We are all displaced workers not undocumented immigrants

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We are all displaced workers not undocumented immigrants.
Back in the 60s I was a kid growing up and living in a middle class neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia. Every day, religiously, after our meal’s time, there were people knocking at the door asking for the scraps and leftovers of our table. The faces at the door were mostly kids; in fact children- humble people. These, I suspect, are now well-seasoned members of the armed guerrilla groups that have, for decades, kept the Colombian government in check and are at the root and reflection of a social tension problem common to most of our countries.
I confess, I am not an expert on the subject but I suspect that hunger and social tensions are one of the major causes people move in search of social and economic security and stability, leaving behind their beloved hometowns and their countries.

People do not leave the place where they were born, where they grew up, where the roots, the flavor of their food, the familiar smells, their lives, their ancestors and their history are for vain reasons. No, people migrate because the risk of not doing it outweighs the price they have to pay if they were to stay put. Staying behind would mean a human toll impossible to bear with any dignity.

For the displaced there are no physical country borders, those are but imaginary lines they must cross on their way to a promised place of prosperity and security.
Today, my adopted country turns against this promise of prosperity and security. Today, my adopted country turns its back on the displaced of the world not knowing that they – the displaced, are a direct product of a combination of arbitrary economic and war policies that our own country fosters and imposes upon other more vulnerable countries.

Today, instead of an unconditional open door in Ellis Island - that not so long ago received and embraced millions of displaced Europeans, we are building walls, implementing discriminatory laws and are unloading our frustrations caused by our own socio-political tensions, compounded by a stubborn recession, on the most vulnerable members of our society: Immigrants in general, the Latino Immigrant in particular.
Whether documented or undocumented, today’s displaced worker is an immigrant facing discrimination, racial hateful attacks and social rejection.

Today, Lady Liberty, beacon of hope and democracy, instead of the poem to welcome the dispossessed of the world, written by Emma Lazarus, and placed at the feet of such sovereign foreign immigrant, intolerant voices have posted a "No Trespassing" sign that deems its light and fills her with pain.
The tension, between the displaced and the locals, breaks up families leaving behind a trail of tears and suffering.
With each deportation, with each abuse of authority, with each racial attack we are planting the seeds of resentment that will comeback to hunt us years later.
Today, humble people are knocking at the door of our adopted country. People thirsty and hungry for prosperity and security; we are slamming our door in their faces not knowing that we may well be the cause of their displacement that we so quickly and harshly judge.
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