So is it never right to discriminate based on ethnic culture, especially when that culture has proven destructive in their own nations?
You seem to be applying a principle that should have NOTHING to do with immigration. We shouldn't choose who comes here by political correctness, but by an impassioned evaluation of what benefit they'll bring to this country....like we did with the Russians, Italians, Irish, and Polish immigrants.
And in that impassioned evaluation, we should take into account what's going on in Western countries where Muslims are attaining numerical significance and ask, "Do we want that in OUR country?"
It's a valid question to be asking.
The Russians, Italians, Irish, Polish, East Europeans came during immigrant waves that occurred prior to any real limits on immigration. The first laws prohibiting immigration were the Chinese Exclusion laws in the 1870's based not on "an imapssioned evaluation" but pure racism. The Irish, Italians, East Europeans immigrates were poor, desperate, impoverished and despised. They were considered dirty, diseased, subhuman, drunkard criminals (Irish), overly fertile, untrustworthy (Italians), bred children like litters of puppies (Catholics)..etc etc in fact you get the picture of how immigration was viewed then. And it's not much different than now (with Mexicans for example). There were no real quotes or restrictions beyond disease. We are a nation of many immigrant groups and all of them have managed to make a sucess of themselves: Irish, Russian, Italian, Palestinian, Lebonese, Polish, Cuban, Haitian....
If someone is willing to work hard, does not have a violent criminal record - then I don't care what their religion or ethnic background is - our success stories are not PHD's coming over here, they are the dirt poor people who worked hard and valued education and sent their children on to become PHD's. That's how I view it. Quotas? Sure, I can accept that - but not based on ethnicity or religion.