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.


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

Just the Facts: Trump Signs ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by first lady Melania Trump, delivers remarks during an Independence Day military family picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on July 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. At the picnic President Trump signed the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act into law.

Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Just the Facts: Trump Signs ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Washington — With pomp and circumstance, President Donald Trump signed the "big, beautiful bill" on Friday at an Independence Day ceremony at the White House.

“We made promises, and it’s really promises made, promises kept, and we’ve kept them,” Trump said. “This is a triumph of democracy on the birthday of democracy. And I have to say, the people are happy.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Tax Changes in the Federal Budget Bill Are a Disaster for Many American Families

A family together in their kitchen.

Getty Images, The Good Brigade

Tax Changes in the Federal Budget Bill Are a Disaster for Many American Families

Anyone raising children in the U.S. knows that it’s expensive. Many jobs – especially the service jobs that do essential work caring for our children and elders, bringing us food, cleaning our office buildings, and so much more – don’t pay enough to cover basic needs. From rising grocery costs to unaffordable housing, it’s becoming harder and harder for American families to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, if our leaders don’t step up, it will soon get even more difficult for families. That’s because the budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, now under consideration by the House of Representatives, includes critical tax changes that will leave many children, their families, and, ultimately, our communities in the lurch.

Keep ReadingShow less
People meeting with advisor, caseworker. Paperwork. Meeting.

Congress should recognize that caseworkers are subject-matter experts and put their knowledge to use.

Getty Images, Fotografía de eLuVe

Fixing Congressional Oversight Starts With Caseworkers

Congress writes laws but rarely follows up on how they are implemented. When things inevitably go wrong, it passes the buck to agencies, which often hire consultants to investigate the problem at great expense. However, Congress could do the job itself for free. Congress already employs a cadre of staff that knows the gory details of government programs—namely, caseworkers.

Caseworkers are staff employed by members of Congress to help their constituents navigate the federal bureaucracy. When the public has problems with federal agencies—everything from mishandled disability applications to poor postal service—caseworkers are the go-between to sort things out. In helping the public, caseworkers learn how the implementation of government programs can go awry.

Keep ReadingShow less
As DOE Redirects Funding for Puerto Rico’s Rooftop Solar, Experts Say the Change Could Strengthen Gas Systems

View of the LNG Terminal in San Juan, where most of Puerto Rico's natural gas resources are shipped to. The island currently imports 85% of its energy resources.

As DOE Redirects Funding for Puerto Rico’s Rooftop Solar, Experts Say the Change Could Strengthen Gas Systems

When President Biden first announced $1 billion in funding to install rooftop solar in Puerto Rico’s vulnerable communities two years ago, many Puerto Ricans felt it was cause for celebration. Federal officials have long sought to support rooftop solar in Puerto Rico, which could help the island's unstable energy grid become more energy-independent.

But under the leadership of President Trump — and with support from Puerto Rico’s newly elected governor, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colòn — these federal dollars could end up going toward the island’s gas-heavy grid rather than renewable energy efforts.

Keep ReadingShow less