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We are quickly coming up on Saint Patrick's Day, a time when many don the color green to celebrate their Irish heritage, be that real or just temporary for the holiday. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated around the nation, from Chicago where they dye their river green to the community of Ireland, West Virginia in Lewis County where they hold a parade and make the ascent to the local Blarney Stone on the ridge near a local church.
During this celebration of the great wave of Irish immigrants, it is easy to forget the discrimination that was delivered upon these sons and daughters of Erin when they arrived on the shores of the United States, many along with their children beside them.
It was hard for the Irish to obtain employment or buy property. They were relegated to dangerous, menial jobs that Americans were unwilling to do.
This is similar to what is occurring now for another group of young immigrants who were brought to this country by their parents in hopes that they would find a better life in the land of the free -- today's Dreamers. Dreamers are young immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and they the live in fear of being deported every day.
I say brought to this country, instead of came to this country, because that is exactly what happened to them. They were brought to the United States by their parents when they were very young. The average Dreamer arrived in this country at the age of 7. They had no say in what borders they crossed or how they crossed them.
These kids grew up in American schools. They grew up playing American sports and watching American television and listening to American music. America is their home.
As adults, the Dreamers have worked to become valued members of our communities and they have succeeded. They have worked in positions that are difficult to fill, jobs in the hospitality industry and in agriculture. They worked in positions that were deemed to be essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, and without them many of these businesses would have been forced to close because of a lack of workers.
The Dreamers contribute to our nation's gross domestic product, and they help support local businesses with their purchases. They are genuinely an important part of our economy.
But that aside, there is more to the Dreamers than dollars and cents. Protecting them from deportation is the right thing to do. We here in West Virginia pride ourselves on our hospitality. We welcome people into our homes and we feed them dinner. We all know that one of the most common greetings in West Virginia is, "Did you eat yet?"
We need to extend this hospitality to these young men and women in the DACA program by asking our leaders in Washington, D.C. to support the effort to provide them with protection from deportation.
These young men and women are hard-working, productive members of our communities. They have lived in this nation for years without breaking any laws, or they would have already been removed from the DACA program. They have abided by the rules of the program, including abiding by residency requirements and submitting to background checks.
It seems exceptionally cruel to continue to threaten these young men and women who have worked so hard with deportation back to countries that most of them were too young to even remember leaving.
As we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day this year, we must remember that our nation has been here before. In the coming months, Congress must act to protect Dreamers through reconciliation.
Matt Kerner is the chairman of the Upshur County Democratic Executive Committee.