My Immigration Experience

My coming to America is like any other immigrant before me: a very exciting journey. It was more of an accident than pursuing "the American dream." When I was a boy, I heard about America but had no idea where it was; but then, I also had no idea where I was located in this world.

During the early years of my life, my family kept on moving between two places separated by the sea; there were no borders and everyone was free to move around. With my innocent mind, I was told that "this side is under the British Empire and that side is the American Colony." I had no idea what that meant, but so long as my freedom of movement was not restricted, I did not care. To me, growing up between two great empires, both places were the same.

I remember going back to the American Colony to get my early education and then in my early teens, I needed to go back to the British Empire to visit my mother and the rest of my siblings. I noticed that the British Empire side had a new name (it had become an independent country) and from that time I was no longer free to go between the two places as I used to do. Suddenly, someone had drawn an invisible line in the sea, which we could no longer cross freely. I decided to stay in the former British Empire side and be with my family.

I found out later that the education system was limited in the old British Empire country. There were no higher learning institutions and if you were 16 years old, you could not go to school anymore. The school system had an age restriction at that time. I decided to go to work, as pursuing my education was no longer a possibility. I later owned a small hotel and a travel company, when I met a nice girl.

I had no idea which planet she came from -- not that I cared. We got married and lived in the former British Empire until my son was 5 years old, when my wife moved to her country, the United States of America.  I tried joining my family, but because of immigration changes and bureaucracy, I only managed to become a resident 2 years ago. I had been to China, Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Macao, and many more countries before I was granted a visa to join my family in America.

Going to college and shoveling the snow are the two of the most enjoyable experiences that I love in America. Yes, we should welcome immigrants, as from the beginning, it is what differentiates America from other countries (except Canada, maybe) and makes it the greatest country in the world.

Is immigration out of control?

It depends on what kind of immigration the author is referring to. There are two kinds of immigrants: the legal and the illegal. In my opinion, the legal immigrants go through one of the strict scrutiny procedure before they are allowed to come to the US - at least that was what I went

 through even though my family is American. I only become a resident after 20 years of effort. The government knows my DNA and genome profile better than I do.

As for illegal immigration, I think some sort of immigration reform should be implemented to some deserving undocumented aliens as some do deserve it. If they do not have a criminal record and have lived in a decent way, they should be given a chance to live here. After all, the first immigrants did not have documents either, but that did not prevent them from working hard and becoming a model citizens.

I also agree that we should not have a Chinatown, Russian Town, Latino Town as this can easily prevent integration into American culture. We can be proud of our ethnic heritage but should be more identified with the country that gives us refuge. Immigrants should embrace the country in full and wholeheartedly, and be grateful; otherwise they should go back where they come from. For example, in the Philippines, a person who is ethically 100% Chinese became the President because of that country's integration policy. She has identified with and visited  her Chinese roots but she doesn't speak chinese and has taken a Filipino name.

Also, all immigrants should speak English as the official language and not insist on their own language. As the saying goes "When in Rome, do what the Romans do" or go back to "Athens and do the Athenian way." In essence, why leave your country and want the country that adopts you to become like the country you left - they doesn't even appreciate you.


Immigration is not out of control. On the contrary, it is good for the economy, it is good for the country.