Revisiting a post on immigration from 2011

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With all that is going on with immigrants, I am including a story I wrote in 2011 about my grandmother. All my grandparents were immigrants. They came to the US for the same reason people are coming here today, for a better life. Unless you are indigenous, your ancestors emigrated too. They worked hard so their kids and grandkids could have a better life. There were few jobs in their home country and life was hard. Locally they worked in cement plants, steel mills and coal mining.

I am appalled at what I am seeing today. We have ICE here too. They are not arresting drug dealers and murderers. They go to workplaces and schools to meet their quotas. Drug dealers do not hang out there. 

When my grandparents came here, there were no processes. They went through Ellis Island and settled in a community. They faced prejudice. Every ethnicity took a turn at being targeted but they weren’t rounded up and thrown in jails outside of the US. They weren’t accosted on the streets or ripped from their families. I only hope my grandparents did not face anything like what we are seeing today. (BTW the current president married two immigrants who were not citizens. I suspect his money greased the wheels to their citizenship. Being pretty helps.)

We need immigrants and a better, more timely process to citizenship. I have yet to hear a native child say they want to grow up to be a migrant worker or a dishwasher.  They want to be doctors, lawyers and computer game creators. We need people willing to work entry jobs.

My grandmother with my aunt, my mother, my brothers and a cousin.

This post commemorates my maternal grandmother although her background story fits all my grandparents. I have no real memory of her. She died when I was three. My mother would tell me that I would run to her and put my arms upward, which meant “pick me up and cuddle me please!” She would say, “I can’t lift you but if your mother lifts you, you can sit in my lap (in German).”  I wish I could remember that.

I owe a lot to her. She left her home in Austria to emigrate here when she was a very young married woman. She spoke no English and never did although she lived here for fifty years. She never had to learn. She lived in a German community. The shop owners and butchers all spoke German. The church had German masses. I have a soft spot in my heart for immigrants who do not speak the language. I can’t blame them for wanting to hold onto their culture and history. It’s not because they are lazy. Good grief! They need to work hard to make it.

I can’t imagine leaving my family and friends and all I knew to live in a foreign country. Especially since it was unlikely you would ever return to the homeland or see your parents, even for a visit. She didn’t.

She had nine children. That was common in those days – five boys and four girls. My mother was the second youngest. My grandfather died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. My mother was under ten. She had vivid memories of her father complaining about the chiming of the bells as he lay dying. It was Armistice Day signaling the end of World War I.

Now my grandmother had all these kids to raise. The older ones worked and turned in their money so the family could survive. She took in boarders, grew vegetables, and canned food. It was run like a commune. Everyone had to work together. There was no Medicare or Social Security or security net to help in those days (or indoor plumbing either!). My mother was yanked out of school when she was thirteen to go to work. The boys, who had more physical jobs, had first dibs at the meat but there were always vegetables, dumplings and strudel to go around.

My mother often talked about her childhood. It was nothing like mine. It was out of a Dickens tale with all the hardship but none of the nastiness. It wasn’t at all like “The Sound of Music” which she loved. She wasn’t sad or resentful. It was all about family and surviving. Christmas presents were oranges (a real treat) and nuts with maybe some yarn to make a sweater.

It is difficult for me to grasp what these women sacrificed and accomplished to make my life so much better. Thanks Grammy and Mom too!

Note: The picture in this post is one of the few I have of her.  Her gray hair is braided and wrapped around her head. According my brother, she always wore an apron and always looked old. She was a great cook and a loving Grammy.

 

45 thoughts on “Revisiting a post on immigration from 2011”

  2. I really loved reading your family story, Kate, and also knowing that you’re also as distressed as I am at what we are currently seeing and experiencing with the ICE raids. I won’t use your blog to spout off, at least not to the full extent of my outrage, but what we are experiencing in my state and very close to where I live is breaking my heart. Los Angeles IS a city of immigrants. We’ve seen some violence, yes, and I suspect, sadly and with alarm, there is going to be much more. I hope the the rest of the country is prepared to do without their produce.

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  3. I think the saying in German is: Ich kann dich nicht hochheben, aber wenn deine Mutter dich hochhebt, kannst du auf meinem Schoß sitzen. Not only is the current policy regarding the treatment of immigrants, what is more alarming is that so many people think it’s okay. Whatever happened to our humanity toward others?

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  4. My great grandparents also immigrated legally. I am all for legally immigrating here as we do need more workers.

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    • I’m for making an immigration process that isn’t complex and doesn’t take 15 years. When my grandparents immigrated there was no illegal immigration as all immigrants were needed to work.

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    • To think that my grandparents could have gone through this is sad. They worked very hard to make a good life for their kids. I don’t know how we got here but I hope people coming together will turn it around.

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  6. What a beautiful post…….if not for immigrants, we would not have the wide diversity of writing, art, and a MILLION other things that were brought to this country through the ages. We are fortunate to have a well rounded culture and population with the richness that time brings. So sad to see what has happened to much of that – we continue to hope things change……and soon…..before our heritage is forcibly crushed.

    Big Hugs, Pam (and Teddy too)

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    • We need empathy and kindness now more than ever. When I lived in north Jersey, you could walk into a deli and hear 4 different languages. It was a true melting pot and with it came some of the best cuisine and art. Even the pilgrims were immigrants.

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  7. Thank you for repeating this post. It’s a lovely tribute to your grandma.

    Two of my grandmas and one of my grandpas were immigrants. Like your grandparents, they worked hard, lived a simple life and didn’t complain. My other grandpa had ancestors that came over on the second boat after the Mayflower. That branch of my family has interesting stories too way back to the Revolutionary War.

    I wonder how long Trump will benefit by making up lies and scare stories about immigrants. I think they’re becoming less and less popular.

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    • Thanks. I’m hopeful that my grandparents didn’t have the fear of deportation hanging over their heads. Life is hard enough. I don’t live near a border yet they are here rounding up people at jobsites and workplaces. It doesn’t matter that they have papers. They have quotas to meet.

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    • That is heart warming to hear. We had a large group here too but not quite that big. There has been almost constant picketing at the office of our local congressman, occasionally causing congestion on the roads nearby. We have to make our voices heard.

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  9. Kate, I have no hatred of immigrants either and that’s not just because I am one. I think you know I am a Canadian citizen, who moved here when my father transferred with Ford Motor Company in 1966. I was 10 at the time. I have maintained my Canadian citizenship and carry a green card. Interestingly, my green card is up for renewal this year – it actually expired on June 5th. I have to renew it every 10 years. I applied in January 2025 as you can’t apply more than six months in advance, then I was sent to two appointments in the month of February at the immigration intake center for biometrics captures (a photo of my face and electronic capture of my signature and fingerprints). Just like the last thirty years, every time I go for a renewal, I have issues with my fingerprints. Years of using a keyboard have worn my fingerprints off. Thus, it’s a problem to not have good fingerprints on file at the Department of Homeland Security. This year I was sent twice as mentioned above, even though the first appointment I asked for inkprints having had to return in 2015 when inkprints were taken instead of just an electronic capture the second time. They would not permit this and said “when you’re rejected a second time, you’ll go to the police station and be fingerprinted there.”

    Unbelievably, for the first time since I got my green card in 1966, I am carrying it on me at all times, along with the receipt that I paid $415.00 for my application fee on January 17th. I have always kept it in a safe place in the house since 1966. This is because if I am stopped, I can prove my status is pending, but I filed timely. However, the Immigration Service is currently backed up with so many new green card applicants that currently new applicants are processed before existing renewal applicants, so my current green card is in effect for an additional 36 months. Per my case file, I should not contact them to inquire re: my progress until August of 2026. Yes, 2026, not a typo. It’s been an interesting year.

    My grandmother’s family was German – she was one of nine kids and they lived on a farm. I often heard my grandmother talking about her and her siblings taking ketchup sandwiches or apple butter sandwiches for their school lunch and nothing else. We have the situation here of a lot of Mexican people that have congregated in Southwest Detroit and people call it “Mexicantown” – to be honest, this was always the best place to go for Mexican food when I worked downtown. They also have the shops, specialty markets, etc. But there is fear now with ICE raids. I understand the people coming from other countries wanting to stay with fellow countrymen. Your grandmother reminds me of the Italian couple that lived two doors down from us and long gone now. He worked in cement, but was retired and she had been a homemaker. He spoke very broken English – she spoke no English, but they had lived here, having come from Italy, many decades before.

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    • The immigration system needs a major overhaul. You’ve been here long enough that it should be easier and quicker to renew. I am sorry you have to carry your information on you. It shouldn’t be that way. I handled H1B visas when I worked and they were a hassle. At one point, after months of no progress, I found myself screaming at an agent because our employee’s visas was expiring that same week. It didn’t help. Back then it wasn’t uncommon to work with an expired visa until the new one came through even if it was applied for months before. Now it’s a different story. The position that we needed H1B visa employees for was actuary and they were from China. There aren’t enough actuaries in the US. I often wonder how that’s working considering our relationship with China these days.

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      • I can imagine what you went through as to your HR job because we had an immigration lawyer at the first firm where I worked and that was his sole practice. I was assigned to work for him after my boss retired. One of our Detroit-based clients had a satellite plant in Windsor, Ontario, so some of the employees had to cross the border to work there for a day or so, mostly engineers. Tom would get a phonecall from a border agent because the employee did not have his proper paperwork with him and Tom had to go rushing to the border with xerox copies of all his paperwork. Most of the time the employee did not speak or comprehend English well, so I was always glad if Tom was in the office to get the call and I didn’t have to deal with it. As to me, this has never happened before that they extend the green cards past their date, let alone 36 months. There are a lot of skilled workers (as well as students) over here so I hope their status is not changed from all this.

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        • I hated doing visa work. Our employees, who were brilliant, didn’t always manage the language well. The government employees who I dealt with were not fast nor did they seem caring. It was a very frustrating situation. It could have been that the government employees were overworked so maybe I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt there but there wasn’t any hussle.

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          • I don’t blame you – there is a lot of paperwork involved and bringing our employees over from foreign countries involved a lot of work beforehand as well. Some of our client companies contracted with interpreters to help out with the transition to the U.S.

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  10. Such a shame you guys never brought in compulsory voting Kate. MAKE people vote – the majority won’t elect buffoons and confidence tricksters. ~ Another Donald, The Lucky Country.

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  11. When I look at my family tree, Canada, England and many other countries are involved because we are not Native Americans. I find today’s events sad and embarrassing. I was out and about all day today and saw several protest groups. One thing I found very interesting was that the vast majority of the protesters were seniors.

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  13. Thank you so much for posting this story about your family. Very inspiring!

    Like many, I am disgusted with what’s going on these days! I know for certain that many people who are here legally are being grabbed outside courthouses when they show up for official interviews, etc. All the ones I know of had green cards, had jobs, never were in trouble with the law, paid taxes, and belonged to local churches.

    Instead of the Jews, who Hitler blamed for everything, Trump is blaming immigrants.

    History is being replayed right in front of us!

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    • I see the faces of my ancestors in those refugees. I don’t live anywhere near the border so the people they are taking here have jobs, families and some level of paperwork toward citizenship. I’m also upset that the green light was given to white people from South Africa. What made their story different? Skin color?

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  15. This post is so meaningful today, Kate. I am also appalled at what I am seeing today. I am incredibly sad over the actions of the current administration and horrified at what the US has become. I hold in my heart the hope that we will get past this and be once again the USA that I can be proud of and where we all can feel safe. I wake up every day and wonder what is next.

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  16. Thanks for posting this, Kate. What Trump is doing to this country is NOT designed to Make America Great Again . . . just the opposite. It’s so sad.

    That said, I hope it rains on his parade!

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  17. I don’t understand the hatred for immigrants, but know it’s a real dangerous thing. Interesting about your grandparents whose story rings true for many of us. I cannot say for sure if my ancestors arrived here with the proper paperwork or not. Were they documented? I don’t know. I do know they worked to make America great because they had a chance to prosper.

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    • I don’t understand it either. They often take basic jobs that are hard to fill. They sacrifice themselves so their kids and grandkids have a better life. They and all that came before them are what make America great.

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  18. The folks hating on immigrants are so willfully ignorant. They scream “They’re taking our jobs!” Nope, they’re working in a field that established Americans quit after a half-day (literally, we last a half-day working in California’s central valley). The only immigrant taking our jobs is Elon Musk (over 200,000, although the Trump admin has desperately started trying to rehire some of them because oops).

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    • There are so many jobs that natives won’t do that an immigrant would do without complaint. We have Greek immigrants too but they only seem to go after the ones from Central America.

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