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Right off the bat, if you are an immigrant, you have displaced yourself from your home country. That is why you try to fit into the foreign country. For example, let’s look at Jose Vargas’ story. We see that poverty displaced his family, which is the main reason why his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in the States. His father was an absconder. Moreover, his mother could not find a job. If you observe, his younger sister and brother still live with their mother. That is because there is less poverty to displace them. We all get it if you were born in another country and you have lived abroad illegally it shouldn’t be too much to return home to the education, shared knowledge and experiences you have gained. After all, since no one developed your home country, they benefit from what you offer them.
I simply want to live and feel welcome in the place where I feel at home.”
Trust me, I know about being an immigrant. I’ve lived it all my life. As a child growing up my parents and I was from Sierra Leone. We were immigrants in Liberia. We moved there when I was two years old. I spoke the language and went to elementary and middle schools there. I have childhood memories of playing soccer, going to church, watching TV, attending a Catholic school and rapping in ciphers with my friends. Those are the friends who later got killed during the war. All citizens ask the same questions; What made you come here? Why don’t you go back? Don’t you miss your home? Why do you want to live here? To them, you are a sucker who is in their way. As an immigrant, you just don’t belong.
I’ve also been a refugee who is even worse than an immigrant. If you read my book or blogs, I explained this part of my life there. I was displaced for almost ten years. Those years when I “toiled the war-ravaged streets of West Africa”? Luckily, my family filed for me since we have an American background on my mother’s side. My educated parents, uncles, and aunts naturalized. With hard work and grace from God, we became diplomats. However, as an immigrant, my situations always reminded me. Whenever there was an argument or an opportunity, the citizens promptly excluded me.
His father was an absconder and his mother could not find a job. If you observe, his younger sister and brother still live with their mother.”
When I read Jose Vargas’ story. I learned about eleven million citizens who are currently undocumented. Eleven million?! To me, it is the most painful experience. Separated from your family, unable to work, attend university or even travel simply because you are undocumented. Especially when you grew up in the country. You’ve shared all the experiences every other citizen had, but you are also an undocumented alien. From a young age, I knew what its like to not fit in because of nationality. Of course, I finally had my opportunity to live in my home country. Guess what? I didn’t fit in. How could I? My family raised myself in different countries. My ways, exceptions, and behavior were different. Home is always home. Yet, a home should never be denied by someone who considers it home.
If Jose Vargas were to return to the Philippines, yes, his family would welcome him. They would value his education as a definite asset. This is true for all undocumented immigrants. Here is the issue, culture. Being an immigrant, the one experience you are always reminded of is where you “did not grow up.” People will shun you when you did not grow up or attend school with them. On the other hand, if you grew up and attended the same schools, you might as well be their sibling.
This cultural trait holds true for most. What’s, even more, is when your parents had you in one country but someone else raised you in another. The place where those people raised you is where you fell the closest connection. For this reason, I am giving my support to the DREAM ACT, Jose Vargas and the eleven million undocumented Americans who merely wish to be recognized as citizens in the country where they grew up.
Of course I finally had my opportunity to live in my home country.
Guess what? I didn’t fit in. How could I?”
This is the case for immigrants. Right before I became naturalized, I saw how difficult it was for people who were undocumented. Even as a documented immigrant I got insulted on several occasions and asked the same questions as to why I’m there. In fact, when I moved to Canada, it happened again. Now I was an American living in Canada [an immigrant yet still]. People who didn’t think I have Canadian papers called the border to set me up with the Canadian Border Service Agency.
I love Canada, I would like to spend the rest of my life here, but quite frankly, I’m just tired of trying to fit in or prove who I am. I merely want to live and feel welcome in the place where I feel at home. This is why, whether it’s in Canada, the United States or any country for that matter, I stand with any person who is law abiding that seeks to be documented as a citizen. *
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enter community. cities.
Secure the Mexican border lol
We can’t let everyone come in and stay in the country tho.