The Benefits of Immigration

On March 27 I attended a talk called Migration: A Local and Global Phenomenon, in which many different people, some immigrants and group activists came to talk about their story and what they stood for. Only about ten minutes into the talk did I immediately think of the poem “Queens, 1963” by Julia Alvarez. This poem related perfectly to this talk; the poem was about a girl, Julia Alvarez, who moved to Queens, NY from the Dominican Republic with her family when she was thirteen years old. When she arrived in America she felt very uncomfortable and didn’t feel connected with the culture at all. Although after adapting to the American culture, she finally felt welcome in the big melting pot.
The talk was based on The Year of the City, saying that we should explore, learn, and become more engaged with Baltimore, which is extremely true being that Baltimore is segregated into different communities by race, income and even status. The inner city has a lot of crime which is a result of the separation. Much of the crime can be stopped if we created more welcoming communities, in which even Loyola students go down and help clean up the inner city streets, by talking to children and even adults. If people see that students and faculty are trying to reach out and lend a hand the city can gradually pick itself back up. Relating back to the talk on immigration; one of the speakers specifically said that there are three dimensions of a response. One, social pastoral, we must start at the human experience and try to understand ourselves; two there has to be serious research and development of a theory in order to have a legit plan. Finally there much be education for a change, in which we must advocate for justice, in government and society.
The talk mentioned how the immigration level has been rising all over the nation, especially in Maryland. Over the years, from 1960 until 2000 there has been a rise in Latin American, Asia, and Caribbean born immigrants in the United States. And studies have shown that one in five children in public schools have a foreign born parent.
The most interesting part of the talk was when a young woman from Ethiopia told her horrific story and how she arrived in the United States. It turned out that her government had complete control over her people, even though the people had voted this type of government out. The government made all the votes invalid and completely ignored the new free government which the people had wanted. She had been tortured and was eventually rescued by the ASTT, Africa’s Survivors of Torture and Trauma. She has lived in America for eleven months and she has already worked for nine different organizations, even with the AIDS awareness program.
This woman is a true hero, she has lived through the most horrifying government and has thankfully been rescued and brought to America. She is extremely appreciative or what she has here in America, although she still missed her family back in Ethiopia. Although Julia Alvarez’s poem “Queen’s 1963” does not even compare to this woman’s story, it still parallels in a way that they both have been given a great opportunity to live in a free country and they have both given the culture a chance even though it seems very uncomfortable at first; they have both adjusted well. This talk showed how immigrants are not at a disadvantage because more Americans are accepting this process which has saved thousands of lives from their dangerous countries. Immigrants help make the melting pot even larger and more diverse which is exactly what America needs in order to become more accepting and understanding of others.