30 October 2018

My grandfather, Michael Edward Varga, came to the USA in this kind of caravan. He emigrated from Bohemia and would serve in WWI, become a chef, see my mother born and, sadly, perish from a heart attack in Detroit before he could ever get to know her, much less me. 

But I think a lot about him and the other folks like him on the ship’s deck in this photo. Our family isn’t sure what provoked him to leave everything he ever knew or what—if any—specific opportunity attracted him to the States, but it’s surely no different than the Central Americans on foot, making their way here, right now. 

The Hondurans and my grandfather seek and sought the same thing: a chance to settle peacefully and tend to a family. 

Why not provide it? It’s in our DNA and we have hundreds of years of evidence that it makes us better and stronger. Don’t be fooled into hating these people. It is the immigrants’ determination, hope and gratitude that has fueled the success of our country. Immigration defines us.