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April has come and gone.<\/p>\n
April always marks an important anniversary in my life. \u00a0On April 26th, 1991, my parents, my sister and I boarded a midnight American Airlines flight in Lima, Peru with Miami as its destination. \u00a0Home Alone<\/i>\u00a0was the movie aired during the flight. <\/p>\n
We left because our home country no longer welcomed us. \u00a0Remaining home meant at best the kidnapping of my father or a family member, at worst, the murdering of one of us. \u00a0Any exercise of choice in this matter was an illusion, the decision was made for us.<\/p>\n
We came to an alien land though we had visited the United States numerous times. \u00a0We unwillingly left everything that was familiar for the sake of finding peace and liberty. \u00a0After dealing with lawyers and paying thousands of dollars in fees, the United States welcomed us and it became our new home. \u00a0By 1994 we were United States residents (good luck achieving it that quickly today).<\/p>\n
Being uprooted is one of the most traumatic experiences a human being can live through. \u00a0If a person is able to work with dignity to make a living and be part of a peaceful society, that person will not migrate. \u00a0Immigrants do not leave their home country willingly. <\/p>\n
Being uprooted often leads to a grave identity crisis. \u00a0The uprooted person belongs nowhere. \u00a0Even if rooted in a new land and new society, the link to the mother country remains. \u00a0The immigrant will always \u201clook differently\u201d, \u201cspeak differently\u201d or \u201cthink differently\u201d even if he or she feels rooted in the host country. <\/p>\n
Many react harshly and in a condescending\u00a0manner towards immigrants. \u00a0Not too long ago I heard someone state, \u201cthe United States is a country only of its citizens.\u201d \u00a0I was offended. \u00a0I am not a citizen but a resident and I feel 100% part of this country. \u00a0Likewise hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants strengthen the United States, many even willing to fight and to die for their country.<\/p>\n
On the radio a few months ago I heard someone say, \u201cimmigrants do nothing for this country.\u201d \u00a0I could not believe what I was hearing. \u00a0A sarcastic thought crossed my mind,\u201dI suppose I have added nothing to this country, I might as well go back to Peru.\u201d <\/p>\n
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! <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. \u00a0Nothing has changed, we have been and continue to be the Church of immigrants. \u00a0May 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.<\/p>\n
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