Helen Raleigh is a senior contributor to The Federalist. An immigrant from China, she is also the owner of Red Meadow Advisors, and an immigration policy fellow at the Centennial Institute in Colorado. In other words she knows her stuff. She is a fine addition to America and understands that socialism is deeply anti-American.
Legal immigrants are some of the most vocal critics of illegal immigration.
Don’t cut the long line. @berniemoreno waited in line to become a citizen – and now he is running to be a U.S. Senator.https://t.co/LgU3whX3sI
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) November 12, 2021
Raleigh: The woke left has long professed that they love immigrants. But in truth, their love is conditioned on whether the immigrants accept its woke ideology. For those immigrants who reject its doctrine, the woke left has only detestation.
After last week’s election, Michael Eric Dyson, a frequent commentator on MSNBC, disparaged Virginia’s incoming lieutenant governor Winsome Sears, the first Black woman elected to that position, by calling her a “Black mouth” for “White supremacist practices.” Sears is a Jamaican immigrant and Marine Corps veteran. In her victory speech, she talked about how her life embodies the American dream, and her election is a decisive repudiation of the woke left’s false narratives on race.
Early this week, a Silicon Valley tech executive, Melinda Byerley, CEO of Fiddlehead, a digital consulting company, went on an extended Twitter rant, calling non-White immigrants “parasites” and telling immigrants who support lower taxes and limited social welfare systems to “go home.”
I have a message for them: I’m not going anywhere because the United States is my home. I’m a naturalized U.S. citizen. The same Constitution affords me the same rights as it does for any U.S. citizen.
Twenty-five years ago, I came to the U.S. all by myself with less than $100 in my pocket. Today, I have a wonderful family of my own. I’m neither rich nor famous, but I get to do things I love every day, especially things I would never have been able to do in Communist China – freely speaking my mind.
My experience is not an outlier. Millions of immigrants share similar journeys and have achieved much more significant successes than mine. But we all live in our American dreams because the American dream is never about obtaining material means. It is always about having the liberty to take charge of one’s own destiny, including maintaining independent thinking and the freedom of speech.
We are grateful for America’s free-market economic system, which has created abundant opportunities for people willing to work hard and take risks to succeed. That’s why many of us oppose high taxes and the expansive welfare state because we had first-hand experiences living in countries that were ruined economically by these socialist policies…
Let’s have a healthy, open and honest debate on how to make our country better. But do not tell us, immigrants, to go back to where we came from because you don’t like us disagreeing with you. The United States is our home. We are not going anywhere and we won’t stop speaking up either.
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Illogical! Lower taxes & less spending are not the positions of “parasites” You “go home,” Fiddlehead!
I am a bit confused about her story. I do agree with most of what she said except for the first paragraph where she writes, “calling non-White immigrants “parasites” and telling immigrants who support lower taxes and limited social welfare systems to “go home.” She speaks to how she came to America with just $100 dollars and built a career and life. I find her accomplishments to be great and encouraging to other immigrants no matter their race. As a student back in the 60’s diversity was taught in my schools. I loved meeting people and getting to know them if they were from a different country and even a different state. I was raised to always accept each person as a friend until they give you reason not to trust them. I have done that all my life and love meeting people from around the world. Different traditions, amazing foods, educational and interesting dialogues still are exciting for me. I wish more people took time to learn about a person before they decide they aren’t worth knowing. But it isn’t all about skin color…I am white, I am overweight…get a lot of very mean people in this world with very hurtful remarks. But I just give a smile and say thank you for sharing your feelings. Then I give them a big smile. There a millions of great people in this nation and around the world. We all have many things in common like enjoying food together, discussing small things and bigger things together. There will always be the jerks, but it is easier to ignore them and live your life and just be HAPPY.