And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

... that every time the subject of immigration is raised, it reinforces my opinion that we owe Emma Lazarus no thanks for her comments which have been incorporated into the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
She asks foreign nations to send to the United States their "tired masses, poor, homeless, tempest-tost, and wretched refuse." In other words, the dregs of that people-exporting nation. And it seems too often that is exactly what we get, the flotsam and jetsam, rather than ambitious, educated people "yearning to be free."
I just finished a book, In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Rattier. It is a novel, but apparently very much based on the real life of the author. She was five years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power in her country of Cambodia. Over four years, as members of her extended family died one-by-one of forced labor, starvation and execution, she and her mother escaped and were allowed into the United States as refugees in 1981.
When they arrived, she spoke no English. Eleven years later, she graduated as valedictorian of her California high school class and later graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University.
I contrast that with the story about the mother of Hispanic origin who, although in this country illegally for 15 years, was fighting for additional citizenship "rights" for her son, who was born here. She needed an interpreter, because after 15 years here she knew no English.
And contrast it with recent studies of proficiency in reading among American eighth graders, who, after at least nine years of formal instruction, are years behind what should be normal for their age group.
Asians value education. As the young Cambodian girl was taught, they also respect the knowledge of their ancestors. How many of those American-born eighth graders are ready to admit that "father knows best?"
Iowa's program to welcome Asians who were our allies in the war in Vietnam after that war was lost is often cited as a good model for today's refugees from the Middle East. But therein lies the difference. Those Asians were allies. Many of the Middle East "refugees" are from nations in de facto war against the United States.
And in many cases, the "tempest" from which they were "tost" was a tempest of their own making, having backed the losing horse in a battle of dictatorial regimes or religious sects and now suffering the consequences of that choice.
And we seem to have no idea how to separate the wheat from the chaff, while that was not necessary in the case of the Cambodian girl, who was predisposed to thrive here given a chance.