My Immigration Story

Statistics do not tell the story of immigration. People do. Since its inception, this nation has been continually infused with the energy of newcomers. Yet their assimilation has seldom been smooth. The challenges we face today are not new. Only the stories are.

I want to conclude this blog with one of the most interesting sites I've run into: myimmigrationstory.com

I've spent the last hour reading through hundreds of stories about the journeys from people all over the World into the United States of America.

Most of them are heartbreaking, their husbands, sons, wives and daughters have been deported from the country, leaving them alone, without money, homes, or someone to rely on. Most, are people that had lived years in the USA, working and paying taxes,

Others, rememorate the time they crossed the border and stepped into America.

Some, write from their original country, a country they no longer call their own, reminiscing all they left back in the United States.

They all have one thing in common: they call themselves true Americans, who are proud of their backgrounds, but still model citizens of this country.

Go ahead, read a story, they all have something to tell.

Salud!

For many immigrants and their descendants, Barack Obama's election Tuesday finally redeemed the Statue of Liberty's promise of freedom and opportunity for all

About two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Obama, decisively surpassing the 53 percent who voted for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, exit polls showed. That year Bush enjoyed a high-water mark of GOP support from Hispanics with 44 percent of the vote from the nation's fastest growing ethnic group.
Here we have it readers! The day finally came and went. Obama is the new president of the United States, what The Chicago Tribune calls "an emotional triumph for African-Americans. But the moment also was electrifying for immigrants from other lands—from the Middle East to Latin America to the islands of the Pacific."
Obama attracted votes from two out of three Hispanics, the fastest-growing demographic group, making the difference in Florida, Colorado and other states with significant Hispanic populations. More than 40 percent of Hispanics voted for President George W. Bush four years ago.

And in truth, the nation's democratic ideal is still a work in progress. But for one night at least, Americans with families from all corners of the Earth had something to celebrate—and to share with relatives in an older homeland

Some believe the reason McCain didn't win the election on immigration because he was running at a time when there is generally a good level of dissatisfaction with the current administration, and Latinos are no different in holding that view.



Even though many immigrants couldn't vote because of their illegal status, many of them still actively participated in the elections, knocking on doors in ethnic neighborhoods, manning the phones in myriad languages and distributing political flyers.
And that is something that just says what America is all about.
Obama won't just be the President to greencard holders, he will also be the President to the illegal worker who sweeps the aisles at Walmart, picks the crops in Kansas, fries eggs at your nearest IHOP and cleans houses in Miami. He will be President to all of us.
The immigrants chose, and they chose clearly.
Salud!