Had Trump, been POTUS when my father and mother applied for their citizenship, they would have been stopped by his administration because they were immigrants from Sicily. People from Sicily and other southern Italian regions were perceived as an "undesirable" population.
"Italians encountered widespread discrimination rooted in nativist prejudices, racial stereotypes, and economic anxieties. Perceived as culturally and racially inferior, Italian immigrants faced exclusion, violence, and systemic marginalization.
Southern Italians looked unlike any other European group to arrive to the Americas before: Dutch, English, French, German, Irish, and so on. All Norther European. However, Mediterranean Italians are generally darker, and easier to stand out in a crowd—so they were easy targets to begin with.
Sensationalized media coverage, including newspaper illustrations, reinforced the association of Italians with organized crime, violence, and laziness. These stereotypes ignored the diversity of the immigrant population, 99% of whom were laborers seeking honest work."
The Trump administration is engaging in the same type of discrimination against an entire population because of a few "bad apples" and Trump's and his administration's racism.
Here is a partial list of Italians Trump's goons would have kept from achieving their American citizenship had he been POTUS when southern Italians and Italians from other regions were considered undesirable immigrants.
Frank Sinatra's parents
Enrico Fermi
Fiorello LaGuardia's father
Dean Martin's father
Joe Dimaggio's parents
Joe Montana's parents
Lee Iacocca's parents
Anthony Fauci's parents
Jill Biden's grandparents
My father came to America through Ellis Island and eventually landed in Boston where he worked as a barber in Scollay Square.
We lived in Boston and eventually moved to a Boston suburb where, through hard work and savings, he eventually built our family home, bought the building in which his barbershop was located, and sent his children to college. All this was achieved by a Sicilian immigrant, and this story was duplicated by millions of others from southern Italy.
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Abrupt Cancellations: Immigrants across the U.S. reported arriving at their scheduled ceremonies, only to be "plucked out of line" by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers who asked their country of origin.
29 comments:
Your parents came through proper channels. There is a huge difference between doing it right and legal and crossing the border illegally. I am not one to support the great immigrate roundup but your example is not real in todays environment.
What we really need is a comprehensive immigration policy but out of the last four administrations only one president had one and his own party wouldn't support it, that would be GWB not BHO who was all into temporary.
My wife is an immigrant but her family did things legally and then they all got the citizenship.
You harp about the US is based on laws and trump breaks them all but when it comes to illegal immigrants breaking the law is fine.
Skud thinks immigrants seeking asylum are worse than have a racist CRIMINAL leading this country.
Because an Afghan refugee, and US asset, suffering from mental issues shot National Guardsmen Trump decided to deny legal citizenship process for LEGAL immigrants and to expand travel bans from more countries. Fear not, Skud, racist white South Africans are always welcome.
Trump’s foul and despicable rant against Somali immigrants was far more than just a racist dog whistle and vile smear of Black people. It was full-on fascist white supremacy and scapegoating intent on inciting raging hatred in his base. "We're gonna go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country. Ilhan Omar is garbage. She's garbage. Her friends are garbage."
Skud has no issue with this.
skud, this post is about the immigrants who did everything legal and proper and were about to take their oath of citizenship at a ceremony when Trump's thugs came in, asked them which country they came from, and if they answered with the name of a country Trump trashed and demonized, those immigrants who did all the legal and proper things were REMOVED, humiliated, and thrown out of the room, all because Trump is a racist.
None of those who were ready to swear an oath of citizenship were "illegal."
Why did you assume that they were? I'm curious.
"The immigrants who were stopped just before their citizenship oaths were not "illegals"; they were in the U.S. legally, as lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and had already been approved for citizenship after extensive vetting. Their ceremonies were abruptly canceled due to an internal policy change related to their country of origin."
All you had to do is agree that what the Trump administration did was inhumane and disgusting.
Here are the receipts:
"Legal Status: These individuals were legally present in the United States and were far along in the naturalization process. For example, one woman mentioned in reports was a Haitian woman who had held a green card since the early 2000s.
Approval Status: They had gone through the full application process, including interviews and civics tests, and were approved to become U.S. citizens. The oath ceremony is the final step in the naturalization process.
Reason for Cancellation: The cancellations in Boston and nationwide were a result of a directive from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediately pause all immigration applications from nationals of 19 countries deemed "high-risk" under a new, abrupt policy change.
Impact: The sudden halt left hundreds of approved immigrants devastated and frightened, despite no fault of their own or an issue with their individual legal standing. The policy was implemented as an administrative measure rather than an action based on individual illegal status."
As I said in my post, had this inhumane policy been in place when my mother and father immigrated to the US, they would not have been allowed into the country simply because they were from southern Italy, and not considered desirable immigrants.
Greetings Shaw. My paternal Grandparents immigrated to the US in 1918. They were Greeks living in the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. My father told me of maltreatment of Greek immigrants during that time. My fathers family settled in Martins Ferry Ohio. Even my Dad was told he should not come to high school dances because he was a "dirty Greek." My dad went on to hold several records in high school track and field. He joined the Air Force and served during WWII. He was a successful businessman. Other members of the family served in medicine, finance, Airline pilots, printing, etc. These experiences hold true for many ethnic groups....adapting and then quietly integrating into society as productive citizens. Todays right wing CLAIMS they are only trying to control numbers, enforce the law and keep bad actors out. The actual fear is being "replaced." This standard seems to apply only to immigrants who might vote blue. Notice more conservative immigrants are ignored. Simply not a threat. Wasn't it Reagan who said we NEED immigrants to maintain the nations vitality?? Meanwhile Melania was admitted on an Einstein Visa and her parents were allegedly members of Slovenia's communist party.
Thanks for listening...Marcus from CT
ROFL I came to comment about my own immigration journey as I'm third generation American on my fathers side, could be Daughter of the Revolution on my mom's side if we joined such organizations (which we won't - we don't attract attention like that to ourselves, thank you very much.) Anywho, came to comment and here is skud, pushing their craptastic lies.
Suffice it to say my people came through Ellis Island too. And when Ellis Island was retired a new process was instituted, specifically a person could come into the country but had a specific amount of time to appear before the closest Immigration office to start the official immigration process. To skud that looks like illegality even though it's the way things are done. But hey, why let facts get in the way of their truly believed biases?
Interesting language skud uses when slamming our blog host vs interacting with some of the male commentators. "Harp": to talk or write persistently or tediously about a specific topic. Of all the words in the English language you specifically used harp.
Such a peach is skud, so misogynist of them even as they declare they love women. Sure they do. I bet they even call them females.
My grandparents on one side and great-grandparents on the other side, (all from Italy) would have been similarly affected.
The administrations actions show that they're not just interested in deterring illegal immigration, but all immigration from non-Nordic/European countries.
While Trump is busy tossing immigrants who followed the processes, did all the tasks, and jumped through all the hoops the next wave is getting queued up. What's the next wave?
If the MAGA influencers are accurate the next wave is "remigration", a word defined as naturalized citizens stripped of their USA citizenship and removed to their country of origin. Citizens of this country who took a test most naturally born citizens could not pass will be stripped of their monies earned and properties purchased before being tossed away like a used tissue.
There is one bright light if WeThePeople can't dethrone Trump and his merry band of loyal band of fascists in 2028. The actions taken here/now by the Trump admin will ensure survivors of their cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants just trying to live a better life will certainly vow to correct the injustices inflicted upon their family for the crime of not being pale enough to blend in the racist USA. It is an axiom that we usually do this to ourselves. I've read this book, watched the movie, absorbed the poems. Can't happen to a better regime.
When the rebuild of the USA occurs immigration reform has to be one of the top issues to address. Of course I have ideas but not listing them here/now as they aren't the topic of the post. Humans being tossed like garbage is the point. Not sure why I'm surprised. After all, one of the worst dictators in modern history looked to us for handling their genocidal impulses.
Skud... the Trump administration has no need for legal "proper" channels. They do what they want. If you need evidence of that, which dovetails nicely into the racism and xenophobia of the Trump admin, here's an example of what's happening. From the NY Times and other other news outlets...
...federal immigration officials are canceling naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies for immigrants from Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia and other countries restricted by Mr. Trump in June.
Many news orgs, not FOXNews, are also reporting that people have been called out of the middle of their oath ceremonies so they would not become citizens.
These are people who followed the rules, came to the states, fulfilled their citizenship requirements, went through numerous interviews, were approved by the Trump admin, given an oath ceremony time and date, in some cases invited family and right before the oath was administered, were removed.
BTW Skud, you're wrong again on your off topic [why I ask myself] criticism of "BHO." In 2013, the "Gang of Eight", a bipartisan group of eight U.S. Senators working on immigration, crafted the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. It was a major bill proposing comprehensive reform including border security, a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and overhauls to legal immigration systems. The Senate and the WH both supported it. It failed in the GOP led House. Simply to deny Obama a win and immigrants were an easy win for the GOP.
The bottom line, and Shaw has alluded to it, is this...
The current WH and GOP, and their supporters and enablers, like you Skud, can claim not to be racist, but it's not true. If someone supports and votes for people who do racist stuff, they, at the very least, approve of racism.
Closet racism some call it, but racism none the less.
Greetings, Marcus! According to Ancestry.com, I am part Greek. Not unusual for people of Sicilian heritage, since the Greeks were in Sicily (part of Magna Graecia) since the 8th century BCE!
I remember my Sicilian grandparents, aunts, uncles saying about the Greeks, "Same face, same race." And we had close friends and some relatives from Greece with whom we shared many holidays and family gatherings.
Thanks for stopping by.
Trump's slander against the entire Somali culture is another low from the convicted felon. All we have to do is wait a minute before the next horror comes from the racist Trump's polluted mind.
PS. I love making moussaka, which I call "Greek lasagna." Also, I make tzatziki in the summer for dipping raw veggies. Avgolemono soup! Yummy! I lived on the west coast of Florida for 10 years, and one of my favorite towns to visit was the Greek community of Tarpon Springs. Fantastic! And outstanding Greek cuisine! Opa!
What Trump is doing to legal immigrants and threatening naturalized citizens is a stain for all time on America! He mused about denaturalizing Mamdani and sending him to Uganda after Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race! Trump is clearly insane!
As was pointed out in this thread, Trump is clearly a racist, since he has no problems with cultures of predominantly white countries. And he clearly doesn't care about how those immigrants attained their citizenship (his 3rd wife received an Einstein visa, given only to those who've achieved the highest degree of success in sports, business, the arts and sciences, etc. People who've won Olympic medals, Nobel prizes, etc., the creme della creme! Melania was a soft-porn model, not even a supermodel, and she got an Einstein visa? Yeah. No one's investigating that joke!
A country of immigrants, tRump's own family as well.
The only Americans native to this land are the indigenous peoples of North America.
A sensible and just immigration policy, consistently and uniformly administered is the only correct and fair approach. And one that doesn't take years to become naturalized.
No sense planning for positive change any time soon as the engines of progress are now stuck in reverse with the fuel lines wide open. And the people in charge are gleefully creating their desired chaos.
Then there is another immigrant story -
"Trump’s first wife, Ivana, was an immigrant too. Born in Czechoslovakia.
She and Trump married in 1977, but she didn’t become an American citizen for another 11 years. Melania Melania Trump moved to New York about 20 years ago. The Slovenian born model now has her own jewelry and caviar-cream skincare lines. She married Trump in 2005 in a fairytale wedding that included a wedding gown reported to cost $100,000. And the next year, she became a citizen – a decade after arriving in America." Chris Frates CNN
We assume that Trump chooses immigrants to marry AND clearly few if any US women would marry the rich bully bast*rd
Greetings Shaw. Fond memories of Yaya making Moussaka and dolmathes....stuffed grape leaves with lamb and rice topped with Lemon sauce...mmm. When my Dad's brothers would come over, Bouzouki Music til the wee hours with ouzo and mataxa brandy. Yasoooo! Marcus from CT
This country is truly going backwards, which is what MAGA wants. The idyllic 1950s when white protestant Christians got all the breaks and didn't have to associate with anyone different from them.
Both my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side came from Poland. They both immigrated in the late 1880s. "I found this on google: "Poles were commonly stereotyped as unintelligent or "feebleminded," leading to a proliferation of demeaning "Polish jokes" that persisted for generations. The term "Polack" became a widely used ethnic slur. Polish immigrants were primarily forced into difficult, low-paying manual labor jobs in industries such as mining and steelworks. They faced long hours, meager pay, and dangerous conditions, and were often exploited by foremen who sometimes refused to use their Polish names. Due to language barriers, different customs, and discrimination, they were often crowded into dense, stifling urban "ghettos" or ethnic enclaves, such as "Poletown" in Detroit or large communities in Chicago and Milwaukee. Signs with slogans such as "No Polaks Wanted" were sometimes visible in shop and factory windows.
They experienced significant prejudice, which sometimes escalated into violence. Polish communities were targets of the Ku Klux Klan, and Polish strikers were met with force, such as during the Lattimer Massacre of 1897 where dozens of Polish, Lithuanian, and Slovak strikers were killed or wounded. Their Roman Catholic faith was a source of suspicion among the predominantly Protestant American society. They also faced mistrust for their support of labor unions, which was contrary to Protestant work ethics of individualism. "
Being in grade school in the late '60s early '70s, I heard my fill of dumb Polack jokes.
I volunteer at a goat farm north of Boston. Every spring, when the wild Concord grape leaves emerge. I pick the young, tender ones and make my own dolmathes -- sometimes I put minced meat in them with the rice, sometimes, just rice, lemon juice, and roll them up. During the other months when I can't get grape leaves, I buy them in cans. Delizioso!
Possumlady, the story of your grandparents is the story of the majority of immigrants who came to this country. Unfortunately. "...and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea" seems more of a wish than a reality --Trump has made it a joke.
The way the administration is treating immigrants, legal or not, is disgusting. With trump you get what you pay for and I guess a billion and a half just wasn't enough.
My wife and her parents are Polish who immigrated after the war. They are very sensitive to the slurs that use to describe them. I am from the south where you respected people and didn't really see nationality as a part of someone. I was and am a Texan and didn't recognize people by their nationality until I moved to Chicago where it was a big issue.
Again skud conflate truth based on his personal experience. IOW skud thinks everyone in Texas shares his expressed views. Which i suspect really is how skud treats folk of any color or nationality. However that is not how everyone feels OR acts in the south. Bigots and racists are found everywhere. Including Texas.
There's a lot there Skud... I think you posted once or twice at the Mothership. That's the place where one day they lamented the fact that you can't tell funny "Polack jokes" these days because people are too sensitive. They're all America Firsters MAGA lovers, a lot like you are on many issues.
How might you or your wife feel towards them, or their "Polack jokes" which they see as just plain fun?
As for being from the south "where you respected people"? What year were you born? My mixed raced son who went to college at Auburn in Alabama said "all black people knew where the 'no go zones' were." It wasn't until the late 1960s that black people could safely use any drinking fountain. It took until 1967 for interracial marriage to be legal in southern states.
I could go on, but why bother. If someone, anyone things the south was ever a place where people respected others regardless of race or nationality, there's nothing more to say.
"This disgusting story is ---- Trump."
Dave, I never visit the mothership so you couldn't have seen a post from me, again your dealing with false information to make a point.
I never indicated every southerner was respectful to others I just said southerners didn't really see nationality as a part of someone, at least that is the was we saw it in the Great State.
I agree with you Les, bigots and racists are found everywhere with some people disliking conservatives.
BTW Skud... I thought you were from Louisiana...
Truly democractic conservatism is nothing to dislike as it is merely one form of viable governing philosophy skud. But when it aligns with hate, ignorance, and criminality as it has since the Tangerine Tyrant Turd 's entrance into politics i 2015 it most certainly becomes something to seriously dislike as well as distrust.
Skud has mentioned in his comments that he was from Texas. My two step- grandsons were born in Texas, and I visited there many times. A wonderful state, even if I do not care for its present governor and his administration.
Nope Dave, I never indicated I was from anywhere other than TEXAS. Since my Great, Great grandfather we have always been from the great state. Ms. Shaw is correct that is a wonderful state filled with wonderful people even the millions from PRK are welcome.
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