Coming to America

How did you end up here? This is a question almost all immigrants answer multiple times in their time in the US. It is a question often asked by well-meaning, curious Americans and sometimes in the politest way by people who wonder how one got here, their immigration status, and on occasion by those who want to know if or when one will be returning to their country of birth. Depending of the tone and the rapport of the person who poses the question, an immigrant is likely to opt for different ways to answer or in return ask to know the reason why one wants to know in the first place. It used to be a simple question that one could answer without a thought, in recent years, it comes with suspicion and an undue burden to anyone who engages in such a conversation.

It is well known that initial entry into this country for many immigrants is through paths such as professional visas or what is known as H1B, marriage, family migration through an immediate relative, green card lottery, refugee status, or by meeting set criteria for investors who bring their money into the US in exchange for residency. I, of course, cannot leave out other ways, such as smuggling across the border, which is both illegal and dangerous. Such entryways make it nearly difficult to ever become a legal resident or citizen in America.

There are so many reasons why people leave their birth countries and travel, at times, thousands of miles to a place that is entirely new and unfamiliar, but no matter what leads them to seek to become adopted sons and daughters of their new homes, within them lies a potential to become true patriots who can contribute significantly to the continued well-being of a nation, a truth evidenced by generations of immigrants from all around the world thriving in America today.

Immigration is not a new concept or a unique opportunity for the days we are living in. Immigrants have been coming to the shores of this great nation since before the 1600s in search of freedom or economic opportunity, while others were forcibly shipped here as slaves or servants.

Today, from the initial joy of getting those first set of documents or visa to enter the US to the relief of an approved residency and onward to the long journey of becoming a citizen, immigrants come to know, often by experience, how difficult, unpredictable, and expensive it can all be. Gone are the days when a ship would dock on any shore and people would start living and adapting to the new frontier right away, often having survived their worst fears on the journey. For immigrants of today, many unforeseen challenges await, along with a heavy burden of proof. Navigating through the complexities requires much patience, follow-up, and endurance, along with hard work and a tireless pursuit of success, status and a place to truly belong.

The ultimate immigrating accomplishment is becoming a citizen of whatever country one is looking to settle in, and those who relentlessly pursue it will say without hesitation that the entire process, however long, expensive, complex, or challenging, is still well worth the effort. I can attest to this because I have experienced at least three levels of immigration in the US and have family and friends who have pursued somewhat similar paths in the UK and Australia. I immigrated to the US with a student F1 visa, then became a green card holder, and eventually as became a naturalization applicant, which led to me becoming an American citizen. The entire process took fifteen years, untold lawyer fees, countless follow-up calls, and a discomfort that had me wondering throughout whether I would get the citizenship approval and if I was compliant enough to become an American. It was a cost in time, patience and money that I was prepared for before filling out those first set of documents.

American citizenship for all immigrants comes at a premium, but, at the end of that process, America also gains a citizen eager and willing to make significant contributions for greater good of the country. For many immigrants, attaining their citizenship is like getting a permit to build maybe a skyscraper or simply a house but a true permit to proceed and boldly step into their purpose. It is a green light to root oneself and to commit to the dreams that can only be possible in America. A well-deserved legal acceptance into one’s new chosen home.

Immigrants are known to pursue careers or start businesses that contribute greatly to the well-being of communities they end up settling in. Sometimes, these new conscious Americans or their children enlist to serve this nation in the military or public service and often create employment for Americans while making the world a better place for all.

It is easy for by-birth American citizens of several generations to be completely oblivious to the struggle, patience, and dedication it takes to simply get what is just a birthright to them and hence, as it is lately, so easy for some to disregard what is so marvelous about the nation in which they were born. From an immigrant’s perspective, America in recent years has been flirting with the possibility of diminishing what has always been a great democracy run with enviable values nearly impossible to replicate. These values reflect the breadth of justice that has for centuries helped govern diverse groups of immigrants that have, over the centuries, made it to the shores of the US from different corners of the world. At the same time, there has never been a more defining time for immigrants. We have seen so much, experienced things we never thought would be a reality in this nation, and yet we are still here, still working and building onto what drew us to these shores like so many other groups decades or centuries before us.

If the situation were not so dire, it would be needless to mention that unless one is a hundred percent American Indian by heritage, their forefathers, in some way, had trouble or challenge in their process of becoming American. That alone should summon any rational being to some compassion and fairness for today’s immigrants, who face a different set of challenges from those of their predecessors.

It is quite difficult to understand why a part of America is suddenly becoming injudicious with its beloved country’s values. These truly great cultural and political American values have for decades sustained the US and often drawn the best of the world to its shores. Immigrants know that these rights and values hold the dream. They are America’s rare gems lying bare on the American soil for anyone who has faith and hope in this land. No matter one’s origin, these rights and values have at some point served someone in their ancestry and therefore should be protected and held sacred.

Immigrants from many countries are now seeking answers to why America is increasingly becoming hostile and uncharacteristically divided politically, socially, economically, and even more so based on race and immigration. Unlike the past century, more immigrants in the US come from developing nations or what used to be termed as “third world countries.” Immigrants often debate this issue as they try to figure out how issues like racism and xenophobia contribute to the increase of anti-immigrant sentiments America is facing today. We have seen this trend before with the immigration of Italians, and there ought to be more studies done now that the immigrant population is much more diverse.

Immigrants have, in the past few years, gotten a rude awakening that has left them both shocked but better informed about a country they chose and love. Lately, what some resentful Americans of a certain age and generation could only say or express in private has exploded into a vengeful public tirade and offensive statements meant to make immigrants feel threatened and unwelcome. It is the sort of thing that can propel immigrants forward if they can only catch a grip by looking back at this country’s long history or cause them to run back home with their tails tucked in should they allow the negative situations or words to fester.

Having grown up to the age of eighteen with the same president in a country that was desperately fighting for human rights and democracy for decades, I have recently been reminded of all the traits I grew up so averse to. The open lies, distorted truths, uncultured and offensive leaders who were embraced and cheered on for their undue accomplishments, obsession with self-praise and gloating, and news channels that knowingly cozied up to the deception and boldly peddled propaganda. Immigrants from developing nations have seen this in their countries of origin, and millions of people in the world today still live under these kinds of leaders, believing it to be the norm.

Today’s immigrants know well that it is the sort of thing one cannot allow to distract from higher goals and ideals even as they engage in the long fight of changing hearts, minds and fighting for what is true and right.

Immigrants must keep pushing forward while firmly holding on to faith projected forth from centuries ago by the founders of this great nation believing that America was made to be great and that the entryway to its grander self has always been a bottleneck of polarizing challenges marked by wars and dark times often recorded in our history books. History shows that the times we are living in are not entirely unique, greater days are on the horizon as truth and decency once again come into style, giving way to a much more colorful and diverse period in America’s story.

America is the only country where I have witnessed immigrants from communities that never got along in their places of origin form communities and brotherhoods whose ripple effects are felt in places where...