In 2018, we will hear
new political discussions about “reforming” our legal immigration system. This
will dredge up the worst ideas America has ever produced for immigration. See the picture above as an example.
By some (not all) definitions
of the term, Nikki Haley is an “anchor baby”— the American born child of
immigrants. Usually, the term is reserved for children of unlawful aliens; but
for some anti-immigrant groups, they mean all nonwhite, non-Christian children
born in the U.S. (We’ll get back to this idea in a just a moment for Melania
and Baron.)
Nimrata Randhawa (Nikki
Haley) was born in South Carolina in 1972 to an Indian American Sikh father and
mother. Her father came to the U.S. on a work visa as a professor. Both parents
earned advanced degrees in India. Her mother was allowed to immigrate with him
by using a “family preference”— the legal term that some people insultingly
call “chain migration.” Nikki is the next link in that chain—and a tremendous
credit to American assimilation. Now, ironically, she’s all-good with turning
America’s back on global engagement and immigration.
Melania Melanija was
born in Slovenia. By former U.S. immigration laws, immigrants from this part of
Europe were considered dark-skinned, non-Nordic people and were almost entirely
barred from immigrating. She came to the U.S. on a specialized work visa for fashion
models (called an O visa). She became an American citizen by marriage to Donald
Trump. This form of citizenship will come under attack in 2018 by
anti-immigration forces.
By some definitions,
Baron Trump is an anchor baby—the son of a darker-skinned immigrant from an
undesirable part of the world.
There are millions of
people like Nikki, Melania, and Baron. I’m one of them as the son of a
Hungarian Jew. Together, we help to make America great.
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