And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

...that every time I am forced to think about immigration, I think of a phrase I read long ago, when beat poet Rod McKuen wrote that “we can’t be Batman to all the Robins in the world.”
Whether those desiring to come to the United States are from Mexico, Central America, the Islamic nations of the Middle East, or Chinese anchor babies, my first question is, what is their purpose?
I have the greatest sympathy for those who are actually refugees, that is, who are fleeing their nation because of religious persecution or denial of freedoms.
Naturally, I have no sympathy for those coming only to take advantage of the generous welfare benefits available to them here, or for those, such as the Chinese, who come to give birth to a child just to have an American “citizen” in the family, for possible future use.
We are reminded all the time that the United States is “a nation of immigrants” and that certainly is true, even of the so-called “native” Americans, who are not really native either.
What is different is the intent or reason, and the source of both.
Most of us are descendants of European ancestors, and most of them spoke one of the “romance” languages, i.e., German, French, Spanish and Italian, which made assimilation easier because of the same stem words which appear in English.
And while they often settled in enclaves or limited areas, they usually spent working hours or leisure hours in the diverse, wider community. And the first goal of most was to gain fluidity in English.
That often does not seem to be the case at present.
Dependence on the United States for a “living” many times includes no desire to assimilate, and plans include a return to the home country when and if living conditions improve there. So there is no need for adults to learn the language, while those who have made the USA their home spend a lot of tax money to teach English as a second language to children. And the place where they live soon becomes a duplicate of the place they fled.
Meanwhile, there are sections of cities in European countries, and even in some large American cities, where police “interference” is not only not welcome, but not tolerated. A foreign country within a country, in other words.
My “qualifying” question to would-be immigrants would be some proof of intent. Are you coming here to stay and will you promise, under threat of expulsion, to do your best to assimilate as soon as possible?
My professor of the Chinese course I took at university said the Chinese did not worry about strangers moving there, because “in a hundred years or so” they will have assimilated.
I don’t know if we have 100 years as a nation at this rate.