Immigrants enrich our country

Okay, readers, hands up if you or your ancestors are/were immigrants to the United States, legal or illegal. All hands up?

Even American Indians came across the Bering Straits or by land. They have the best claim to land, however, since they arrived long before Europeans, Africans and Asians.

Then, explain the mass deportation signs on display at the Republican National Convention and the anti-immigrant tone to the speeches; and why Republicans just scuttled the bipartisan immigration bill.

Should legal and illegal immigrants be deported?

If we consider recent immigrants, Republicans may become uncomfortable — two of former President Donald J. Trump’s wives are immigrants; his mother was from Scotland and grandfather from Germany.

J.D. Vance’s wife is from immigrant parents, while both Mitch McConnell’s and Steve Mnuchin’s wives are immigrants. Who have I missed? Michael Baumgartner, Spokane’s treasurer – whose wife is an immigrant.

In the voter’s pamphlet baumgartner wrote the southern border is wide open with thousands pouring into the country, and Mexican cartels bring fentanyl and leave a trail of crime and homelessness.

Contrary to Baumgartner’s assertions, the border does have restrictions, however faulty.

My experiences of helping newly-arrived immigrants while volunteering at World Relief and Barton English Language School have been unbelievably positive and broadening.

Most immigrants do nothing but enrich our country. Maybe that is the secret these politicians are hiding from us.

—Nancy Street

Cheney

 
 

Reader Comments(1)

wagebhardt writes:

Well, Ms. Street states the obvious and then ignores it. Legal vs. Illegal is what the debate centers on. Are any of the instances that Ms. Street list here illegally? Or did those people follow the process as prescribed in US law. That is the key. Apparently Ms. Street does not care about the law and feels that if she does not agree with it then we should all ignore it. We do need immigration reform. The proposal that was defeated in the Senate was a poor proposal and we should all be glad that it was defeated. The proposal passed by the House and sitting on Chuck Schumer's desk is a much better proposal for the United States of America. I don't know what drives Ms. Streets motives but if it is about the welfare of immigrants I would suggest that there are numerous groups out there that provide relief to the poor around the world. Perhaps she can help out by donating to those groups to help those in need.