April has come and gone.
April always marks an important anniversary in my life. On April 26th, 1991, my parents, my sister and I boarded a midnight American Airlines flight in Lima, Peru with Miami as its destination. Home Alone was the movie aired during the flight.
We left because our home country no longer welcomed us. Remaining home meant at best the kidnapping of my father or a family member, at worst, the murdering of one of us. Any exercise of choice in this matter was an illusion, the decision was made for us.
We came to an alien land though we had visited the United States numerous times. We unwillingly left everything that was familiar for the sake of finding peace and liberty. After dealing with lawyers and paying thousands of dollars in fees, the United States welcomed us and it became our new home. By 1994 we were United States residents (good luck achieving it that quickly today).
Being uprooted is one of the most traumatic experiences a human being can live through. If a person is able to work with dignity to make a living and be part of a peaceful society, that person will not migrate. Immigrants do not leave their home country willingly.
Being uprooted often leads to a grave identity crisis. The uprooted person belongs nowhere. Even if rooted in a new land and new society, the link to the mother country remains. The immigrant will always “look differently”, “speak differently” or “think differently” even if he or she feels rooted in the host country.
Many react harshly and in a condescending manner towards immigrants. Not too long ago I heard someone state, “the United States is a country only of its citizens.” I was offended. I am not a citizen but a resident and I feel 100% part of this country. Likewise hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants strengthen the United States, many even willing to fight and to die for their country.
On the radio a few months ago I heard someone say, “immigrants do nothing for this country.” I could not believe what I was hearing. A sarcastic thought crossed my mind,”I suppose I have added nothing to this country, I might as well go back to Peru.”
I sometimes find myself in conversations where people criticize immigrants with unfounded, generalized statements and prejudices, and I have to remind these people that I am an immigrant!
As immigration reform is discussed in Washington, I applaud our bishops in calling for a reform that respects the dignity of each person, that respects the family and that restructures the current burdensome immigration system.
The Catholic Church has always welcomed the immigrant and the stranger, especially in the United States where the unwanted immigrants throughout American history (the Irish, the Italians etc.) found a home in the the Church. Nothing has changed, we have been and continue to be the Church of immigrants. May God grant us the ability to see Christ in the uprooted and displaced, that they may come to know that their true home, their true citizenship, is in heaven with Christ the Lord.
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