I haven't posted here much recently but I wanted to share this with y'all. On the 4th of July I was interviewed by Public radio about my immigration story. You can hear my interview here under the "Global Nation Conversation" https://www.pri.org/programs/pris-w...enis-south-korea-independence-day-philippines I wrote this on Facebook about my experience. This morning I was asked to do an interview for public radio about my immigration story. With the anniversary of the founding of my country my story isn’t just an immigration but an American story. It’s also why issues like immigration are so important and personal to me. My story of coming to America starts with my dad. He grew up poor in Hong Kong at a time when Hong Kong’s economy hadn’t taken off and was languishing as a far flung British Colony in the aftermath of World War II. He was very intelligent, worked very hard and was determined to improve himself. He first earned a scholarship to one of the best schools in Asia, National Taiwan University where he met my mother. My mom’s family was a well to do family who had fled China during the Communist Revolution and they didn’t approve of my father. My father continued to succeed though in college and he earned a scholarship to get his PHD at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He arrived in Texas in the mid 60’s to a place that he knew almost nothing about and speaking a language that he never could fully master. My mom followed him a few years later enrolling at the University of Houston for her own PHD. They were married at Rice University Chapel a few years later. A few years after that I was born. A native Texan and an American. When I was in college I saw a picture of my father from when he was a grad student. He was the stereotype of a foreign grad student ( wearing thick glasses and ill fitting clothes) even after 30 years of living in the US he always spoke with a heavy accent and can only guess that then it was even heavier. When I was sitting in freshman physics I often imagined freshmen back in the early 70’s struggling to understand my dad leading a physics class. Since then I’ve often thought about the struggles that my dad went through to find his place in America. A place that I don’t think he ever was truly able to find. I’m proud and forever grateful to my father for the opportunity he gave me to be born in this country and to develop my own American identity. Where else in the world could an ethnic Chinese teach a Japanese martial art, play Irish music, enjoy Mexican food and Shiner Bock beer. This is the beauty and greatness of America. This was the first country founded not on ethnicity, religion, language or feudal monarchy but instead on an idea. At a time when many are arguing about who is and who isn’t an American and are fearful of others overrunning America we need to remember that America has always been a country of others. The rhetoric that our county is being invaded by criminals and rapists was said about the Germans in 1810’s. It was said about the Irish in 1850’s. It was said about the Chinese for a century after that. It was said about the Polish in the 1910’s. In every case the fear of the others coming to invade this country with strange languages, strange foods, and suspect loyalties was overcome and those immigrants all became part of this country. Unlike many of the old countries what makes us American isn’t our ethnicity or religion but our belief in the principles and the willingness to work to improve this country. This has made American culture the most vibrant and our nation the most powerful that has ever existed. That is why on this day that we celebrate the founding of this great nation I’m happy and proud to share my own story of becoming an American.
[Premium Post] Great story, I love you, I'm sure we'd have a great time drinking Herradura Anejo together. But we have laws on the books that need to be enforced. Open borders PLUS a social safety net is an obvious way to crush this country under the weight of entitlement spending. You can't have both. More and more people would flood the country and enroll in entitlement programs to the point where they would collapse the system. It's necessary for the economic health of our country that we secure the border. The border has to be secured, not only for this reason, but also so we know who is here and can also prevent illicit activity -- most notably sexual slavery and drugs. You can have an open border, but you can't also have a social safety net. This would result in economic Darwinism which would basically destroy the existing lower classes, many of whom are minorities. Newer immigrants would accept jobs for low wages and existing workers would have no staying power. That would be viewed as more inhumane than having a strong border and preserving the social safety net. These arguments cannot be challenged using reason. I am ALL FOR immigration -- it's great! Legal immigration. Get in line and come in the front door. Don't sneak over the fence. GOOD DAY
^^^ This is an example of not being able to reason, instead relying on emotional outbursts. Thankfully our legal system was brilliantly designed to counterbalance impulsive behavior. Sober people need to take care of the drunks. Same principle. Bottom line, you don't have the smarts or arguments to step to me. GOOD DAY
@rocketsjudoka -- thanks much for sharing your story, with us here, and with the greater public. And many congrats to you and your parents as well. (They even overcame Rice University. ) I always imagine the courage of going to another county, no matter what motivates one to try it.
Except as some one who is a legal immigrant and a citizen, I also have started to feel that any immigrants of all sorts are less welcomed. Certainly with complaints about H1B, housing prices from cash paying Chinese, and chain migration.
Clutch even let you change your handle @realpgabriel Thanks for sharing As the world progresses America still is unique in the amount of people who to immigrate here.
That was a beautiful story, Judo, one that could be repeated countless times by so many other Americans, if not with the same eloquence. Having seen Hong Kong in the mid-'60's, so different than it is today, I can imagine the barriers your father had to overcome in order to take that long journey that ultimately led to making a life in America not only for him, but also for his family (with more than a little help from your mother, I expect!). Ignore the troll that can never let a good moment go unpunished. You must be very proud of your parents. Some of us won the lottery where that's concerned.
As someone who is half Hispanic, my mother came from Central America. Met my dad who worked overseas (he was born in Texas) and they spent so much time and paperwork to reunite and marry in the United States. She became a citizen and me and my sister was born. They even went back to Managua to help her extended family on paperwork about immigrating LEGALLY. It wasn't a rush but their was political tensions in Nicaragua and they wanted to make sure paperwork was correct afterall. It was when I was an infant that a earthquake happened while they were there which made a famous baseball player feel compelled to personally step in and help... the world unfortunately lost Roberto Clemente as he joined an ill fated plane loaded with supplies bound for where we were but I survived only by my mothers decision to have me in bed next to her instead of the crib. That night the crib was destroyed as part of the roof collapsed but the room where we all were at was intact thankfully. I completely understand helping others and helping families. I am only one generation removed from not being part of the U.S. but we all made it and did it the right way. The left seems to think illegal immigration is the ONLY immigration when we know this isn't true. Life deals unfairness. People want to come to the U.S. because this country is more fair than a heck of a lot of others . But let's take care of our own first and let's welcome LEGAL IMMIGRANTS...and for the record my mom who is still alive doesn't care for Trump but her son appreciates what she did so that I may choose which President best meets my views of what America should be about
people aren't against immigration. They are against illegal immigration. Not sure why this is in the debate section. It seems to be a common tactic amongst those who want open borders to conflate these two. legal immigrants are the ones hurt most by illegal immigration. Who has said this about legal immigrants? Who wants to adopt an immigration policy that would have stopped your father coming to America? Don't use your father's story to dishonestly attack strawmen.
I know, trust me, I agree with you. I tell people against gun control the same thing. It isn’t about banning the right to bear arms. It is about having common sense restrictions on guns. Doesn’t seem to work, any further gun control and the NRA flips out.
Uniting family (legally ref to as family reunification) is a huge part of legal immigration. It’s the largest form of legal immigration. This admin want to get rid of that. That send a pretty clear message that immigrants aren’t welcome. This admin is plain anti immigration, legal or not. The left doesn’t think that. Maybe the right think that illegal immigrants are the only immigrants ? Also let’s not pretend that illegal immigration is a left created issue or a left issue. It started to ballon under Reagan. The busn community and the gop has a huge interest in keeping them coming and even keeping them illegal.
I agree, and just shows why it's important for the country not to become so anti-immigrant which seems to be the direction in the country and across the west the last few years. There's nothing to fear from immigrants and welcoming the worlds hungry for success is an injection of energy this country thrives off of.
Very cool story. Thanks very much for sharing. There are members of this administration and the policies of this administration that show they are, in fact, against legal immigration. It's very sad. Immigrants make America a better place, not a worse one.
Really, you've never heard of the negativity towards all of those other groups? You should read this. https://www.history.com/news/when-america-despised-the-irish-the-19th-centurys-refugee-crisis As far as using my story consider that for almost a century people like my dad and myself weren't legally allowed to immigrate into this country. The only way Chinese, and many other Asians, could get into the country during the Exclusion Acts was illegally and many did so using the concept of Paper Sons. Would you have accepted and thought it was right that my family shouldn't have been here is the Exclusion Acts were still in effect? This argument that it's only about illegal immigration ignores the fact that even legal immigrants have been targeted and there has been much talk about reducing legal immigration but also removing things like chain migration and birthright citizenship. Both of which would've greatly affected by family. Also this argument that the law is the law is a copout. The Exclusion Acts and Japanese internment were once laws. Laws that are out of touch with reality is not justice.
My forebears were in the Irish wave and of the illegal variety. So you're already one up on me, in terms of being legit here, OP.
Thanks and yes my family’s story could be repeated for many immigrant families. I don’t think we’re special or unique and was just sharing my own story. In many ways I think these experiences are more relatable and effective when personalized rather than talking about them through stats or en mass.
They do? I appreciate it when people like you and the OP open up and tell their immigrant stories, but ultimately they don't really matter in terms of official or unofficial immigration policy and immigration in general. Your mother faced a difficult situation in Nicaragua and found herself an American to take her out of it and you and your sister benefited from it. Good. Your mother found love and a pathway to legal immigration to the US of A. But many Nicaraguenses took other avenues to America. Today, many people face impossible situations in Central America and Mexico. Some of them have the means to immigrate legally, many more to enter legally and overstay, most choose to enter illegally, and all of them owe it to geography that they could make that choice. The math isn't that difficult for them. Their chances of survival are much greater in this country no matter their legal status. In terms of immigration, however, none of this really matters. The vast majority of immigrants, legal or illegal, are here for economic reasons. And they are welcomed for economic reasons. If you don't believe that, explain to me why illegal immigrants don't have to mow lawns at three in the morning. Why they don't have to live in someone's attic. Why they don't have to have food brought to them in secret. Why they don't have to live in secret. Or explain to me why employers can hire illegal workers and not to have to hide it. Why landlords don't have to conceal their renters. Why an illegal immigrant can get any service that you can. Or explain to me why an illegal immigrant can obtain a tax ID number. Why an illegal immigrant can give birth to American citizens. All that to say that an illegal immigrant knows that entering the US or overstaying his visa is illegal, but he also knows that living here really isn't. That he's bienvenido by everyone that can actually impact his life, not you and I, and his ability to provide for himself and his family. That's what makes immigration a lot more complicated than, "we all made it and did it the right way." Not everyone can, and nobody has to.
