On immigration, by a former Iranian refugee

[MBS]

Eloquent and timely

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-came-to-america-as-a-refugee-you-took-me-just-as-i-was/2018/09/19/ef89f818-b85a-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?

. . . America had not taken me in because I had the “merit” of possessing valuable skills. I was taken in simply as I was. Would the toxic narrative of my adolescence have dissipated had I been granted a visa because I was a gifted computer programmer, or was working on a medical breakthrough, or had some other economically desirable talent? I doubt it.

Had I been admitted into the United States under those circumstances, I would have entered into a transaction — the only thing America cared about, according to the mullahs. I would have felt today as I do in a shopping mall, a client with a coveted purse. I would not have felt indebted to America, as I felt years later, once the fog of homesickness and melancholy had lifted and I saw my new home clearly.

Those who advocate abolishing a fundamental characteristic of U.S. immigration — welcoming the tired, the poor, the huddled masses — are neglecting an essential point. When citizenship is purchased with the currency of a marketable skill, it can be cast aside and neglected, like any store-bought bauble that has lost its allure.

The United States did not become the most powerful country in the history of the world only by cherry-picking the best. Museums and art collections are built that way, not nations. America opened its doors even to those of us who, broken by displacement, were uncertain of our own worth. Our new home had more confidence in us than we possessed, a confidence that we would begin the process of blending into a single, imperfect people like no other. Loyalty, the essence of patriotism, is inspired when entry is granted like a lifeline to a drowning person.

[allgood33]

1. Beautifully written and so true.

I have met and have several immigrants in my own family. The most insufferable immigrants are those who feel they are here because we need them. The kindest and most patriotic are those who feel they are here because we want them.

My very talented tech-in-law (won't name where he is from) behaves toward our family as though they are all beneath him. He is arrogant, disrespectful, and not the least bit appreciative of his circumstance. Often reminds us that his skills are marketable all over the world but his choosing to come to the US if a gift to us and his wife (my cousin) is lucky to be married to him.

Two other second generation immigrants in my family are just the opposite. They are kind, grateful, patriotic, generous and loving people who believe that they should give back to help others as much as they can. One saving grace is that all of the children are great, loving, smart kids.

[DesertRat]

2. k&r

[Docreed2003]

3. K&R