A diminutive woman with wavy auburn hair and observant eyes hesitantly approached a man leaning against the library check-out desk.

"Jason?  Jason Miller?"

"Yes, I'm Jason Miller.  Are you Helen?"

"Yes, Helen Solaski.  Nice to meet you," she said as she reached out to shake hands.

Jason told her he had reserved a room for their ESL (English as a second language) tutoring session and pointed to the doors on the opposite wall.  His words were incomprehensible to her, but gestures sufficed.  Before they began, he gained her permission to taperecord the English lesson, so she could listen to it at home for review.  With the help of her Polish-English dictionary and the discovery that they spoke a second language in common, German, they were usually able to make their way through communication impasses.

Over the two years they worked together, as many as three to four hours per week, Jason came to know a woman of uncommon courage and determination, who had left Poland with her teen-aged children for the promise of a better life in the United States.  He had read similar accounts in U.S. history books, but had never personally known anyone in the midst of such family upheaval.

Helen had worked as a social scientist in Poland.  But after her research institute closed and economic circumstances in Poland worsened, she decided to seek employment, residence, and a college education for her children in the United States.  Although Helen spoke three languages - Polish, Russian, and German - she had never studied English, so was unable to secure employment in her field of sociology.  She only qualified for manual labor.  After a few weeks working long hours in a nursery greenhouse at $4.50 per hour, she began cleaning houses and offices.  She gradually built up a steady clientele and worked six days a week in order to meet family expenses.

After five years in the U.S., Helen now speaks somewhat broken, but excellent English, which has made it possible for her to compete for professional employment in social service agencies.  Her sons attend college in work/study programs.  She knows many people who have left their native countries for the United States, where they have faced similar obstacles to adjustment and success. 

In Helen’s opinion, Americans could learn much from naturalization practices in other countries.  Many European countries, for example, offer free temporary housing, medical care, language immersion and job placement support to foreigners who wish to settle within their borders.  Foreign families in the U.S. usually have to sink or swim on their own. 

Jason expressed admiration for the courage, imagination, and resilience many immigrants show in the face of the relative indifference, even outright hostility, they encounter from many American institutions and citizens.   "There is no excuse," he said, "for welcoming people with one hand while pushing them away with the other."

What is your opinion about U.S. immigration practices?