There's good and bad sides to it, as with pretty much anything else.
The Good: An influx of new people, new cultures, is one thing which has fueled the explosive growth of this country.
After a bit, a couple generations, they get Americanized, and our country is the better for their intellectual and genetic contributions.
"The Land of the Free" must be seen as more than a mere abstract notion, or else we'll lose perspective as a people.
The Bad: A drain on social services, at least until they get up and running.
If they have a decent work ethic (Mexicans do, Russians most certainly do NOT), they compete with locals for lower paying jobs.
With less economic opportunities available, they more frequently turn to crime.
FWIW, out west we have a huge Russian community (over twenty thousand in my town, thanks to the Lutherans!), and they are without peer so far as being completely worthless. The men are scamming thieves, and sell shoddily repaired used cars when they bother to work: usually they live off the earnings of their women, like the Gypsies do. Their kids pack the Juvenile Detention center).
If I lived in Laconia, I'd do what I could to keep these people out.
Not because they're immigrants, but because they're Russian immigrants.
"We will bury you," indeed.
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