The economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 coupled with the threat of global terrorism from fundamentalist radical Islam and the growing problems with the Mexican/USA border situation and the drug wars taking place there have a lot of Americans wondering if America may be traveling down the same road the Roman Empire traveled down before it collapsed.

Is it too late for America? Are we doomed to fade into the pages of history as a noble but failed attempt at democracy and capitalism? Will we be brought down by an unstoppable wave of illegal immigrants flooding across our borders? Who can say for sure? One thing is certain though, immigrant migration to the United States has historically been the one single factor that built America into a super power. Even today, Immigrants come to America and see nothing but opportunities. While Americans born and raised here for generations sit and moan and complain, immigrants go to work at menial jobs (usually 2 or more at a time), share small apartments to save money, then invest in a business and before long, they are thriving and driving fancy cars and living in expensive homes (most of which are paid for in cash, by the way) and sending their children to college.

Case in point: in 1999 I met a young lady (26 YOA) from Romania who had arrived in America after wining an immigrant visa. She had stepped off the plane in Seattle about 6 months before speaking very little English with about $200 in her pocket that she had borrowed from her parents. She had a 4 year degree from a Romanian university but it was no good here so she enrolled in school and began working two jobs, one as a maid in a hotel and another working in a cash vault at BRINK's (the Armored transport company where I met her). Within two years she was speaking great English, had her associate degree as a medical assistant and had saved enough money to purchase a five-bedroom home licensed to provide care as an assisted-living facility. She quit BRINK's and her hotel job and began pulling in $10,000 to $15,000 per month from her own business.

This is the kind of drive many immigrants bring to America.  We see them all around us working in convenience shops, motels and doing landscaping and all sorts of other jobs. So when I am asked "is it too late for America?" I have to stop and think about my Romanian friend and I am forced to reply, no. America has always been as successful as the people who live here. As long as America continues to attract people who see opportunity instead of disaster, there will be hope for America. The real question I suppose should be, how much longer are the born and bred Americans going to keep complaining instead of learning from what they see the immigrants doing and start doing the same themselves?

Don't get me wrong here, ILLEGAL immigration is still wrong and it is still a huge problem that we will have to deal with one way or the other. But we all need to keep in mind that in general, legal immigration has always been America's greatest asset.