Brother Against Brother

Here is the first entry for my Contemporary Political Issues Class:
LINK TO ARTICLE: HERE

I recently read a New York Times article chronicling the story of two New Jersey brothers, Bryan and Steve Lonegan. Both are American born citizens of the U.S., although they are the grandsons of two Italian Immigrants, and both have vastly differing views when it comes to the issue of Immigration. Bryan is the liberal, a 48 Immigration Law Attorney who views this as an issue of compassion. The conservative, Steve, is 51 and is the Mayor of Bogota, NJ.
Since childhood they have both been staunch opponents of each other when it comes to politics, climaxing when Steve was elected as the Mayor of their hometown. According to the brother's mother, the boys have not spoken since. Especially since Mayor Lonegan forced McDonald's to take down a billboard in spanish. But this rift really represents a much larger difference between the immigrant community and the first and second generation Americans who still have memories of their parents and grandparents who came here legally. According to polls, immigrants are rather divided on the topic of illegal immigration. Some taking the line that, "If they had to come here and go through the process, so should the illegals." While other relate to the troubles and bias' in the current Immigration and Naturalization Services in the U.S., and hold a more compassionate line.
It is interesting to see how hot this issue is; that it would separate a family which has no particular personal interest in it (not to mention a family who lives in New Jersey and not AZ, TX or NM) is unbelievable. The hatred between these two brothers is similar to the stories you hear from the Civil War, which pitted "brother against brother," too.