Before addressing the inadequacies of immigration policy in the contemporary era, it is first necessary to recognise the brutal past to which the United States’ current borders are directly attributable. Although a sense of Anglo-American pride typically motivates the most ardent anti-immigration campaigners, the U.S. did not simply emerge as a fully-formed homogenous nation after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Instead, its current landmass is the product of a series of wars, colonial treaties and annexations dating back centuries. If the definition of immigrant is broadened to include any citizen unable to trace their lineage back to the communities that lived in the country prior to the arrival of European settlers