By Dan Schneider, Trustee
When many of my ancestors came to Ohio from Germany in the nineteenth century, there were no federal restrictions on immigration. Compared to today, entering the United States was relatively easy.
While many of us like to say we’re a nation of immigrants and their descendants, that statement makes invisible the millions of people indigenous to this land and those brought here as slaves. Some of my ancestors settled on land that had been recently taken from the indigenous people of the area. My dad’s side of the family encountered people who were neither immigrants nor children of immigrants. In 1882 my great-grandparents purchased the farm where members of my family lived for 85 years. Near the farm was a community of formerly enslaved people and their families. My grandfather, who was born on the farm in 1884, grew up hearing stories of the horrors of slavery and bequeathed to his family a belief in racial equality.
Today things are different. Federal immigration restrictions began around the same time my great-grandparents purchased the farm, and the first restrictions were directed against people who came to this country from China. They, like many, were brought here to work. In the twentieth century, Congress created immigration laws that favored immigrants from northern and western Europe and discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and most other places. During World War II, our national government removed Japanese Americans from their homes and forced them into desolate camps. The government restricted the immigration of Jews who were trying to escape Nazi Germany.
Today the image that comes to mind for most Americans that is reinforced by the media and framed as the “immigration problem” is that of brown people from Mexico and other Latin American nations, the Caribbean, and Africa. My wife Janet and I taught English in Cincinnati for ten years to adults, many undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala. We developed friendships that, in one case, became a relationship that we consider to be family. We learned to appreciate the wonderful people who take great risks to leave a familiar place for a new start. Immigrants tend to be brave people, even in the face of adversity, often heroic in the face of mortal threat, and fairly resilient in response to devastating change. They live in hope. These are qualities that we embrace as Americans.
The United States is a place where immigrants want to work and take care of their families, but they are often looked down on and viewed as a threat. Many of them left dangerous situations in their countries of origin. One young man I came to know lived in slavery as a teenager in Mexico. Another young man from Guatemala said his parents told him to escape before he was killed by gangs.
Religious traditions tell us that we must welcome strangers from other lands. The book of Leviticus in the Jewish Torah (Christian Old Testament) says, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Similar statements are made by all world religions. A humanist perspective would emphasize the common humanity of all people on Earth. Scientists tell us we all come from a common ancestor, “mitochondrial Eve,” who lived between 100,000 and 200,00 years ago in Africa. They tell us, too, that race is a social construct. In a biological sense, our perceived racial differences are insignificant.
I believe many Americans’ resistance to immigration comes from fear of people who seem racially and ethnically different from what has become the “traditional” or stereotypic white Americans. Those fears are often created and made worse by leaders who want to divide ordinary people and thereby maintain power. I believe there are two primary ways to convince more Americans that immigrants, especially asylum seekers, should be welcomed.
First, we need to tell stories and support the immigrants in telling their stories that will show the common humanity of all of us. Secondly, we need to speak the truth that many objective studies have shown—immigrants to the United States, both documented and undocumented, make us a more prosperous nation. I believe they also add to our diversity, which makes the United States a more interesting and enjoyable place to live.
I am proud to be connected with Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice as we work for more just, humane immigration policies. I strongly supported the Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) on protecting Dreamers, young people who were brought to this country as children when their parents entered the US without documentation. The AIW was proposed by UUSJ and approved overwhelmingly by the 2023 Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly.
I have also been honored to participate in online calls that the UUSJ set up with congressional aides in support of the Afghan Adjustment Act. I was able to speak as a Vietnam veteran to ask and demand that we help the people who supported our forces in Afghanistan, just as we helped the Vietnamese people who supported our forces many years ago.
I believe in living in hope, just as immigrants do. That is how I honor the memory of formerly enslaved people who influenced my family and honor the recent immigrants who have influenced me. We need to be true to our values and continue building momentum for justice for immigrants.
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