Liberty 2160

America: Love it, or Leave it

By Nikola Maric

How many times have we heard this phrase? I know I have, many, many times. As soon as I was being able to put a sentence together I tried to take part in a discussion, if for no other reason, just to practice my newly acquired language here in America. 

It did not bother me if my sentences were incorrect, my accent too tick, or if people around me had trouble understanding me. I just wanted to be heard. And if the subject happened to be politics our discussions became louder and louder. I remember when one of my fellow workers tried to convince me that his views were more convincing because I had just recently come to the United States, and he was born in America.

- And what was the effort on your part to become an American citizen?, asked I – You are a citizen by accident, and I by choice.

It is not easy to be an immigrant, not here in America, not anywhere. People constantly remind you to be polite and grateful, and more often than not, we oblige. People leave their countries for various reasons, some run away from something (or somebody!), others to seek a better life.

For some time I have been following the news and a constant reminder that there are over eleven millions of illegal immigrants in America, mostly from our southern neighbor, Mexico. I must admit that it is difficult for me to discuss the subject of immigration, legal, or illegal, simply because I too am an immigrant. This topic has been occupying the front pages of newspapers for some time, and TV news and programs maintained their ratings reporting the immigration problems. Eleven millions is not a small number, and being illegal magnifies the problem even more. Lately, more and more cities in America are declaring themselves the so called “safe cities” for illegal immigrants thus challenging the federal law which requires that these illegal people be reported and probably deported to their original countries. There is a certain legal procedure by which a person wishing to immigrate to America must follow. It is not fair to these law-abiding people to sit and wait, sometimes for years, in order to immigrate to the United States,  while others simply slip in and avoid the procedure altogether.

In the case of Mexican nationals a great number of this “undocumented” immigrants end up being a cheap farm labor, construction workers, restaurant workers, or something like that.

During his elections campaign Mr. Donald Trump promised to close the border to illegal immigrants, even to build a wall at Mexican expense! He did not spell out just how he was going to make Mexico pay for the wall, but it sure helped him getting elected. His opposition, the Democrats, tried to present themselves as immigrant-friendly and were rewarded by getting a huge number of the so-called Latino votes. I never thought that Mr. Trump was anti-immigrant. For God’s sake, he even married an immigrant, has he not? A beautiful immigrant from Slovenia, the most attractive First Lady in recent history.

The New York Times reported that our President is being credited for a great rise in Mexican patriotism. Namely, the Mexican officials are receiving the deported Mexicans with open arms, urging companies to offer them jobs and benefits. Simply stated, President   Trump created some pride in Mexican citizenship. God works in mysterious ways.

According to the New York Times article (by Elisabeth Malkin) President Enrique Pena Nieto stated that “….as a society and as a country, we have the ethical and moral duty to receive them with open arms, to treat them with affection, respect and dignity….”

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Full article in printed Liberty

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