Turning Your Back on Immigrants Is a Betrayal

The children of immigrants in America tend to take on two responsibilities: They care for their immigrant parents, and they care for other immigrants as if they were their own parents. That has been a noble American tradition for over two centuries. Few things are sadder or more treacherous than closing the door to immigrants who came after us, which is what some U.S. presidential candidates want to do.

Going Home

We’re stuck. It’s almost midnight, and Mexico City’s airport doesn’t have enough gates to accommodate all the flights that are landing. So we wait: a half-hour in an airliner at a standstill, then another half-hour in a small bus, then an hour in line at customs. By daybreak, there is a chill in the air. But it doesn’t matter. I’m finally home, for a little while — to see my mother, my siblings and the city I left almost 33 years ago.