Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow
“As a nation of immigrants, the United States long has dealt with the phenomenon of ‘hyphenated Americans,’ people who retained some affection and even loyalty to their ancestral homeland. This phenomenon wasn’t much of a problem in the 19th century, since Washington generally avoided overseas misadventures. The Mexican–American War and Spanish–American War reflected imperialist expansion rather than ancestral politics. However, that changed with World War I, when one-third of Americans had at least one foreign-born parent, mostly from Europe. As the conflict raged, Theodore Roosevelt insisted that real Americans could only support the U.S. … That Sen. [Andy] Kim presumably feels affection for his parents’ birthplace is unexceptional. … However, so-called hyphenated Americans should abandon the interests of the old world even as they celebrate continuing family and cultural ties. Legislators, especially, should leave their ethnic backgrounds outside the Capitol when they vote.” (12/18/25)