I Am An Immigrant – Voices

I’ve always been incredibly proud of my Italian heritage, and truly believe those immigrants that come to the United States should make their own way regardless of their position in life. My mother worked incredibly hard to raise a family and to contribute to the financial support as well, ending up owning her own business which flourished for years. I believe that the American dream is alive and well, each day an immigrant or an immigrant child demonstrates that the opportunity to succeed is available to anyone, with the persistence and the ambition to pursue it. Other than the American Indians, to some extent, all U.S. citizens were immigrants at some point in their ancestry. Some folks forget that as they rail against immigration laws and immigrants, but they should think back on their own family history. Since my mother was a war bride, the immigration to the United States was relatively simple although it took nearly 6 months after her husband had departed from Italy for her to be able to join him in the United States. I find it curious that so many individuals in the U.S. are so anti-immigration, but I believe that they should always close the bridge after they get across it. So many Americans were an immigrant at one point or another, and to deny that to others strikes me as hypocritical. I do believe that Americans have more privileges than most in the world, our ability to express openly our agreement or disagreement with our government, to believe or not believe from a religious perspective, and the opportunity for the greatest education in the world through the United States educational system.