Xenophobia and Trump #340 By Hank Silverberg I am second generation American. My parents were born here, my grandparents were not. As I have written before in this blog, two-thirds of the people now residing in the United States are less than three generations removed from their immigrant ancestors. President Trump was reminded of that this past week when the newly elected German Chancellor, Friedrich Mertz, visited the White House. Mr. Mertz presented Mr. Trump with a gold framed birth certificate of the President's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who was born in Germany in 1869 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1885. Mertz said, "it's a small present to remind you of your family." Friedrich Trump left Germany to avoid the draft (irony?), but was able to come to the United States because of chain migration--his sister already lived here and the U.S. needed foreign labor. It was a trend that cannot be forgotten or shoved aside. Immigrants built thi...