Even 1880s restrictionists still believed assimilation would eventually succeed.

Evidence

For all of the talk of foreign dangers, hardly anyone denied the ultimate success of assimilation. ‘The most advanced restrictionists still boasted of America’s absorptive powers, contending only that the process was becoming too slow for safety. Significantly, the pro-restrictionist Philadelphia Press commented in 1888: “The strong stomach of American civilization may, and doubtless will, digest and assimilate ultimately this unsavory and repellent throng… . In time they catch the spirit of the country and form an element of decided worth.” — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 379

Categorization

• XREF: Direct evidence for the reader’s question: the enemy category in this phase was seen as digestible, not biologically fixed unlike later racial nativism. — connects to: Restrictionists saw even the 1890 census scheme as artificial and sought direct racial preservation — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1937; Elite restrictionists drove both the preparedness and anti-hyphenate movements — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1177
• DEEPTHINKING: flagged by the selector, no supporting note recorded

Broader Connections

• Elite restrictionists drove both the preparedness and anti-hyphenate movements #qualifies (0.75) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1177