Poverty exacerbates all problems, but poverty in and of itself does not produce violence. Migrants from France’s former Muslim colonies initially came for jobs, not to assimilate or “become French.” But the migrants stayed. Now France’s “Muslim neighborhoods” are permanent “cultural islands.”
Let's see...migrants entering a country for jobs but not to become members of the country/society they're entering.
Sound familiar? Perhaps a bit like the situation we have with illegal Mexican immigrants crossing our border?
This same sort of insurrection is exactly what we risk every day we allow the current state of illegal immigration to exist, and Bush's "guest worker" program is no solution to the issue. It does not encourage assimilation or integration but would rather legitimize the creation of an underclass of second-class, pseudo-citizens who have a personal stake in our country but no true loyalty to it's society.
When things go bad for this "island" of people living within our borders they aren't likely to effect change through established, democratic channels. Instead, because they have no allegiance to our country or its customs and mores, they have they'll seek change through the only means available to them: Open revolt and violence.
We are setting ourselves up for the sort of problem France is dealing with right now. But right now we have a chance to learn and change before things get that bad. The big question is: Will we?