As the US struggles with immigration policy, Americans will get a chance next month to see their melting-pot nation through the prism of foreign-born athletes competing in USA uniforms at the Beijing Olympics. There are at least 33 of them, compared with 27 at the 2004 Summer Games, according to the US Olympic Committee, which didn't track the statistic before then. They include four Chinese-born table tennis players, a kayaker from Britain, Russian-born world champion gymnast Nastia Liukin and seven members of the track-and-field team. For those seeking symbolism, it's hard to top the men's 1,500-meter squad - Kenya native Bernard Lagat; Lopez Lomong, one of the “lost boys” of Sudan's civil war who spent a decade in a refugee camp; and Leo Manzano, a Mexican laborer's son who moved to the US when he was 4 but didn't gain citizenship until 2004. “It's a magical time,” said US men's track coach, Bubba Thornton. “I'm glad that these young men found their way here. It may just remind us all of where we came from, and how hard the struggle may have been, and how big the dream was to be here.” Within their sport, the three 1,500-meter runners have been warmly embraced, as have other immigrants among the 596 US Olympic athletes. “I don't think of any of our foreign-born athletes as foreign,” said Jill Geer, USA Track and Field's communications director. Beyond the realm of sports, the rancorous national debate over immigration has focused on foreigners here illegally and whether they should be offered some sort of pathway to citizenship. Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors stricter immigration enforcement, said foreign-born Olympians merit public support - but should be viewed as exceptions in a system fraught with flaws and unfairness. “Not everybody coming into the US is an Olympic athlete or a Nobel prize winner,” Mehlman said. “Maybe this ought to be a wake-up call that we ought to design an immigration policy that seeks out exceptional people. Now, most of it is based on extended families. ... You don't have a policy designed to bring in people who fit the needs of this country.” William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, said the achievements of naturalized citizens like Lagat and Lomong should be celebrated, but not used as an argument for a more lenient immigration policy. Gheen passed along a joke circulating on the Internet that alludes to illegal Mexico-to-US border-crossing - over fences, deserts and the Rio Grande. The gist of it: Mexico will do poorly in the Olympics “because all their best runners, jumpers and swimmers are in the United States.” “The American public is starting to sour on all immigration in reaction to rampant illegal immigration,” Gheen said. “The danger is if people say, ‘Look at these immigrants who are in the Olympics - therefore you should provide a path to citizenship for all the illegal immigrants in the country.”' Many other countries welcome foreign-born athletes to their own teams. Canada, with a relatively open immigration policy, expects to have more than 50 on its team in Beijing. Generally, foreign countries don't complain when their citizens relocate to compete for the US. However, some Kenyan officials were displeased when they learned that Lagat - who attended Washington State University but won two Olympic medals for Kenya - had quietly gained US citizenship in 2004 prior to the Athens Games. Among fans, attitudes toward foreign-born athletes are complex. For example, one participant in an online discussion among track buffs on Run-Down.com bemoaned a 1500-meter competition with no US-born runners, yet admitted to hoping the Stars and Stripes would be raised after the final. In any case, Geer, US track officials were happy to welcome world-class athletes immigrating from abroad, but did not actively recruit them. “Obviously you've had people fleeing difficult circumstances and/or political persecution,” Geer said. The family of Eritrean-born distance runner Meb Keflezighi is a prime example. While Meb - the son of a political refugee - won a silver medal for the United States at the 2004 Olympics, his 10 siblings have thus far amassed six undergraduate college degrees, an MBA, a medical degree and a law degree. Leo Manzano's story is similarly striking. His father, Jesus Manzano, slipped across the US border from Mexico numerous times as a young man, seeking jobs to support his family. He was granted legal residency in the US in 1987. The father initially scoffed at Leo's interest in running, but relented. The son won nine Texas state high school championships, earned a scholarship at the University of Texas, and has won five NCCA titles. “He represents everything that you're taught growing up in this great country,” said Bubba Thornton, his coach at Texas and on the Olympic team. “You show up every day, you work hard, you treat people like you want to be treated and if you do all those things, good things can come to you.” Manzano himself says he's honored by his Olympic berth and eager to have a chance to show his gratitude to America. If there are fans out there who'd prefer to see a native-born American in his place, he hasn't noticed. - AP __
