Wondering what it feels like to be an immigrant or refugee...

As I'm writing this my furnace is being taken out and replaced.

I'm sure, at least in most of North America, this counts as a relatively simple action. In my case it includes two workers from the heating and cooling company who are doing the job.

Even so, I have to admit, I'm nervous. Even anxious.

For one thing, Abbott and Buddy (two fifteen-year old cats) share the house with me.

One of the concerns is that they are inside cats, not used to being outdoors. And the furnace guys have to keep the door open for a while as they take out the old furnace and bring in the new.

Potential cat escape to freedom? (Not likely, but nonetheless a possibility).

Then I consider, I'm only one person (five feet, one inch tall). And I'm about a month shy of being sixty-six years of age. The furnace guys are both way taller, and a lot younger than me. If they wanted to they could easily take over my house. (Again, not likely, but nonetheless entirely possible.)

So, all of this got me to thinking: What would the level of nervousness or anxiety be if I were a recent immigrant or refugee in the US?

There's a good chance that I wouldn't speak the language. That means very limited ability to read any signs (at the grocery store, walking down the street, at the strip mall, or anywhere else.) This translates to confusion. An inability to understand the culture.

Most likely my circle of friends would be limited to those who share my language and background.

If I were school-aged, and went to a public school, I would stand out. My clothes, the lunch I brought from home, the way I look, the way I might respond to questions, all of those things would be the equivalent of walking around with a huge "I'm Different Than You" sign strapped to my back. My whole life experience, up to the point that I came to the US, would seem very, very strange to most of the kids sitting around me in class. Most likely my teacher would not have had much training, if any, focused on teaching immigrant children.

The goal of practically every institution I encounter would be cultural assimilation, not cross-cultural understanding. During the school year, I would feel enormous pressure every time I walked out the door and got on the bus to get to school. Along with my backpack, I would be carrying a load of other people's expectations, from fellow students, administrators and instructors.

And I would be very, very conscious of the fact that I don't blend in. That I'm not a member of the majority culture.

If I were an undocumented immigrant or refugee, my anxiety level would be even higher.

Let's return to the example of the furnace repair guys from the beginning of this story. What if I were an undocumented immigrant or refugee? And instead of furnace repair guys knocking on my door this morning, it had been ICE agents? Typically, ICE agents don't announce that they are coming to your home. They don't let you know they're planning to intercept and arrest you.  (And there have been documented cases of ICE agents showing up at the most unlikely places, like hospitals, to arrest folks). No place you go is safe anymore.

And instead of two cats, what if I had two children with me. And because I had been threatened by a gang in my home country we had no other option except to head north to the Mexican border? What level of anxiety would I be feeling when my children and I were caught and detained? And because of the "no tolerance" policy of the current administration in Washington, my children were taken away from me? (On Monday, Attorney General Sessions reversed a decision that enabled victims of domestic or gang violence to seek asylum in the US.)

What if my children were three and five years old, and did not understand English? How helpless and distraught and anxious and terrified would they feel being separated from each other? How would I feel not being able to tell them where they were going and when we would see each other again?

This is reality for refugees crossing the Mexican border right now.

This is reality for many immigrants living in the US right now.

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. You can check out the I Am An Immigrant organization to get further information. After checking out the link, you can also give a call to your US Senator or Representative at 202.224.3121. You'll be asked for your zip code, and then switched to your elected official's office. Once connected be prepared to make a simple, brief statement that you are not in favor of separating refugee children from their families at the border; that you are against a "no tolerance" policy that allows this to happen. Let your representative know that you are proud to be part of a nation that is made up, mostly, of immigrants. And you stand with them.

Photo Credits: NYC Public Library, Immigrant Law Group