All of these Americans started from somewhere else, and somehow came to learn about the ideals and foundations of America. They learned of them by seeing great things being done: rebuilding Europe or going to the moon or addressing our own divisions and racism in spite of the great cost. They saw the image of America while looking across great oceans or over walls or through barbed wire, and came to love what they saw. Some had to reject the lies of propaganda, or reconcile the good and bad that is the reality of America. But somehow, the America they came to know and love resonated in their hearts and minds until they could only think: "I must be part of that. I must go there and become part of that."
And so they planned their own great journey. For many, this was done in secret. Gathering money and resources, selling property, making connections against the wishes of their own government and hiding even from their own families and neighbors. When all was in readiness, these people made their move. They bribed some, hid from some. Many gave their lives in cold mountain passes or hot deserts. Some literally swam icy rivers or cut through barbed wire. Some felt their heart stop while a border guard scrutinized forged papers with an extra look, or made an extra phone call. And many were arrested, imprisoned and tortured for the audacity of their act.
Many enter this country with their papers in order, having desirable skills, sponsoring employers or friends and patience to wait for years and decades for approval. Others paid their way in blood and peril, walking in thirst and hunger to escape and find their chance. They live hidden lives, hiding in transit inside a dank shipping container or in the trackless desert. Once here, they fade into the unseen, overlooked spaces of this nation for the leftover taste of America.
Of the few who can become citizens, or the many who hide between the open places of our society, there are many languages. The language of their hearts, learned at their mothers' breast, expresses their deepest feelings and their heartfelt thoughts. In all of these many tongues, they all sing the same song: "God shed His grace on thee . . ."
I am inordinately proud that even today people will place their loyalty to a foreign nation that still offers them the illumination to a golden door. They swear of their own free will, and without reservation to abandon past ties and cleave to a new land. Their strange clothes, diverse foods and foreign words all speak of the compelling draw of this country in which I have been privileged to be born. Whatever they wear, eat or whatever words they use, their voices mingle with mine to sing of the beauty here. This one song is enough for all.

Are you insane? It's like saying that the descendants of black slaves now enjoy the benefits of the American life, so it's all good! The internment of Japanese Americans (I emphasize that these were citizens, many born in the U.S.A.) was an act unbecoming and unworthy of the ideals that we cherish in this country. Citizens of Italian and German descent were not put under official blanket suspicion or placed in camps en masse. Concerns over sleeper agents among Japanese Americans were clearly prompted as much by racism as military considerations. This last statement is in agreement with the official U.S. position on the internment, signed by President Reagan.
The internment also involved forfeiture of property, including valuable farmland and businesses on the West Coast. With few exceptions, in which friends and neighbors purchased property at auction and held it in trust against the return of their interned neighbors, property was transferred to others and never returned at the end of the internment. The unsafe, impoverished and harsh environment of the camps resulted in many deaths of innocent and loyal citizens. Many of the internees proved up their loyalty with their lives by fighting in the most decorated military unit deployed in the war: the 442nd Infantry Regiment. Even while their families languished unjustly in primitive and dangerous conditions in the mountains of California, the Japanese-American fighters of the 442nd advanced the cause of the nation that turned against them.
The infamous Executive Order 9066 should serve as a reminder to all that war hysteria will make monsters of us all. The shameful acts surrounding the internment must not be minimized.

I used to read old Life magazines at my library, and came across an article from WW2 about training for Americans who will be spying in Europe. Several behavioral details stuck to my mind, such as:
- Germans cut up their meat, then eat it (instead of cut, fork, cut, fork).
- French walk 'like they are in a confined space'
- (Europeans) hold their cigarette like they are shielding it from the wind