Being an American isn't about where you came from. It's about what you believe. If you adhere to our values - freedom from oppression, equality under the law, fairness & transparency in government - then you can be American, period. Ours is a nation of ideas, not of heritage.

The radical thing about the American Revolution wasn't the idea of casting off tyranny - that had been done before. It was the notion that people, from different places, different ethnicities, and different religions, could govern themselves.

Because America is a nation of ideas and values (not blood and soil), protecting those values is tantamount to national security. If and when we abandon our core values, the nation's security is very much at risk.