American Immigration Lawyers Association, Rumbaut, R., Ewing, W., and National Council of Keshia Lee September 23, 2008 Speech Communication Immigration: What Is to Be Done? The first known encounter of immigration on American soil took place in 1492, when a man named Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to what we now know as America (Cole, 2008, p. 695). Columbus’ people were labeled the “Know-Nothings”, as Cole stated (Cole, 2008, p. 695),because of their theme of nativism. The indigenous people or Native Americans as we know them today were blamed for every problem in society and the “Know-Nothings” had no sympathy for them (Cole, 2008, p. 695). Cole’s approach to the opening of his essay catches the reader’s attention because it brings logic and value to the Columbus story and how American history contains so much irony. Cole had a strong opening argument. Cole (2008) argues that immigration only becomes an issue when the American public begins to feel vulnerable (Cole, 2008, p. 695). Cole argues that the first trace of this vulnerability was written in 1856 by a “Know-Nothing” (Cole, 2008, p. 695): Four-fifths of the beggary and three-fifths of the crime spring from our foreign population; more than half the public charities, more than half the prisons and almshouses, more than half the police and the cost of administering criminal justice are for foreigners” (p. 695). This was a good quote to use because it shows evidence of how credible the statements on Christopher Columbus are. Both Cole and Rumbaut conclude that history has built upon the constant downing of the descendants of immigrants. Majority of the people doing the stereotyping are family members of someone who has immigrated. Each source uses statistics and censusesfrom previous years to make a valid argument on why the myths of immigration are actual myths. Cole also uses personal experiences as a way of convincing the reader by portraying emotion. The Rumbaut article...