Our forgotten immigrant roots

As a child of the 1970s I danced around on Saturday mornings to School House Rock's memorable song The Great American Melting Pot. I proudly sang the lyric "it's great to be an American and something else as well," while thinking about my Italian heritage and remembering my family's immigration story. Today, the loudest voices about immigration reform seem to be from the likes of Donald Trump, and I sadly wonder if we have become so American we have forgotten our immigrant roots.

It's not only the xenophobic characterizations of immigrants to the U.S. as terrorists and criminals but also America's lukewarm response to support allies in Western Europe in dealing with the refugee crisis. I hope America's melting pot heritage can guide decision makers to do the right thing here and aboard. Our country can serve as an example about how immigrants and refugees can offer so much to our society.  Read the full blog on Huffington Post.