Confounding, the individual is as great as the sum. It is easy to grasp a large group that we equivocate into 'them' when in actuality it is a large group of individuals and that is what counts. I'm guessing there is a majority of American Muslims that practice American values as well or better than the OP, but their activities as neighbors and friends and community contributors are never heard of outside their own neighborhoods.
There are lots of good, honest and hardworking Muslims that don't deserve to be associated with people that are less so. The OP is asking you to look at it from the big picture though. Yes, some individuals are adding to these societies, but the OP would like a big picture answer on whether or not Muslim, or probably more accurately, whether or not Middle Eastern immigration has benefited any nation in modern times. I'd say from a completely practical position the answer is no. My argument to the OP would be that this needs to be more than just a practical argument though. There is an empathetic and human part of the argument that matters too. What is the right thing to do? What would Jesus do? There are good but desperate people that are suffering. Do we ignore their plight because some are bad and overall their immigration doesn't benefit us economically? Or do we overlook that because it's the right thing to do? This is a complicated and nuanced problem.
