Comment by 88locks on 31/01/2017 at 06:35 UTC

278 upvotes, 4 direct replies (showing 4)

View submission: An Open Letter to the Reddit Community

I'm a first generation American. My parents were Vietnamese boat refugees.

My parents left their homes because they would rather risk their lives in tiny boats in a vast ocean than live under communist regime. My dad, his brother, and their niece came here together, and I'm not sure if my mom had anyone with her. They don't talk about those times much, but I do know that my dad's boat encountered pirates on the way and had all of their lives threatened for what little valuables they had managed to smuggle out. They all came here not k owing any English, but managed to scrape together enough to cobble a meager living and to be able to bring their families over to safety. They continued to work so hard to be able to provide, to be able to go to school and earn their Bachelor's, and eventually when I came along, to give me a better future. My mom attended night school so she could keep her jobs and had to bring me along to class sometimes because they couldn't afford a babysitter and everyone else was working. They took me out to have fried chicken for my birthday one year because eating out was a luxury. They worked so goddamned hard. So goddamned fucking hard. Now, they're full-fledged citizens who pay taxes and vote.

Replies

Comment by [deleted] at 23/04/2017 at 10:47 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I'm first generation too. Your parents didn't boat to America across the Pacific Ocean though. How exactly did they arrive in the US?

Comment by scroopie-noopers at 18/04/2017 at 21:16 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

So should we delay legal immigrants and only let in illegal immigrants? I mean.. whats the point of your comment?