Immigration- the UpSide

Written on: April 16, 2014

Has anyone else noticed the great number of outstanding Americans who were born in other countries but are currently leading fields of science, business, technology, medicine, etc. here in the U.S.? They were immigrants.

They were probably well-educated before they came to us but still remind me of the first Mexican families to whom I ministered in Atlanta, Georgia.

All were poor.

None spoke English.

All were illegal.

All hard-working.

All benefited from the amnesty in the early 1980’s.

All are now millionaires, with restaurant chains throughout the south and southeastern states.

This kind of turn-around will happen again and again if we give our present undocumented a chance to live legally, freely among us.

Sr. Barbara Harrington first went to Atlanta to teach like most Sisters in the middle of the last century. Gradually, she began using her Spanish skills to help new locals learn English. Before she knew it, she was no longer in the classroom. She was becoming less and less a teacher and more and more a learner. As she moved into Social Service, she facilitated the natural inclination of people to better themselves for the sake of their families. She experienced first-hand the Up-Side of Immigration. 

This entry was posted in With a Heart for Justice and tagged: education, hardworking, Immigration, poor, undocumented