Inhumane Borders

As a first generation immigrant from Poland, I have found these past couple of weeks’ lectures very intriguing. My mother and father came to the states after winning U.S permanent residency visas in a polish lottery. My sister and I stayed behind with my grandma while my parents established a life in the States. A couple years later, my mom came back to Poland for my sister and me. We had to go to the immigration agency were we pleaded our case of why they should grant my sister and I a visa to the United States. The likelihood that we were going to be granted one was very slim because both of my parents were legal residents of the U.S and it was almost obvious that if my sister and I received visas we were going to the U.S and never coming back. Because my parents did not have citizenship they could not sponsor us and so the only way to live in the U.S with my parents was through these visas. I still remember the day when we stood in a line for 5 hours all to get to a run-down building with a window and talk to a man who was the determinate of whether my sister and I would be able to join my dad and mom in their new life in the U.S. The way to get these visas is practically the luck of the draw. Everyone pleads their case, most people do lie and the key is to present information which would convince the administrators that you have a reason to come back to Poland and your intentions are not to overstay your visa’s deadline. The man with whom we spoke to was strict, and granted my sister and me the shortest visas possible, which we were fortunate enough to get anyway. The conditions in Poland at the time were in no way justifiable for how my parents wanted to raise us. A country that had recently got out of communism did not hold much promise for the dreams my parents had. Thus, it was pure luck that we were able to immigrate to the U.S, and after my sister’s and mine visas expired we were here illegally. Receiving papers on an expired visa is the only way one can become a legal resident. However, those cost over $10,000 dollars per individual and over 7 years of waiting. Needless to say my sister and I were illegally living in the states for about 7 years until we got those papers. I am extremely fortunate for the way everything played out in this whole process and out of all of the things that could have gone wrong, everything seemed to go according to plan. Unfortunately, my story is one of a kind and many immigrants I know are not as fortunate as we were.

Most parents, in the U.S and all around the world, want nothing but the best for their family. When there is not much hope for the desired life in ones country, they are forced to look to other options. Is it fair immigration borders constrain families to certain conditions that are less than ideal? Is it humane that parents with certain aspirations for their family are not able to realize their dreams because of social restrictions? Presently, society puts this inequality on many immigrant parents. Upon my recent visits to Poland, even now, decades since communism ended, most of the people speak “America” with the thought that it is in fact the land of promise. It is very rare that if you were to ask someone if they were given the chance to go that they would say no. The reason for this is not very obvious until you get to live in the peoples’ shoes. Their life is incredible in the sense that many of them have no aspirations because they know that certain things are just not in the cards for them. Many people end up working minimum salary wages which are not sufficient for the cost of living. With these realities, is it fair or even humane for countries such as the U.S to restrict immigration from people trying to simply provide a better life for their families? Obviously I have a biased opinion but I say no and I have many beliefs regarding my response.

I believe that the boundaries set forth on immigrants by the U.S are not what are not the sole restricting factor. It is the citizens, the microcosm of the U.S society, who put the real boundaries on immigrants trying to fulfill their dreams. Whatever kind of law the U.S puts forth against immigration, serious go-getter people will find a way around that law and will end up immigrating to the U.S regardless. The effective constricted boundaries come from the U.S citizens who are unaware of the privileges they have. When speaking to my friends about immigration, I am often very surprised at the defenses they have against immigration. There are these racist fears instilled into them that all immigrants are from Mexico and it seems that many of them have the instinct that soon this country will be taken over by these immigrants. When I mention that I am an immigrant too they often replay, “oh but that’s different.” This bothers me extremely because I do not see a difference. There is no difference between the dreams my parents had when planning their immigration, and the dreams many parents have from Mexico. It does not matter by what means one immigrates over to the U.S whether it is by a visa which expires or by sneaking in through the border, both means entitle the same purpose. I question why it is a patriot’s biggest fear that their country will be taken over when the true intentions of any immigrant are not to take over but simple live a better life. I also wonder how if this fear started evolving back in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act, why it is still instilled in people if after all these years it has not been realized. The point is if no single race has taken over the U.S and this fear has been instilled in people for centuries, then when is this fear going to disappear? I also think that this fear is selfish because it is not realistic and many people, who are against immigration, have not really thought about the true intentions that immigrant come to the U.S with. If those who have this fear had a better understanding of the purposes and situations people who want to immigrate have experienced, I feel as though there would be unionization. Essentially we are all humans, be it first generation immigrants or 15th generation immigrants, our parents all had the same goals. All individuals have very similar general morals for providing for the families, and why is it that today some individuals feel that it is ok to turn down parents from wanting a better life for their kids. The concepts of assimilation are topics in which pertain to this fear that again could be resolved through unionization. Sympathizing with immigrants will not solve everything, but it is an important step that those who have these fears should experience.

All in all, through my personal experiences I have a very strong opinion on immigration. Luckily, with the sequence of event my family has gone through, I am here today as an American citizen. Although both my mom and dad took the citizenship test, only my mom passed. Her citizenship was passed down to my sister and me, while my dad still remains a permanent resident. Both of my parents do not speak the English language well, and because we live in a highly populated polish community it has not caused great obstacles for them. While my dad owns a business, I do often see him frustrated because people do not understand him with his thick accent.
Once, I asked my dad:
Why do you not go and take English classes like mom did?

He responded with something along the line of:
Don’t you see I don’t have time to take classes because I’m too busy working so you can have things your friends do. As for my English speaking abilities, I can speak English. My English may not be very good but that is not the problem. Those who want to understand me will understand me and will get past my accent, and for those who cannot understand me it is because they don’t want to. They label me as an immigrant and not as their own kind and no matter how well I speak their language, I will never be accepted by them.

I was very touched by those words because even I could not truly sympathize with him since I always thought that he could just go learn better English. It was not until I saw him at work that I realized it has not been his communication skills that have made him so successful but rather the respect he has earned from his employees. Because of this, he is able to provide more for us than he could ever dream in Poland. I am thankful for the dreams my parents decided to pursue even if it meant I was an illegal immigrant for quite some time. However, I do feel empathy for those who have a similar story as mine but were not able to get papers and are still forced to live in the boundaries society sets for them. Being illegal means one cannot go to college, get a driver’s license, or even find work like everyone else can. Living that life is unimaginable and it saddens me greatly that those individuals’ parents had the same dreams as my parents did yet are living their lives extremely differently. Wow, I feel so lucky.