On a hot and humid day, sitting atop a musty school desk, I announced to my classmates that I was moving to America. I was in second grade; I bragged about how I would be the first of them to see snow, to see people of different skin colors. America is this big and powerful country that everyone in the world knows about—a stark contrast from my home in the idyllic and rural Yizhu Township, from the small nation of Taiwan whose legitimacy is still under debate. So in that moment, I felt big and powerful as well.
My entire family celebrated; my aunts and uncles gave their envious regards and my dad felt very proud that he could bring his family to America. My grandmother is illiterate and my grandfather’s education was a mere four years of primary school. My dad had gotten a college education with his own abilities. Now, his children will receive the elite American education. These were impressive achievements. Yet, while living in America, my father was ashamed to make a complex order at McDonald’s because the workers usually could not understand his accent.
His attitude in America was the polar opposite from his pride at home. It begs the question then, why is he choosing to work extra hours and live in discomfort in America? Why doesn’t he just go back home? And the answer was, even if his head was lowered, his neck never turned to look back. He is persevering so that his children can have better opportunities than what he had.
America advertises itself as the land of opportunities: American universities are ranked at the top, global enterprises had their beginnings in America, and job opportunities are abundant here. It is arguably the most powerful country in the world, especially so when compared to the small island nation where I’m from. Even though American immigrants will have a rough start, there is an unspoken promise that their children’s lives will be better. Every person in America, born here or not, is in America because a better life for us was sought. One is born on American soil because his or her parents or ancestors pursued the American Dream, and one is an immigrant in America because he or she pursued the same dream.
With the recent White House rhetoric on immigration, it’s easy to forget that immigrants, documented or not, are people too. It’s also easy for immigrants themselves to forget that they are people too. When you label the collective community of immigrants as ‘job-stealers’ and other terms of the sort, you paint the picture that these people are undesired. Those words dehumanize immigrants and take away their stories whether that was the intent or not. In the current political climate, I felt a prick on my heart recollecting the excitement and pride my 7-year-old-self felt at moving to what I believe is the greatest nation in the world. You may or may not agree with the idea of immigration or its methods and consequences, but regardless, immigrants are here for the same reason you are. Ultimately, whatever your stance on immigration is, I implore you to not antagonize immigrants. They are people too.