Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram

Immigrants Made America Great Again

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As an immigrant from Northampton, England, and having settled in the US legally, when I follow the news, I do so not like someone who was born here in the U.S., but from the perspective of an immigrant. I perceive the news through the lens of an immigrant. When I hear about travel bans, deportations, attacks on ‘Sanctuary Cities’, amnesties, visa restrictions, etc., (even though I’m not directly affected as I have Legal Permanent Residency status (Green Card)), I’m still nonetheless interested. As a lawyer practicing U.S. Immigration law, admitted to the New York State Bar, I am still an immigrant first. My clients are immigrants. My family and I worked very hard to make it through the arduous and long U.S. Immigration process to make a new life here since first arriving in 1999 with a pocket full of dreams.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” – Emma Lazarus.

What is America really like? All I can say is that there is the America that is covered in the news and then there is the “real” America as lived day to day. For me, America is amazing, it’s as diverse as the 50 states themselves. I live in San Diego, California, which is obviously different from life in say, New York, or Texas. Nevertheless, if you’re an immigrant, recent or a new comer, you will see the news or interpret the news from the perspective of an immigrant. It does not mean we will all have the same opinion on everything, it just means that we start from the same place.

Because I was born in the U.K. and grew up there, while I lived in the U.K. I never had to think about immigration. All through law school I never had to think about immigration, it was just not a part of my every day life. I would meet and interact with immigrants all the time, but somehow, their story was not my story. However, when you become an immigrant yourself, having moved to a new country, that feeling of being somehow different, and not quite the same, is quite profound.

It’s amazing to think that the idea of America was so powerful and known around the world that people would sail to the U.S. on a one-way ticket, knowing they might never return to their homeland or see their loved ones again. Even the promise of America was overwhelming, so irresistible, for the brave, it was too much of an opportunity to pass up. Wow. Today, nothing has changed. New immigrants are arriving everyday. Perhaps not huddled masses, but more like Graduate Engineers, Doctors, Investors, Artists and many other professionals.

Jen made her life here as a film editor

Like I said, I absolutely love living in America, most of the Americans I meet are totally awesome, kind, generous and willing to go out of their way to help anyone in need. Of course not every single American is like that (which is the same in any country) but to me, Americans are awesome and America has surpassed my expectations.

When you watch the news, the news is focused on what is sensational, what will captivate high ratings. It’s not “fake news”, it’s real news, but written with a particular agenda in mind – ratings.

My goal here is to write articles from an immigrant perspective. Maybe visitors to our website who are interested in moving to the U.S. or just curious about news in the U.S., will find these articles interesting.

In terms of my politics, I guess I’m more Democratic-minded than Republican, but I cannot understand the current politics that one side must hate the other. It was not like that when I first arrived in the U.S. in 1999. Over the years America has become polarized.

Jason made his life here as a film maker.

What I hope that readers of my articles will find, is that despite the news headlines, America is still “America the Beautiful.” It is still that ‘shining city upon the hill… America the land that I love’.

If I were to describe America in one word it would be “Opportunity.” As long as America continues to be that place of opportunity, I’ll be here and many more will come. Let’s make America great again by continuing this tradition of constant immigration to the U.S. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my articles.

Chris M. Ingram, LL.M., ESQ.
Attorney at Law

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