by the Troubles who wish Irish Americans would just shut up and stop it! Irish Americans and Italian Americans and everyone romanticize their ethnic past, and three generations ago, the Irish-Americans and Italian Americans supported change in their home countries, and people talked of going home — but the truth is, they never intended to go home. They left because they had no economic opportunity, or because of anti-semitism, or because of racism, and they wanted to go home as successful rich people. But they never wanted to make the US part of what they left behind. And a lot had such bad lives in the old country that they would never go back to live – they would never trust the government back there.
I am not surprised that people have a lot of ethnic pride, to the point of claiming that as a priority over country where they live. I am not surprised that people feel that the government should be better to their ethnic group. I am not even surprised that people feel that immigration laws shouldn’t apply — immigration policy was a lot looser when my family came older. What I am surprised about is that anyone wants to make the southwest part of what they ran away from.
