What is an American? That is a question we don’t ask ourselves, is it? Do you know your roots, how you came to be here rather than somewhere else?
Michael Gillen, my German great-grandfather, came during the high period of German immigration, the 1870’s. My immediate German ancestors are John – Sebastian – Michael.
On my Durand (maternal) side Jean Durand came from France around 1660 and married Catherine Annennontak. They begot Louis who begot Louis who begot Pierre who begot Joseph who begot Francois who begot Felix who begot Azarie who begot Florence who begot me.
Louis Durand probably first came from Canada into what is now the United States as early as 1680. Those ancestors didn’t pay any attention to borders. “What border?” would have been their question. Louis’ mother was Catherine Annennontak, an important ancestor in the Metis (mixed First Nation and European ancestry) families of Canada. Azarie Durand, my grandfather, settled permanently in Faribault, Minnesota around 1900.
The relocations, dislocations that those first ancestors endured must have been difficult if not traumatic. Catherine’s mother traveled hundreds of miles to safety with her infant following massacre of her father by the Iroquois. How fragile is our ancestry.
I’m proud of my ancestral heritage, though none were ‘documented’ in the modern sense of that term.
Where is this entry going? We attended a talk by Jose Antonio Vargas, an undocumented citizen of the Unites States. He is of Pilipino descent. Briefly, he was sent to live with his grandparents who were here as documented citizens. He only discovered his papers were fake when he applied for a driver’s license. By then his education, his friends, his life were here.
Jose is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, an intelligent, articulate (and humorous) advocate for an intelligent assessment of our complicated laws and system for treating immigrants. I urge you to read his book, “Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen”. There is a ton of misinformation out there, much propounded by this current administration. Facts are:
– Undocumented persons live shadow lives, afraid of ICE
– They are unable to vote
– They are unable to use welfare or other government benefits
– To the contrary, they and their employers pay their taxes and social security (our government is more than willing to take their money even though they do not use the system)
– The Congressional Budget Office estimates 50 to 75% of undocumented pay federal, state and local taxes. It estimates about $7 BILLION paid annually into Social Security.
– Most undocumented people are NOT Hispanic; they are Asian. [I guess Trump will next want to build a wall across the Pacific!]
– Most people do not want to be dislocated, to leave their friends and family, their culture, their language
I think that last point is most important. The world does not want to come to the United States, as many Americans seem to think. They would prefer to live where they are, assuming they could live in reasonable safety.
And further, though an American of long ancestry, I seriously think of emigrating to another country, but hesitate for the same reasons that other citizens of the world hesitate to leave and come here (family, friends, language, the familiar). I consider it because to me America is not the home of the brave, the land of the free, welcomer of those in need. It has become the home of the cowardly, the land of the oppressors, a country of the greedy guardians of their hoards of wealth without consideration for needs of others. Even many of its churches preach a theology of prosperity, a perversion of the Gospel if there ever was one. . .