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Commentary, Op-Ed, Letters to the Editor
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 12:01PM Where has the American Dream Gone?
Written by John Dennehy
Immigration reform is one of those issues that just won’t go away. Not only is immigration so important to the future of this nation, but it is an issue that provokes a lot of passion; and a lot of division. The debate sometimes subsides but it never goes away, and it once more splashed across the headlines in late April when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law. The law requires police to question people they suspect of being in the US illegally. It also requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents on them at all times. The controversial law will not just encourage, but require police harassment on the Latino community, and likely drive them away – illegal or not. The law seems to completely ignore the ideals on which this nation was founded upon and replace it with a conservative nationalism that forgets we were all immigrants once.
America is the home of the immigrant – America is the entire world together. From every corner of the globe passionate people come to make their dreams a reality. The “American Dream” is a very real idea the world over, and so many people yearn for it, strive for it, and are inspired by it.
Our grandparents came here in search of their dreams and bore grandchildren who have forgotten what dreaming is; and have dammed the rest of the world. We could be a land of ideals; our idealism could be what brings everyone together here. Freedom has become just a catchy word and arrogant nationalism our new ideal. America is a pyramid scheme continually pushing everyone up who’s come before with each new generation of immigrants. And we still are the home of the immigrant, but today’s immigrants come across our borders not with the hope of a better life, just a better paycheck. All the fences in the world won’t stop an avalanche of hungry people looking for remedial work; money and those who seek it know no bounds. The fences we build, both physical and otherwise, do not exist to the exploiters and the exploited, but they are very real barriers to the dreamers – and we are driving the dreamers away.
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John Dennehy is a teacher, writer, dreamer and traveler. He has spent most of his life in Kings Park but more recently spent five years living and working in Latin America and Asia. He is finishing his first book which is about life, love, revolution, and sneaking across South American borders. For more on his book and other projects or adventures check out www.johndennehy.org
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