The largest nation of immigrants forgets its roots.
True, when the economy is flat on its back and unemployment is as high as now, scapegoating of immigrants comes out of the woodwork. And this irrational fear is cynically exploited by politicians who seek re-election.California Gov. Pete Wilson and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein are now surfing on the upsurge of anti-immigrant feeling, apparently forgetting their own immigrant forebears who fled pogroms, religious intolerance and famine in Europe.
Sorry, folks, but the only true natives in this country are those who survive on reservations - the American Indians. The only other major exception to our shared immigrant origins are the descendants of those who were forcibly brought here as slaves. The rest of us are descendants of immigrants.
To set the record straight, studies on immigration prove that immigrants contribute to our economy from the beginning. As a foreign student at San Francisco State University, my fees were four times higher than those paid by California residents. During my third year, as an Israeli war veteran, I felt an emotional link to the plight of U.S. Vietnam veterans. I began to volunteer my time at the local veterans center in San Francisco.
As with other dreamers before me, reality hit hard when my professional school could no longer certify the student visa I badly needed. With deep desperation and no choice, and with no help in sight, I entered the world of the undocumented alien - my last option.
Yes, I wanted to finish school, even though letting my student visa run out meant I would not be able to visit my parents for six long and painful years. With little financial help from home, I was lucky enough to get a paid job at the veterans center. The veterans I worked with were still struggling to come home to their own country from the Vietnam War, while I was trying to find a safe home here for myself.
For the record, I have paid income taxes from the first. As an illegal immigrant, the last thing one wants is to be noticed. Applying for welfare aid, too, would be asking for attention. It was out of the question. Proud of my ability to work in spite of a severe physical limitation stemming from my military service, the last thing I wanted to do was jeopardize my hope of becoming "legal" again.
As luck would have it, I was able to finish school, legally obtain a green card and proudly take my American citizenship exam this month. But my burning question is still about the American ideal. What will it take for a nation built by immigrants to remember its own heritage and try to get along better in the present?
Blaming a convenient scapegoat will not fix our economy. As for me, how does one finally feel integrated, a part of one's community, understood and listened to in a different language and culture?