Immigration Status

I was attending a family event in East Rutherford, New Jersey a couple of weeks ago. Lin and I had Babci (my 88 year old Polish mother-in-law) with us. We drove past the regional high school and up on the big sign it read ‘Student of the Month- Julia Dombrowski’.

Well Julia is Babci’s granddaughter and Lin’s niece. It’s a fantastic honor to be ‘Student of the Month’. Of course, my little brain couldn’t just leave it there. You see years before, Babci had been the Matron at the very same school- basically being the cleaning lady and helping to keep general order amongst the girls at the school.

And Babci never had the opportunity to even attend high school.

And this got me thinking about all the Immigration battles going on today in the U.S.A.

Babci’s older sister and brother were born in Poland. The family emigrated to the United States, entering through Ellis Island with the hope of a better future. Babci was born in a little shack on a farm up by Pine Island, New York. Her Mom went back out into the field to finish working within a few hours of giving birth.

When Babci was 7, the family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey where 5 more siblings were born. The family of 8 lived in a small 4-room apartment Downtown. No car, no air conditioning, no TV, coal heat that they had to manage, 2 party phone- shared with another family, no bathtub- they used a washtub for cleaning clothes and for bathing, and they shared a bathroom with another family.

Because of their tough financial situation, Babci left school after the 8th grade to go to work. By law, she attended ‘continuation school’ until the age of 16. She worked at various jobs- assembly line work at a mirror factory, cleaning and doing the laundry for a 3 story building owned by a druggist… for $7 a week, and for RCA. Falling in love before World War 2, she was married to another immigrant- Henry Dombrowski- during a furlough he had from the US Army. We called him Dziadzi (Polish grandfather).

After the war, they lived in an apartment back in Jersey City. Scrimping and saving working at different jobs, they were able to put a small down payment on a house in Rutherford, New Jersey. Still without their 1st car yet, Dziadzi landed a job with the railroad. And Babci settled in to raising 4 children. She also found time to work a few jobs as well- the aforementioned job as a Matron, cleaning office buildings and working in the mailroom at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Her youngest son Hank is Student of the Month Julia Dombrowski’s dad. Hank’s formal education stopped after high school but he was always willing to work. He has a great job as a foreman with Public Service Electric & Gas. He also has run a successful Christmas Tree business for the last 20 years.

And so it was. Dream of coming to America for an opportunity to work and build a better life. Working hard and sacrificing for your family. Serving your new country. And then reaping the benefits of living and working in the USA- a home of your own, a job with health and retirement benefits or a chance to own and run your own business, a safe place to live.

AFTER you helped make the United States a better place, you reap the benefits.

It seems that nowadays, the reason many come to America is to benefit from our Social Welfare system- food stamps, free education, welfare, free health-care, etc. In many cases the mentality seems to be ‘what can I get for free or without working?’ New communities have formed that try to imitate what their ‘country of origin’ was like. There is no desire to assimilate into our society but rather to ‘use’ our system.

Babci and Dziadzi and their parents had to learn the language spoken in the land of opportunity. They knew it would be foolish to expect their new country to change languages. The new immigrants studied and practiced to be able to communicate with their new neighbors.

But our government has failed us. For too long it ignored immigration laws and allowed people to enter our country illegally. Not only is this a disservice to American citizens but also to everyone who has followed the law to live here. The ‘illegals’ also suffer in that they cannot speak the language, understand the culture and truly become part of our ‘communities’.

What good has it done to ‘legalize’ another language? It only further ostracizes people who really need to learn a new way of life and not be trapped in their old cultures that failed them. Don’t get me wrong, cultural traditions are fine. It’s when people try to ‘change’ the land of opportunity to something else- something that failed back in their home countries- that I grieve.

It’s like the programs to raise self-esteem in schools. Everyone is a winner. Everyone is special. Everyone is smart. The missing ingredient in these well-intentioned recipes is W-O-R-K! Sadly, hard work has been glossed over.

We presented 2 assemblies this week in a very poor community in New Jersey. The majority of the children were either homeless or lived in low rent motels for 9 months out of the year. We were brought in by the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The shows rocked. The principal and teachers were excited. The kids were pumped up.

So what happens to these ‘children of illegals’ once they get to high school? Well, they’ve been getting free breakfast and lunch, government paid for housing, free education, free medical….

I had a chance to speak with one of the high school counselors. She said that it’s extremely frustrating because the kids EXPECT everything to be handed to them. It’s how they have been raised.

Something ain’t right folks and it’s not the kid’s fault.

Someone needs to put ‘Term Limits’ on our politicians. If limits are good enough for the President they should be good enough for our Senators and Congressman. Being a politician should not be a career choice but a time of service to this great country.

It’s going to have to be some sort of viral, grassroots movement because we all know that politicians are not going to vote themselves out of office.

Thanks to Babci and Dziadzi for all they have done to make this country better!!!! And congratulations on the successes of their children and grandchildren, as well.

As my friend David DeNotaris always says, “Make it a Great Day”...bye4now...

Your friend (iC),
Russell Jones