Immigrants – Why I chose not to be one.

I am one of the very few people who opted not to become a citizen of the numerous countries I was privileged to live and study in.

My mother, a Norwegian immigrant, was always puzzled as to why, I, her daughter, would get up and walk away every time the topic of “changing my citizenship to that of a Norwegian” would come up.

The idea of changing one’s citizenship and to be labeled as an immigrant just so that one can live, study and work in a western country in my opinion is absurd. I lived, studied and worked in a lot of countries and I did all that legally on a student visa as well as a resident visa. And the beauty of it is that I never changed my citizenship, and I came back to the country I was born to and used the knowledge, which I gained while living in those countries, to contribute to the welfare of my country and my people. I think of all those people who abandoned their country and left it for better employment and a better life. All I can say to them is,” come back and spent a few years in your land of birth and invest some of your time, knowledge and the skills you have gained throughout the years to help your people and your country. For that is the greatest gift which you can give to the land and the people who gave you life.

There are some Americans and Europeans who view the overwhelming entry of legal and illegal immigrants and refugees throughout the years into their countries have been the cause to the rise of terrorism. Do you blame them for thinking this way? I know I don’t. After all, most of these immigrants and refugees do come from terrorist countries.

I know a few Americans who have repeatedly blamed Congress for getting rid of the National Origin Act of 1924 and the Asiatic Barred Zone of 1917 in 1965. These Americans, who are my friends, feel that Congress’s decision has cost their country and people dearly. Their country has become susceptible to terrorist attacks and their traditional American way of life is disintegrating.

For those of you want to know what the National Origin Act of 1924 and the Asiatic Barred Zone of 1917 is, here it is:

The National Origin Act was established “to confine immigration as much as possible to western and northern European stock”.

The Asiatic Barred Zone was created “to exclude all persons from Asia”.

I don’t know if you agree with everything I have written. If you do, then you, like me, are concerned for not only the country which is rightly yours by birth, but also for the damage most immigrants are doing to themselves and us by living in countries where they are not welcome and do not belong.


Rain

http://www.immigrationforum.org