I
was in doing some advisory work in the Bay Area last week and met three
wonderful, wise and caring people and they all happened to be immigrants.
The
Nigerian
Big, burly, strong, oozing of
kindness. An infectious laugh. We talked about everything from Trump to rice and beans. He kept saying "as God intended." So what
did God intend? Perhaps, as Steve King would say, to keep Western
Civilization strong and America racially pure from sea to shining sea? No, "what
God intended" was for us to open our hearts and minds and accept all the flavors
of humanity...colors, religions, sexual preferences, favorite foods, music choices...because in doing so our lives become richer, our minds expand and we become better people. As God intended.
What
was joy for this Nigerian? To be surrounded by friends eating a nice meal of
rice, beans, goat and fried plantains. Man is too worried about working and
buying stuff, he said. That's not what is important.
To me, the Nigerian's kindness, humility, work ethic, and joy makes him 100% American...not
white, but 100% American.
The
Hongkonese
Slightly built, thinning hair,
slightly hunched. Introverted and reserved at first but then he told me about
his children. It was as if the pride he felt for them was a bubbling fountain
that would not be restrained by culture or social norms...it had to burst
through and spill over onto the stranger (me) next to him.
Three
kids. All three graduates of the top schools (I'm talking Harvard, Princeton,
Cornell, etc). Banker, engineer, doctor. 3 out of 3. All three of his kids had
jobs a year prior to graduating from school.
As
for himself, he immigrated to American on a work visa 25 years ago, raised a
family and having now retired does odd jobs to keep busy. They arrived as two immigrants and became five highly contributing members of society. Not white. Not
Western, but 100% American.
The
Brazilian
Music blaring, windows rolled
down, exuding a seemingly carefree, "nothing-can-bother-me" attitude
she seemed to really enjoy life. All it took were two questions to strip
away the facade. "Where are you from" and "what brought you to
America?" She answered that she was from a small town in Brazil where
she was being maltreated for being a gay woman. In a nutshell, she came to the
US to enjoy the freedoms we often take for granted here. But two years later she was
stuck. She paid her own way working odd jobs, paid her taxes but had no future
because she had over-stayed her visa and was here illegally. She couldn't get
official work nor get an education. No matter how she tried, she couldn't find
a path forward and it caused her life to go into a spiral of hopelessness
and despair.
She
was not white. She was not legal. But her desire to breathe free, her ability
to work hard to sustain herself and pay taxes, I think makes her 100%
American.
Immigration Is a Gift
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to
me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Have we become so satisfied with ourselves that
we are now those people who drove our ancestors from their homes to seek a
better life here in America? Have we become repugnant nationalists who are too
selfish to open our arms to those seeking the same freedom and
opportunities that our ancestors pursued and were given? When did skin color, religion,
language or “civilization” become part of the criteria for determining our
right to this country?
Ronald
Reagan declared: "America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides
freedom-loving people everywhere." And, “I've spoken of the Shining City
all my political life…teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and
peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if
there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to
anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” I'm not immigration expert but to stay that beacon I think we need to think through these four topics (I'm sure there are many others):
- A strong, thorough vetting process for those seeking to come into our country. No, not a religion-, culture-, or country-based vetting process but a transparent, thorough, multi-disciplinary vetting process.
- A much simpler process for obtaining visas, green cards and citizenship.
- A work visa program for citizens of our neighboring countries (as a start) that allows honest, hard-working citizens to work and pay taxes in the US while holding companies accountable for hiring labor utilizing those visa programs. I believe this would encourage more people to work here legally.
- A path to citizenship for those in our country who are no threat to our country, are contributing members of society and who are here illegally.
P.S. I've heard many people say that if we cared
as much about immigrants as we do our own citizens we would be a much
better country. I agree that we have a whole class of neglected citizens and
that we all need to pitch in to solve the erosion of the middle class as well
as the epidemic of poverty that is sweeping through so many of our communities.
But these two ideas are not mutually exclusive ones. We need focus on both. A responsible government would tackle these problems prior to solving problems outside of our borders.
P.S.S. Thanks to Sofia for all her editing work!
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