Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Honor migrants’ quest for a better life

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services envelope
Evgenia Parajanian/Getty Images

Pederson is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-author of “Landmark Papers in Psychiatry.” She is a public voices fellow with The OpEd Project.

Three migrants – a woman and her two children – recently drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to enter the United States through the southern border. It is a tragic story that echoes the dangers many immigrants face while searching for a better life for their children.

My three brothers and I came to the United States in 2002 with a recently widowed mother, seeking a better life in America. We had 25 suitcases and one-way tickets from Nigeria to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, exactly one year after losing my father to lung cancer while he was on an academic sabbatical in the United States from Nigeria.

Most immigrants come to the U.S. seeking a better life for themselves and their families. The narrative is true for the forefathers who migrated into Native American land as well as Nigerian immigrants like me. The only group who came to America forcefully are enslaved people. Yet, despite their death-ridden journey, Black people who are descendants of enslaved people have contributed and sacrificed, making the way for me as a Black immigrant.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter


I spent the better portion of my path to becoming a medical doctor with an out-of-status F-1 student visa. My goal was to help people and give medical care to others. Yet, I carried the daily fear of deportation. My research shows the stigma of migration and the fears that I had are commonplace for most immigrants.

The mental toll of uncertain travel on foot or by air place migrants at great risk for psychological distress and anguish. Studies show that migrants are treated differently based on their race and ethnicity. This is related to the concept of “the good migrant.”

When I deliver services to patients, they thank me profusely. Yet I see patients make comments like, “I wish those illegals, those aliens, those unwanted people would just go back to their countries.”

My history as an immigrant exemplifies the untenable migrant status of so many. I could not work or provide for my family. I was orphaned at age 17 in a new country with housing and food insecurity, attempting to care for my brothers and myself.

My father passed away on a ventilator at a Chicago hospital and, two years later my mother passed away on a ventilator at another Chicago hospital. My three brothers and I (ages 12 to 19) were faced with a very uncertain future. Despite the message of being unwanted in America, eviction notices at our door every week, the absence of Christmas presents and Christmas trees, we persevered.

To be sure, there are justified concerns that open borders in Southern states present safety concerns and porous borders are not sustainable for any country. Yet seeking a better life for one’s family is at the heart of the American spirit and an honorable endeavor. Finding the proper balance through pragmatic immigration reform is the trust test for our country.

Congress must ensure that immigration reform is based on sound policy, not on unintentional or intentional racial biases that so often drive the immigration debate.

This is our nation's challenge. As a nation of migrants, a country with its life source embedded in migration, it is time to act accordingly.

Read More

Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

An oversized gavel surrounded by people.

Getty Images, J Studios

Recent Republican policies and proposals limiting legal immigration and legal immigrants' benefits and rights

In a recent post we quoted a journalist describing the Republican Party as anti-immigration. Many of our readers wrote back angrily to say that the Republican party is only opposed to immigrants who are present illegally.

But that's not true. And we're not shy of telling it like it is.

Keep ReadingShow less
Indoor Air Pollution Causes Millions of Deaths Each Year
pink petaled flowers on green vase

Indoor Air Pollution Causes Millions of Deaths Each Year

After losing my kidney to cancer, I made a disturbing discovery: household air pollution might have contributed to my illness.

According to researchers, plastics in our air and household items could be linked to kidney problems. While I may never identify the exact cause of my cancer, research shows that indoor air pollution is responsible for an estimated three to five million premature deaths worldwide each year. It’s connected to heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump standing with Elon Musk and Kid rock
President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Kid Rock watch a UFC event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

The Care and Feeding of a Superpower

The Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, led by an unelected billionaire and supported by the Donald Trump administration, continues its bulldozer approach to our federal government. As we careen forward, an essential food for thought is an awareness of the global and historical perspectives that underscore how our current leaders' strategies align with a playbook for the final chapter of previous global powers.

When we think of global dominance, we often think of military strength and the size of a superpower’s budget. What we think less of is the importance of perception or the significance of the cultural aspects of power. The USAID spreads the impression of a peaceful and protective United States, dispersing resources and building a global community with the US at the helm. President Kennedy began the USAID in 1961 with an Executive order. Research shows that USAID has continuously had bipartisan support and a tremendous impact, makes up less than 1 percent of our budget, and is a major player within the United Nations Developmental Programme.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s cuts at the FAA could underscore the risks of shrinking government
white passenger plane on airport during daytime

Trump’s cuts at the FAA could underscore the risks of shrinking government

WASHINGTON – After recent layoffs of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration and a string of aviation incidents, passengers and experts expressed concerns that U.S. airlines’ excellent safety record could be at risk.

About 400 probationary workers were removed from the FAA beginning on February 14, just weeks after the DCA midair collision on January 29 that left 67 dead. On February 17, at least 18 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis crash-landed upside down on a runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Keep ReadingShow less