I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Like many cities, Milwaukee had ethnic neighborhoods where the Irish, the Polish, and the German would live, work, and worship with those who shared a common European ancestry. It's part of why Milwaukee's skyline is dotted with church spires every couple of blocks — Christ Lutheran Church (where I was baptized and grew up) was for the Germans; St. Stanislaus was for the Polish. After converting to Catholicism, I married at Old St. Mary's Church, which served Cubans and Puerto Ricans in the heart of downtown Milwaukee.
But despite these communities, those people were first and foremost Americans. They came together in a common purpose and culture. They also came to America to work hard and build a better life for themselves and future generations of their families.
Nowadays, Democrats would call them "white supremacists" and "racists" for assimilating into American culture. What has happened, especially in the last decade or so, is a push to make sure immigrants — often illegal — do not immigrate into American society.
It's why we have to "Press One for English" on automated phone calls, why anti-ICE protesters wave Mexican flags, and why politicians like Ilhan Omar pledge allegiance not to the United States, but to Somalia.
Earlier, I told you about how the Minnesota Somali community collects a lot in welfare (and fraud), despite the media's spin on the amount of taxes they pay. This doesn't include the violent crime both in the Somali community and other immigrant groups.
Qalinle Ibrahm abducted and raped a 12-year-old girl in Minnesota, and an Islamic center wrote a letter supporting him, saying he hadn't integrated into "non-Somali culture" and Abdimahat Bille Mohamed, who raped a minor and a woman but served no jail time. He was recently arrested again for kidnapping and raping another woman.
In the past month, at least four Afghan nationals were arrested in various terror plots. Luqmaan Khan was planning a mass shooting at the University of Delaware, Mohammad Dawood Alokozay threatened to blow up a building in Fort Worth, and Jaan Shah Safi was providing aid to ISIS-K. And of course, Rahmanullah Lakanwal shot two National Guardsmen in D.C., killing 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounding 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe.
We've all seen the video of the illegal immigrant flipping off cameras after being arrested. We've seen the billions America has spent on housing and feeding illegal immigrants — sometimes to the detriment of Americans — including Denver, Chicago, and New York. Despite this generosity, illegal immigrants in New York were unhappy with the accommodations.
So when actor Richard Gere, who now lives in Spain, asked if we're any different from those refugees and immigrants, it caught my attention.
ACTOR RICHARD GERE: “Do you really think these refugees and immigrants are different than us?”pic.twitter.com/ewU1D6QYxd
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 4, 2025
Yes, we are, Richard. For a variety of reasons.
And not because I say that (although it's true), but because the Left says it. Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan called the Somali community "beautiful" and the "fabric of our state" in a video attacking President Trump. They insist that Somalis, Mexicans, and Afghans bring "diversity" and "culture" to our states and "enrich" us. The Left tells us they're good precisely because they're different than us, even if they commit crimes, hate our culture, and seek to destroy it.
In Dearborn, Islamists clashed with Christians, told residents they "didn't belong," and have started blasting the Islamic call to prayer at 5 am. In Texas, Islamists threaten businesses that sell pork and push for halal food and Sharia law. Leftists applaud this as multiculturalism and an inherently good thing.
And if you don't believe that, just look at how the Left flipped out when President Trump offered asylum to white South Africans who face persecution at the hands of their racist government. Democrats were livid about this and suddenly didn't care about the safety of asylum seekers. There were no "sanctuary cities" for the Afrikaners; in fact, Democrats went out of their way to smear those American-flag-waving families as racists and white supremacists. And I predict that the second Democrats regain control, they'll be booted out of America on those very grounds.
Couple that with the open hatred the Left shows for America, American culture, and "whiteness" (and, no, the irony that the University of Minnesota recently called whiteness a "pandemic" is not lost on me), and only a blind person would fail to see the fundamental differences here.
I would think most Americans wouldn't have a problem with fair, legal immigration of those who want to come to America to make it better. So far, Democrats have managed to import a boatload of people who want nothing to do with America except fundamentally change it for the worse.
So yes, we're different.