Those people don't have brown skin, so Gordon doesn't hate them.

In 2000 only about 11% of the US population was of Irish descent.

"Funny how things change over time"

Things aren't changing over time for Mexican immigrants. As that study points out:

"economic progress halts at the second generation, and poverty rates remain high for later generations. Similarly, educational attainment peaks among second generation children of immigrants, but declines for the third and fourth generations."

I wasn't talking about the Irish population is 2000.  I was referring to the Irish populations in the 1800s.  Many people...maybe even your great-grandfather grieved over how the Irish were going to destroy America.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

It's not a good comparison. From your link:

"It is estimated that as many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930."

Pretend instead of arriving over a period of 110 years, they all arrived at once, in 1930. That would have made them only about 3% of the population in 1930. That's a lower percentage of the population than the number of illegal aliens alone (most of whom are from Mexico) are right now.

All we're talking about is degree.  The percentages, the ethnic groups, and the economic conditions are all different now.  

The only thing that hasn't changed is the nativist claptrap.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

Nativist claptrap? The authors of Generations of Exclusion, Edward E. Telles and Vilma Ortiz, are liberal sociology professors at UCLA.

I agree that conditions are different now. There's less pressure to assimilate, our economy has shifted away from the types of jobs uneducated and low skilled workers did in the past,  and as noted above the immigrants are a greater percentage of the population.

It's not surprising a pair of liberals call for more "educational opportunities". That's the solution for everything, isn't it? But the reality is there's no shortage of educational opportunities now, and as their own studies show the availability of education hasn't been and isn't now being taken advantage of, and no one is able to explain what changes could be in education that would result in significant improvements.  Already more money is spent now to educate Mexican immigrants and their children than was ever spent on "European immigrants in previous generations". And with the number of low-educated, low skill Americans increasing you have fewer Americans able and willing to support raising them up.