Is it fair to bring Dora into the immigration debate? Of course it isn't. Trying to use Dora to make a point for either side of the debate is tasteless to say the least. Still, it's not exactly shocking that, in such a charged political debate, someone would have the poor judgement to use a beloved children's show character to try to make their point. People frequently get very emotional about politics, and stop thinking about what's appropriate material for the debate.

As for who can call him or herself an "American"... well, that's not really a question that can be answered without ruffling feathers. Citizens of the United States of America have been using the term "American" to refer to themselves for the entire history of the nation (George Washington used the term in his first Inaugural Address to the U.S. Senate), so getting upset about it now, after some 220 years of usage, seems a bit odd. In my opinion (and it's only my opinion), there's nothing wrong with citizens of the U.S. using the same word they've been using for more than two centuries to refer to themselves, even if it's technically far too non-specific.

The problem with using the term "American" for only Native Americans is that the Native Americans all come from tribes that far, far predate the foundation of the American colonies or the use of the name American (or the guy the name came from - Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who lived in the 16th century). I'm not sure how Cherokees (or Navajos, or Anasazi, or Seminoles... you get the idea) feel about it, but it seems kind of wrong to lump such disparate and grand cultures with millennia of history into one category named after an Italian explorer.

There are a lot of problems with the word "American"; this isn't a question easlily answered.

Technically the Americas consist of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere (North America and South America). Because the United States of America used this term in the nation's name, it is often referred to as simply "America." I disagree with this since, as you say, there are many other countries, such as Mexico, which belong to the Americas.

The debate about immigration is one of socio-economics and not simple immigration law. What caused the immigration problem in the first place? Was it poor laws on the U.S. side or bad economic relations with Mexico and Central America?

We used to have a policy which was focused on the development of our neighbors, a concept based on the "benefit of the other." The idea being that when my neighbor is successful, I am successful. This is apparent in the Monroe Doctrine, the collaboration between U.S. President Lincoln and Mexican President Benito Juarez, and later with F.D.R. and Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas. We have since watched Mexico's economy reduce itself to cheap labor, poor farming techniques and over-populated city centers. People are trying to escape poverty and they are flocking to the closest source of relief they can find, the United States.

If your neighbors are trapped in a burning house and you're concerned about yours, wouldn't you help him put the fire out? Instead of helping them escape the fire, we are blocking the doors and watching them burn.

Personally, I don't know that Dora the Explorer has anything to do with the immigration debate.