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Angelo’s in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence was opened by Italian immigrant Angelo Mastrodicasa in 1924 - the same year that Congress banned virtually all Italian immigration - and is still serving up the basics 95 years later. 
Since I’m eating at a restaurant founded in the year of the nation’s last big immigration freak out (over Italians & Jews rather than Mexican & Muslims), it seems a good time to time to recall the 1920s also saw big battles over who counts for purposes of representation. 2/
For example, in 1921, Congressman William Vaile of Colorado tried to change federal apportionment laws to make sure congressional districts remained “more distinctly American” - that is less eastern and southern European. brennancenter.org/sites/default/… 3/
Then in 1928, Congressman Hoch of Kansas proposed amending the Constitution to exclude aliens from congressional apportionment - a variant of what Alabama is trying to do today with a lawsuit rather than constitutional amendment. 4/
More on the Alabama lawsuit about the apportionment base here: brennancenter.org/legal-work/ala… 5/
But back to 1928. Hoch’s effort to stop counting aliens for congressional apportionment drew a sharp rebuke from then Congresman Fiorello LaGuardia 👇 6/
Among other things, LaGuardia argued that immigrants paid taxes and could be - and had been - drafted and were otherwise affected by laws passed by legislative bodies and thus merited representation. 7/
Indeed, it’s hard not to read the history of the 1920s and think of today. 8/
But in the mean time, let me also say the chicken parm at Angelo’s is awesome. 9/
