There are alot of lies being told about the effect of immigration on America. Despite our history as a nation of immigrants, some shameless bigots have even claimed that places like Miami "are like third world countries" because of the number of vibrant cultures thriving there. So i thought i'd take the time to celebrate immigration into my hometown.
You want to see what a place with nearly open immigration looks like? You can find it right here in the heart of Texas - Ft. Worth to be exact, "where the West begins." And you know what? No one is being "overrun." The immigrants, contrary to the fearmongers' claims, are not going on crime sprees or trashing city services. "Texas culture" still survives and thrives alongside these newer influences, as well as intertwining with them in very interesting ways. Families from Mexico keep their ties to home by hosting friends and family from Mexico, and returning often themselves, a back and forth migration pattern instead of the one-way path that short-sighted border walls bring about.
To put it simply, it works. We have nothing to fear from this "wave" of immigrants. They will work and improve America, just as our foremothers and forefathers did. Building a nation of immgrants, same as it ever was.
I always knew there was something special about my hometown, with it's beautiful mix of people and cultures. Saturday (after eating lunch at a Russian restaurant) I was pleased to see a local news report detailing the extent of immigration into my area. And even more pleased, given the Dobbsian nature of many news reports these days, to see this being reported in a positive manner, with a focus on a few heartwarming immigrant stories of struggle and success. I learned that a full 40% of all local residents are immigrants or first-generation residents from other countries. As well as a thriving Mexican and Mexican-American community, there are nearly 100,000 residents from Russia, and from India, and from Vietnam, and from China... (In college in nearby Denton, i had the immense pleasure of studying with people from literally all over the world. I made friends from Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Canada, England, Germany, and many countries in Latin America.)
Because of this long-term pattern of immigration, i, as Steve Earle celebrates below, don't have to travel to visit the world. i live by an athletic field where people play soccer, fly kites, play with their kids, and walk their dogs. and i can meet people of every human color, and often from all over the world, right at my front door. it is one of the supremely wonderful things in life. A georgeous mosaic indeed.
I could go on all day, but Steve Earle says it much better, in a song i heard just this morning on the way to work, on the local college radio station, probably played by some kid who loves livin' in a city of immigrants as much as i do:
City Of Immigrants
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
I don’t need to go travelin’
Open my door and the world walks in
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
Livin’ in a city that never sleeps
My heart keepin’ time to a thousand beats
Singin’ in languages I don’t speak
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of black
City of white
City of light
City of innocents
City of sweat
City of tears
City of prayers
City of immigrants
Livin’ in a city where the dreams of men
Reach up to touch the sky and then
Tumble back down to earth again
Livin’ in a city that never quits
Livin’ in a city where the streets are paved
With good intentions and a people’s faith
In the sacred promise a statue made
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of stone
City of steel
City of wheels
Constantly spinnin’
City of bone
City of skin
City of pain
City of immigrants
All of us are immigrants
Every daughter, every son
Everyone is everyone
All of us are immigrants - everyone
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
River flows out and the sea rolls in
Washin’ away nearly all of my sins
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of black
City of white
City of light
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of sweat
City of tears
City of prayers
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of stone
City of steel
City of wheels
Livin’ in a city of immigrants
City of bone
City of skin
City of pain
City of immigrants
All of us are immigrants
~ Steve Earle
So thanks again to all those wonderful people from other countries who make the US their new home, improving their lives and ours. and thanks to all those Americans who welcome them with arms outstretched.
(and thanks to the local news crew that filed the story on immigration here. and special thanks to the student DJ at KTCU who played that Steve Earle song and inspired this diary.)