New Jersey, A State Where Immigrants Are Still Welcome.

That is how I have always felt here in New Jersey where I first came from Uruguay in 1972.We lived in Paterson ,which I consider my hometown here in the states, and I immediately enrolled in the seventh grade although I had just finished the fifth grade in my country of birth since that is where they placed me after an evaluation test.I guess since elementary school in Uruguay is six years and then you start high school ,I was really academically advanced for my age and my grade.They put me in the same school my cousins were going to ,that was Our Lady of Lourdes ,and it was only a few blocks from our house.In my class there were kids of all different background both ethnic and economic,there were kids that were for and against the Vietnam war, probably reflecting the opinion of their elders at home,there were republican and democrats,there were kids that walked to school and others that their parents dropped them off in late model expensive cars,but in my two years there I never recall an incident of anybody being targeted for being of a different nationality or race or even religion even though this was a catholic school,and we all know that kids can be pretty cruel towards one another if allowed to,specially when situations of pack mentality arise.Not that everybody was a saint ,kids can be stupid somebody would be made fun of because of their weight,or their hair,or big ears or whatever,but not for where they came from,or their legal status which nobody cared about.And even though in recent years the rise of the tea party has popularized xenophobia around the country I can proudly say that my state of New Jersey remains true to what's written on the Statue of Liberty that watches over our shores.

So why would you put your safety and that of your family at risk only to enrich a state that doesn't want you, when there are plenty of places to which you can contribute with your hard work , skills, and knowledge?The immigration reform unfortunately is not coming any time soon and that's the only way the bigots and the racists could be stopped from their irrational behavior,so if you could leave your homeland, the place of your ancestors to seek a better future for yourself and your family, mainly your children, it shouldn't be impossible to emigrate again this time to a place where you and yours can be welcome.believe you me! if every hispanic immigrant legal or not since wether you have a green card or not you will be targeted and discriminated against would leave a hatefull state such as arizona the economic repercussions would be greater than anyone can imagine, and the state will wither on the vine. Now, I can understand people who's family has lived in these places for generations and feel they shouldn't be driven out by the crazies ,but at least move to cities that do not condone bigotry and racism.There are thriving immigrant communities in the east and west coast,as well as in the mid west,where the xenophobes and racists have no political power whatsoever and where you and your family need not fear physical or psychological aggression of any kind.

There is a reason why the statue of liberty is in the entrance to the New York Harbor(in New Jersey territory,but that's ok),and it's because the New Colossus is still alive and well in these states: "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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Emma Lazzarus, 1883

If you are an immigrant there is no other state you will feel more at home than in New Jersey , where no matter what your national origin , religion,or race you will be part of a community where your next door neighbor will not think his mission in life is to grab a weapon and head out the door to serve as a vigilante looking to catch the teapartier coveted prize of an illegal alien.Where you will find businesses dedicated to provide goods or services akin to your cultural and consumption needs, and where everybody is Irish on Saint Patrick's day,Italian on the feast of San Gennaro , or Puerto Rican on the Puerto Rican Day Parade.