Sometimes we have a national conversation without realizing it.
We talk about different aspects of the same larger issue without
connecting the dots. That’s what’s happening now with regard to
the meaning of American citizenship and the basic rights that
come with it. On one side are those who think of citizenship as
a matter of exclusion and privilege — of protecting the nation
by keeping out those who are undesirable, and putting strict
limits on who is allowed to exercise the full rights of
citizenship. On the other are those who think of citizenship
inclusively — as an ongoing process of helping people become
full participants in America. One part of this conversation
involves immigration. I’m not just referring the question of
whether or how people living in the United States illegally can
become citizens. (Courtesy of our fast-growing Latino
population, 70 percent of whom voted for President Obama last
November, we’re far closer to resolving that one than we were a
year ago.) It’s also a question of who