“Remember where you came from and what the gift of freedom meant to your family and your future generations.” - Maria-ism
I wonder how many people REMEMBER where they came from? I open the paper and I read that some politician from Tyler, Texas wants to take away the right of becoming a United States citizen if you are born on U.S. soil and IF your parents are illegal aliens. How’s that for a proposition that would “log jam” our system even further?
Has he forgotten where he came from? Or, may be he’s a Native American and we just weren’t provided that information? Unless you are Native American, we all immigrated here. Some of us immigrated legally! Some of us, when this was just the thirteen colonies, came over MOST ILLEGALLY. In fact, those who immigrated to the thirteen colonies committed “high treason” for their freedom.
Are you guilty of making a comment about a “wet back” (someone who crossed the Rio Grande river to come to the United States)? Or, are you possibly a “salt back” and forgot the great sea or ocean your ancestors crossed to come to this country?
To immigrate to the United States, in whatever fashion, to me is the grandest and most daring adventure you can take. Imagine leaving a place you’ve known as “your country” all your life, to go to a place that you might have only read about or seen in movies. Imagine leaving every loved one you know, every friend and every familiar place. Some of us have never left the Permian Basin. Some have never passed even over the state lines of Texas. And, yet, some of us have not even ventured to Alaska or Hawaii. Yet, immigrants, brave all, and come to a place for the dream of freedom.
Are there illegal aliens? Yes, there are. How many are there compared to those who immigrate here legally? How many students do you know that come to our country on student visas or even vacation visas hoping for a glimpse at the great freedom called the United States. How many do whatever it takes to make this their home? How many become legal just as soon as they can? They pay taxes. They send money home to support their families abroad. They work hard - sometimes two jobs. They go to school and they build “the American dream”.
Take away the right of those born on United States soil to claim their citizenship. Does a newborn know what their parents did to come to this country? Do you reprimand the 6 year old who is late to school or do you talk to the parent about getting them their on time? Do you punish the child and take away their right to country? I think not. I think that Tyler politician is ignoring the masses of people who come her legally. Those who dream of more and do whatever it takes. He is willing to rob them to reprimand the few who do so illegally and then he wants to reprimand their children? What logic is there in that?
Live in a third world country and you decide what would YOU do to come stateside. Or better yet, talk to your grandparents and great grandparents and find out what they did to come to a better place. Ask them about the dream of freedom.
Then, read the inscription, once again, at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
“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.”
America is the greatest country ever because it was created by those who were “the trash of Europe”, refugees from other countries, those who stowed away, were captured, swam, and traveled to a dream of freedom. Unless you are a Native American, you are an immigrant. Imagine if someone had closed the door right before you ancestor made it to this shore? Where would you be now?
For a moment, just a moment, today. Be thankful for your freedom. And be thankful that the “light of freedom” burns in the heart of every immigrant. If you look at immigrants through those eyes, you might just see what your ancestors saw.
Imagine that!
Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections
“People Smart Coaching! Building Your Brand! Expanding Your Success!”
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