Legal immigration paths only work for ‘people of privilege’ | News & Observer

I am a product of the American Dream. My parents emigrated from India in the 1970s. They shielded my siblings and me from the overt racism and poverty they were subjected to, which undoubtedly contributed to our success as students and adults.

The American Dream is real, but it is only accessible to immigrants of certain ethnicities with wealth and education. Even with those privileges, it has become painfully inefficient to immigrate in a post-9/11 world.

It took my white, educated German husband years of business negotiations, visa lotteries and thousands of dollars to move to the U.S. How can anyone expect people running away from war-torn regions to immigrate through these channels when it is improbable for even the most privileged people to do so?

Trump has capitalized on a systematic prejudice – legal immigration is for people of privilege and “illegal” immigrants crossing the border are dangerous thugs.

Those of us fortunate enough to legally immigrate need to recognize our privilege. We need to recognize that while it wasn’t easy to immigrate, that other people are in worse situations than we or our parents were. We need to stop pitting ourselves against other immigrants, and defend the people without the privilege to remain safely with their families.

Something smells

Regarding “Legislature, after seeking blatant power grab, wants hidden one, too” (June 28): With respect to the N.C. General Assembly’s proposal to appoint members of the state’s Board of Elections, does anybody catch the smell a three-day-old piece of filet on the outdoor steps of the N.C. General Assembly?

Twenty-four U.S. states have their secretary of state perform this responsibility; two defer to the lieutenant governor; three have an election official selected by their legislatures; five have a chief election official appointed by the governor; nine, including North Carolina, have a board or commission with appointments made by the governor; and seven use a combination of a chief election official and a board or commission.

Who does the N.C. General Assembly purport to represent?

Resolve immigration

Regarding “Trump wants to strip undocumented immigrants of rights to due process” (June 25): This is further proof that the president is willing to ignore constitutional principles to get his way regarding the immigration issue and wants to use children as pawns in this struggle in order to excite his conservative base.

If he were, in fact, serious in efforts to resolve this issue, he would propose a summit of Central American countries, Mexico and the United States to address what those countries can do to stem the tide of immigrants and what the United States can do to help in that effort.

Close health gap

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) agrees with “What? Why should we get the numbers on Medicaid expansion?” (June 21) encouraging state lawmakers to close the health insurance coverage gap.

North Carolina deserves to take full advantage of the federal funds available to provide thousands of families managing a disease like cancer with lifesaving health coverage.

We have the opportunity to cover more than 340,000 low-income, hardworking North Carolinians, providing them access to see a doctor regularly and get lifesaving cancer screenings and treatment when they need it – without facing huge medical bills.

We could also significantly reduce the number of the uninsured who know they are one diagnosis away from financial ruin.

Increased coverage will help to improve public health and reduce the cancer burden in North Carolina. ACS CAN urges policymakers in the state to accept the money to cover more people and save taxpayer dollars.