In the wake of some really useless campaign rhetoric, let’s get real about immigration. Unless we can claim native ancestry, we are all interlopers, unauthorized occupants of mostly unceded indigenous land. Still, the mythology of the American ‘nation’ was built on an ethos of welcoming those fleeing persecution and wanting a better life.
So, immigrants have been generally welcome and even necessary for an industrializing (and then a war) economy. Post WWII, we even signed on to additional international documents that recognized the migration rights of those in immediate need of assistance—refugees and asylum seekers—underscoring the legacy symbolized by the open arms of the Statue of Liberty.
CT health care centers serve thousands of undocumented residents. It’s not just medical care.
Yes, we might all feel better about having some kind of effective migration management in place, but the country has been historically torn between impulses of ethno-national exclusion versus the need for labor. Until a 1917 Executive Order [No. 2619] requiring visas, the US had only minimal restrictions on immigrant entry (which included being inflicted with certain diseases and being Asian). Crossing a border at unauthorized locations was not criminalized until 1929. [see at History.com]
And, yes, all that time people arriving had to adjust to a new culture/society, often a new language, with very little assistance except from community networks and faith-based organizations. It took time to accommodate to a new way of life. But immigrants then and now have been full of hope, believe in hard work, and are committed to family, education, and contributing to their communities.
Even today, most immigrants continue to see education and accessing knowledge as central to a good future, seek self-reliance, and want to be good ‘citizens’ and neighbors. The children of immigrants and refugees of all statuses around Hartford articulate a desire to give back to their communities, help their elders adjust, and support a better life for all.
The reality revealed in Migration Policy Institute statistical data is that immigrants (especially the unauthorized) commit fewer crimes, are more likely to be in the workforce, and are less likely to access government benefits [See migrationpolicy.org]. They pay billions in taxes each year. They still believe in public education and being informed—the foundations for preserving our democratic rights. They spend time creating community locally and globally. They make us all more cosmopolitan. If our democracy prevails, it will be because of the efforts of our immigrant neighbors. They are Americans in the truest sense of the word.
Many hundreds of us are already engaged in volunteer organizations that help our newcomer neighbors make the transition to a new culture and its social expectations, just as our own ancestors made this complicated journey. In a demographically aging America, where democratic rights are being eroded, we need our immigrant neighbors to be strong and supported in becoming the productive residents they aspire to be and to have a voice in our communities. Amid the outcome of the election, and in the absence of successful federal initiatives to create a good and fair system of immigration and resettlement, Hartford and its suburban neighbors need to set an example by creating policies that more vigorously support immigrant inclusion and demonstrate to others the truth of our “immigration nation”—that immigrants make our communities better and stronger (and keep us true to the promise of America).
Janet Bauer, Carrie Berman, Lisa Herrera, Princess Hyatt, Claudette Graham, and Marthe Annan-Kingsley work with Hartford’s Commission on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs as commissioners and volunteers. They have jobs in education, legal services, and resettlement work.
