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Where do Descendants of Immigrants Stand on Modern Immigration?
“We cry in anguish and pain. We show our wounds. We call for help. The crowds on the shore throw out some handful of pennies that fall leaden into the waters. Our cry has not been understood.”
— Aghavnie Yegher
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Nice try by the writer to try to fool his readers by failing to mention that nearly all of the immigration debate in the US is about ILLEGAL immigration.
Few Americans are against controlled, rational LEGAL immigration for those who deserve it.
America is not obligated to take in virtually anyone who crosses the border illegally just because they WANT to come in.
I doubt that Mr. Currie would want South American, Caribbean, African, and east Asian countries to be obligated to take in anyone who merely crossed their borders by whatever means.
Only America is to be swamped, you see. It’s destruction, whether people like Mr. Currie intend it to be so or not. America deserves to be destroyed demographically.
We know ALL about it. Those terrible White people.
Harking back to the mostly LEGAL immigration by Armenians before, during, and after the Genocide has nothing whatsoever do with what US immigration policy should be now.
Someday Armenia’s (and Artsakh’s) borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan will be opened.
Would Armenia (and Mr. Currie) want Turks and Azeris to then cross Armenia’s borders illegally for various nefarious reasons: drugs, crime, human trafficking, and sabotage?
That’s what America’s policies are now. They allow illegal immigrants to come in – and then they are let go and most don’t show up for their court dates.
Would that be a good policy for Armenia and Artsakh?
Has Mr. Currie even considered this question?
It’s a lot different when Armenia could be the victim of illegal immigration, is it not, Mr. Currie?
Ah yes, Armenia must be protected but not America. We understand all too well. No need to explain.
As the granddaughter of a LEGAL Armenian immigrant who, along with his brother, was sent to the U.S. in 1912 to escape the Genocide, which claimed both his parents, Garabed and Maritza Sivaslian, I totally agree with your views. Thank you for stating them so very eloquently.
Krikorian’s ancestors to him: “Shame on you”.
Its true. The immigration system is fubar because something like 80% of asylum claims are knowingly fraudulent. So people who really do need asylum are unable to get it because we have people whose first action on american soil is comprised of dishonesty and fraud. We really need to just cut it all off. Keep the mpp/remain in mexico policy and weed these people out, permaban. Finish building the wall, quit the catch and release model, stop giving federal funding to states like california who offer free healthcare and stimulus checks to illegal aliens and refuse to coordinate with ICE or other government agencies when it comes to finding them. They broke the law! Then and only then can we start to manage immigration properly.
-3rd gen armenian american
It would be nice to focus the immigration issue in our country on how people actually become undocumented immigrations–overstaying visas legally provided to them. Let’s focus on those who are “taking” high paying jobs from our citizens with H1b’s because the US doesn’t educate their citizens well enough that employers can’t find prospects within their own country.
Refugees should be the least of our concerns to go after. On the whole, the very small amount of refugees coming into our country with nothing but work incredibly hard to give back to their adopted communities.
Krikorian is allowed to believe what he does about immigration. Why he takes pleasure in helping dismantle the prospect of having 11 more million people US citizenship is very hard to understand on a moral and ethical level. As Armenians we are very lucky that our relatives made it to the US, risking their lives for future generations to survive. It feels as if this lost on Krikorian.
Brent Currie, my dear young compatriot, you missed one crucial point in your article.
Have any of these immigrants applied the US consulate in their countries, and received visas to immigrate?
The short answer…..NO
I absolutely am for LEGAL immigration. Armenians did not jump border walls or jumped ships, they came here with VALID US GOVERNMENT APPROVED VISAS. Besides, our migrating ancestors came to the USA NOT for economic reasons but because of the constant killings and the eventual Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman government and the Genocidal young turks.
Having said that, I still pity some of them. Most of this new immigrants are good people, and if need be, we should help them.
Tell us about these visas the United States was issuing in 1915, 1920. Be specific.
I agree with you 100%. I am also “half-Armenian” but not like Currie.
Pete:
OK, you tell me on “how” past immigrants arrived to the USA. They definitely were given some kind of “approval” for their voyage, am I right? I call that a “visa.” You may call it something else. What difference does that make? They came to the USA LEGALLY. You cannot argue with my statement here. So, you bringing something trivial and nonsensical is outright foolishness.
Lol, “they were given some kind of approval for their journey, right?”
Dude if you need to ASK a question that underpins your entire thesis, maybe you should rethink your opinion, because you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.
Most people in the USA today are descendants of immigrants, so having Armenian heritage does not make us any different from most other Americans in this way. Many ancestors of many cultures of people escaped from horrid conditions too.
But legal immigration only, please.
Contrary to the fascist rant above, I want to thank you for taking the time to document the monstrosity that is mainstream Armenian political discourse.
Immigrants and refugees are welcome in my home.
SJ, with all due respect and humility, you sound like some of our filthy rich billionaire Liberal politicians, who encourage illegal immigration, but deny these illegal immigrants to live in their neighborhoods. Once, in 2017, in one small social experiment, and wearing dirty shabby clothes, I went and stood in front of Nancy Pelosi’s house for a mere few minutes. After about three minutes, four White men approached me and rudely evicted me by pulling my arms and shoving me as far away from her mansion as possible. If you are a poor immigrant, you may as well go to poorer neighborhoods and live on the streets. The streets where the rich billionaire Liberal politicians live has NO PATIENCE for poor immigrants.
In other word, they like to bring in illegal immigrants and dump them on the native poor, making the lives of these wretched natives (more) unbearable.
I am proud to be born an American.We are the people of many different cultures and there is only one race in America its the human race and many different cultures. We must stop the hate and live in harmony. May your god bless you all.
i agree with mr krikorian, armenians should only migrate to armenia our homeland needs all the support it can get to flourish…as far as america, enough already with immigrants, we are up to our eyeballs in debt, housing and living costs are through the roof, jobs are scarce and wages are not sufficient, how can we help others when we are in a sinking ship, “IF” we are able to, we should help them stay where they are and improve their lives there, lets give the guns to those who need to defend themselves and not those who want to kill others
I am a former Hungarian freedom fighter, immigrant, US serviceman and US citizen.
I support those who oppose illegal immigration to the United States and to Europe.
Krikorian is right.
Istvan Lippai, PhD, you still ARE a freedom fighter. You fought for the freedom of your country, and you EARNED the title. Good job my friend.
I only wished that the current leader of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, did Not sell us for a few petrodollars. Sadly he was tricked by Aliyev with monetary promises, which did Not see the light of day.
However, we still love and respect Hungary.
Remember, two of the “The 13 Martyrs of Arad” who gave their lives for the freedom of Hungary were ethnic Armenian generals, Erno Kiss and Vilmos Lázár.
I am not sure if I am a first or second generation immigrant (my family immigrated when I was only 5), of course legal immigration only. Everyone must respect a nation’s laws. I’m not really following the point of this report because immigrants, refugees, survivors/descendants of genocide are nothing alike. This article reeks of an agenda.
One point I would agree is that America has historic problems with xenophobia, and being welcomed is an illusion, but all immigrant groups had to endure it including people from Europe, most notably the Irish and Italians. It’s not like it affected only Armenians. I suppose it’s just a sacrifice immigrants have to make for their grandchildren to become actual “Americans” while being grateful for the opportunity.
Armenians were LEGALLY rejected from entry into the United States due to archaic race-based quotas, sent back to Turkey, where they were killed.
When you embrace the sanctity of law, you can’t have it both ways. The law is the law, and United States law sentenced Armenians to their deaths.
Who fooled our Armenian people into believing that “legal” and “just” are the same thing, that the former is all we need to determine the latter? We have truly become pawns of a system that never had any love for us.
OK Pete, why Not you go back to Armenia, since you ARE a pawn for a system that has no love for you.
Your comments are rife with naivete.
If I followed your flawed logic, then why were the Irish discriminated by the “majority” German Americans at the time of their arrival? Well, the Irish were snow White and since their arrival, they dominated the politics of the USA.
Come on please, and start (try your best) to make more sense.
All the past immigrants, Irish, Italian Jewish, Armenian and the rest were accorded some kind of “permission” which I called “visas,” otherwise these immigrants would have been returned to their countries of origin.
And stop spreading phony news about Armenians being sent back to their deaths. By spreading false and unsubstantiated news, you simply are adding insult to injury for the 2 millions of our massacred Armenian people.
ENOUGH ALREADY.
is there any armenian who doesn’t see the similarity of what happened to our people by the supposedly “turkish government” and the native indians?????
I do, ABSOLUTELY
Many people here make statements about “the law” without having taken a few minutes to research it.
Under U.S. law, “You may only apply for asylum if you are arriving in or already physically present in the United States.” Furthermore, “You may apply for asylum regardless of your immigration status, whether you are here legally or illegally.”
https://www.uscis.gov/faq-page/asylum-eligibility-and-applications-faq#t12802n40186
I hope this puts an end to the nonsense talking points that 1) people must “apply for asylum at embassies in their home countries” or 2) “illegal immigrants should not get asylum”. Regarding 1), the very POINT of asylum is that it is too unsafe for you to be in your home country. Regarding 2), those who already have a legal basis to remain in the United States have no reason to apply for asylum; the very point of asylum law is to allow people who could not otherwise stay in the United States do so in order to avoid being killed in their home countries.
Alex, well, you suddenly shifted the subject into another direction.
What we are concerned is the migrants wanting to come to the USA for “economic” reasons. Getting killed by some thugs or gangs in your native land, is NOT the responsibility of the US government. That also applies to Armenians. However, when millions of “economic refugees” start walking towards the USA, this simply screams DANGER in capital letters. There are 43.1 million Americans who live BELOW the poverty line. Adding another 10- 20 million will make the lives of these already poor Americans unbearable. Now, you have to feed and house these people.
I am ALL for LEGAL IMMIGRATION.
On the subject of immigration, with all its so-called problems, today’s Armenia is still preferable to Diasporan outposts for the survival of the global Armenian population.
1. We should look upon the Turkish and Azeri blockade as not so much about keeping Armenians isolated as it is about keeping invaders OUT. This means we can maintain an ethnically Armenian character, greater ethnic purity, greater ownership of land and property, in short, survive as a distinct people.
2. Syrian-Armenian refugees and others fleeing ISIS are welcome in Armenia/Artsakh. That said, we must look at what widespread immigration — mostly as a result of the Syrian crisis caused by foreign actors — has done to Europe. Overboard migration breaks down the national character of any country. It can even be a deliberate attempt to dilute or destroy ethnic identity. In the long run, emigrants can look forward to being cut off from their indigenous culture and language, and will have to put up with values they don’t believe in or adhere to. Their fragmentation will be rewarded by, among others, one thing that can drain them spiritually…something they may not have had access to in their home countries….unregulated consumerism/ materialism. They will have no control over what their children learn in school or through society. Albeit packaged differently, they will also face a different sort of media and government control than what they experienced in their home countries. (Another benefit of the blockade mentioned in #1 is that while many European countries are seeing a irretrievable change in the ethnic character of their homelands as a result of forced migration, the Armenian tourism sector can thrive because Armenia’s cultural features by comparison are far more intact and therefore attractive to foreign tourists.)
3. The quality of life in Armenia exceeds that of the quality outside where the chasing of the “Western dream” means that most of one’s time is spent at work, commuting and accepting jobs far from family and friends. In the West, one can expect to see the peddling of manufactured cultural activities that one must morevoer pay exorbitant fees for and enjoy in theaters take the place of spontaneous social and cultural gatherings in their home countries, for example. Time-honored traditions — such as traditional, nutritious home cooking or home-based/ cottage-industry child care may very well be lost.
4. For decades if not centuries, Armenian nationalists and fedayees prayed for and would have seized the opportunity to re-establish themselves in an independent Armenia. We can freely do so now with our Soviet past behind us. For those who are maximalists, let us realize that E. Armenia is a gateway to W. Armenia.
Instead of purchasing second homes in warm climates, Diasporans should consider purchasing property in Armenia before foreigners do. This, in turn, can possibly increase the national population…not only by counting feet on the ground but by increasing the potential of unattached Armenians meeting and marrying. (A nod to an increasing lack of social outlets in the Diaspora for Armenians 21 years of age and up.)
Well written…I agree with everything you have written here.
Armenian Weakly is going full-on AOC. Count me out.
I got no further than Mr. Kikorian’s comment that “There’s literally no excuse for large-scale refugee settlement in the United States” to the third paragraph where suggests “that a modern society has no need for immigration” “there is no need for this sort of thing.” Hmm…reminds me about the arguments about the necessity of the patent office…not necessary because everything of value has already been invented. Simplistic? Perhaps.
I have read this article, and I have also read the comments made by many who care about Armenian issues, and of few others who care less about Armenians. When anyone criticizes Armenian migration, he or she must realize that if Armenians were not given the proper documentation to come to U.S. , they would have been murdered by the Turks, and they themselves would have never been born i.e. “Not existing”. If Armenians were not allowed to come to America, that I strongly feel that no other nation had right to enter the U.S. just because Armenians were the first people who had the first priority to be allowed to migrate to America because of the killing that befell them by the Turks. That happened in 1915, before any other atrocities or other genocides or any other holocausts took place. In other words, if Armenians were forbidden to be given a pass, then No Irish, No Jews, No Italians, no , no no any other nation should have been allowed neither. Period. And those who are full blooded Armenian or even half Armenians who support Trumps mentality about immigrants, should not be considered good Armenians, and their parents who brought them here, will be rolling over their graves, have they ever heard what their grand children turned out to be. Assimilated, lost of their heritage, lost of their culture, and become traitors to their Ethnic Identity. I challenge anyone who demoralizes the victims who gave their lives to those who today forgot where they came from. Kudo to all Armenian Patriots who stand firm for supporting our people in good times and in bad times, come rain or come shine. Let us not forget that our greatest enemies sometimes merges from within. I suggest that we should never open a forum attacking each other. Our enemies are watching from outsides. Some of these commentators could be our enemies, probably one of us. Say less, but do more for our country and for our people. Armenia and Armenians.
Thank you Brent Currie for your outstanding piece!