The Immigrant Story

Ours is an open and accepting society, and has historically provided an avenue for lawful immigration to all those willing to accept the responsibilities of citizenship. ~Spencer Bachus

We've been travelling far
Without a home
But not without a star

Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream... Neil Diamond, "America"

I was moved by several stories I heard this week at school, one from a student and the other from a supply teacher.

A student came early to home room and we talked about the circumstances of her arrival to Canada eight years ago from Iraq. She was born there in the early 90's at the onset of the Kuwait Iraq war. Her father managed to escape to Canada leaving his young pregnant wife behind. Following his successful placement in Canada and finding a secure job, he successfully filed papers for his wife and daughter to join him. However, their departure was complicated by lots of bureaucratic red tape until finally the young family managed a clandestine escape, but not before border guards shot just over their heads, a sound that the student hears to this day.

The supply teacher was educated in India where she majored in English literature. Then one day her parents told her that they had found a suitable husband for her. He lives in Canada, has a Master's Degree in Engineering with a secure job. A bit reluctantly she met the young man and over the next two weeks they fell in love. Shortly thereafter they got married, and now she has a young child as they progress with their lives in Canada.

In the 1920's my parents managed to escape from the Ukraine after having lost their prosperous farms and all of their holdings. The Russian Revolution after the First World War decimated the countryside, and roving bands of hoodlums shattered the peace of prosperous farming communities. Their arrival to Canada resulted in a large debt that took over a decade to repay in the midst of the Great Depression.

In the midst of great plenty in Canada and the U.S. there is the immigrant story. There are billions of people who would love to have a fraction of what we enjoy and take for granted every day. As teachers scan their classrooms, for example, they can sense the magnitude of the immigrant factor in society.

What are the best decisions about who comes, and about our response to their needs, in school and in society?