For 15 months, we’ve heard rumblings about immigrants.
It’s now the middle of November – a time many of us thought would never come. This election season was divisive, and more than anything, felt like a time where the media, lawmakers, and potential presidential candidates talked at us, rather than having conversations with us.
The simple fact remains that we are a nation of immigrants. Almost every single one of us came here from somewhere else, and for generations we’ve been trying to figure out what that means for our heritage, for our communities, and for our future.
In 2014, the U.S. immigrant population, legal permanent residents, temporary workers, and authorized immigrants, stood at 42.4 million, or 13.3 percent, of the total U.S. population of 318.9 million. The diversity in the inflow of new immigrants might be surprising to some people. In 2014, the leading country of origin for new immigrants was India, followed by China, Mexico, Canada and the Philippines, in that order.
Now, more than ever, and as difficult and often impossible as it may seem, we need a conversation. At a time when President-elect Trump wants to immediately deport 2-3 million people, we actually need a conversation about what immigration reform can and should look like. About the people and families behind these statistics. That’s why I’m thrilled to participate in the fourth of the National Archives’ series of National Conversations, this one entitled “Amending America – Immigration: Barriers and Access,” in Los Angeles on November 19.
This “National Conversation,” hosted in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum, will focus on past and current immigration barriers, and on the varied experiences of immigrants. This is so important. For too long, American immigrants have been painted with one brush, and one color. But the fact is that our stories and our experiences could not be more different, and in a time where anti-immigration rhetoric seems to be at an all-time high, it’s so important for Americans to hear these stories and get to know their neighbors, because we are here to stay.
But discussions are difficult. It’s easier to yell – it’s easier to type a flippant remark into a Facebook comment, or a 140-character attack. But that is just simply not who we are, or who we should strive to be, or how we will find solutions for our shared future.
Now is the time to hear each other. Truly, sometimes painfully, hear each other.
I became an American citizen in August 2014 because I believed in the promise of this country. As President Obama said after this election, we cannot move backward, only forward. So let’s move forward together.
The National Archives’ discussion may be the next of these conversations where we need to hear each other, but it cannot be the last. I hope you’ll join to listen, to share, or to simply observe what can be truly possible – that we can discuss difficult, sensitive, heartfelt topics on which we disagree – and still respect each other.
I became a citizen of this country because I believe that. I still do.
Julissa Arce is a writer and author of My (Underground) American Dream, chairman and co-founder of the Ascend Educational Fund, and serves on the board of directors of the National Immigration Law Center and CollegeSpring. She has previously spent nearly 10 years on Wall Street as a vice president at Goldman Sachs, some of those years while undocumented.
Held from spring 2016 to early 2017, the “National Conversation” series explores topics related to the continuing and often complicated issues of rights in our modern era, including: immigration, civil rights and individual freedom, and women’s rights and gender equality. The National Archives’ “National Conversation on Rights and Justice – Immigration: Barriers and Access” will be held on November 19th in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum.