[Editor’s Note: This is the third and final installment in Dr. Cohen’s series comparing the atmosphere for immigration in the United States, where she has lived for 23 years, with France, where she previously resided. See Part I, “Our Favorite Visitor to France Returns with Immigration Views,” Dec. 27, and Part II, “When in America, What Language Should You Speak?” Dec. 28.]
I believe that France and the United States share mainly the same two modern problems:
1- By the end of the 20th century, the population of developing countries had increased disproportionately and dramatically for the following reasons:
(a) Vaccines were introduced in these countries before strong family planning programs were developed.
(b) The state of hygiene in these countries had been improved. Many diseases have been eliminated, and life expectancy has increased.
(c) Religious beliefs encourage and welcome all types of pregnancies, and they refuse the choice of women and couples who think differently.
What Birth Control?
(d) Between the policies of governments and the aggressiveness of certain groups, people are commonly encouraged to have more children, the better to increase a country’s population. And so pregnancies occur even if the families do not have the means to feed and to give a better life to these children. Such decisions are fostered by a country’s most influential politicians and policymakers for two reasons. These persons are seeking future power and they anticipate needing to stock armies for future conquests of neighboring countries.
2- After World War II, France and the United States developed humanitarian laws to protect their aging citizens and so-called unfavorable segments of the population, such as the unemployed and new immigrants. These programs became law in France and the United States under the banners of Social Security, welfare and Medicare.
Changing Countries Is Easier
In the last 50 years, transportation, especially by air, has become easier and more affordable to almost everyone. In the wake of revolutions, the disappearance of the Communist governments and, for France, the creation of the Common Market, immigrants have poured into these countries to receive all manner of governmental help.
Originally these humanitarian laws were enacted as a temporary aid to the needy until a person could become productive.
It is interesting to listen to certain radio programs in foreign languages when they have immigration attorneys responding to the questions of the listeners.
It tells you how the newcomers are thinking. (Thank God, many honest people migrate to France and the United States, bringing along their cultural, educational or monetary wealth. They are eager to participate in the construction and the betterment of their new country.)
How to Increase Wealth
Sometimes I listen to these programs. I will hear a caller asking, “How can I obtain money and health advantages from the government?” Then an attorney asks: “What is your situation? Where are you living now?”
The caller will say he or she still is in the person’s native land. The attorney will advise, “First, enter the U.S., and then I will see how we can help you!”
I honestly have heard this conversation in at least three or more languages on diverse radio stations.
I have heard of people who have great situations in their countries and at the same time they had the possibility to ask for a residency in the States. They follow all the roads in order to obtain permanent residency.
What About Patriotism?
Once I asked a person why he had gone through all these problems when he was living happily in his country?
“Because I will have a greater pension when I retire,” he says, “plus the benefit from Medicare.”
No patriotism is involved.
I have never seen so much homelessness and so many beggars in the streets of Paris as I did on this last trip. Near Quai Saint Martin, there is a place close to the river where many have chosen to live. They do not have running water, bathrooms or roofs over their heads.
In the daytime, they beg. I do not know what else they do. And at night, they sleep there. My friend told me that when it became cold, some people felt bad for them and offered tents and sleeping bags.
There Are Answers
From a distance, I saw women taking care of their babies around the tents. I wondered how many more will arrive tomorrow.
It is interesting to listen to the plight of the newcomer. “I made a huge mistake coming to this country,” one may commonly say.
My friend declared that he was not able to practice his religion or to enter the church of his choice. He got asylum. Now he works for cash. He receives all kinds of benefits from the government and has many types of medical advantages. “I work hard,” he says, “yet I am not able to even visit a doctor’s office when needed because I cannot afford the cost.”
Solutions are complex but doable.
Bold Thinking Required
We surely need courageous, visionary individuals who would think of plans for the betterment of everyone in the long term, not just for his/her electoral purposes or how to please everyone while in office.
Maybe the French way of becoming citizen is more appropriate.
If you are born in France, even if your parents have lived there for many years and are not French citizens, you are not granted an automatic right of citizenship. One should request and want to become a citizen and wait for the court’s decision.
Many women in the last months of their pregnancies come to the U.S. from all over the world just to give birth to their babies so that they can have American citizenship.
Later, they will ask for this country’s advantages. How can a person feel American when he has lived in his country all his life and, in some cases, heard of his government’s negative feelings towards America ?
Two Sides of Diversity
Diversity can equal richness, but uncontrolled diversity is destructive.
If we go back to the Bible, to the story of the Tower of Babel, it clearly mentions that the king became very powerful and decided to reach the sky. He ordered the construction of the Tower. When God saw them approaching the sky, he gave each one of them a different language. This led to chaos, and construction of the project ended immediately.
If we seek peace, we should eliminate chaos from these societies. Each government should offer opportunity for a better life, work, medical help and well- organized social and family planning for its citizens. If people feel secure, few will leave their country of origin. Everyone will live happily where they are.
Laws and policies have been established to help those who are in need. Governments should educate people that these are not free gifts for all people to receive and enjoy them.
I think in any case this sentence states my feelings well:
“Use it but don’t abuse it.”
Dr. Rosemary Cohen, who lives in the Fairfax District, received her Ph.D. in sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris. She lived in two other countries before moving, with her husband and children, to Los Angeles in 1984. She has published three books in America and is working on her fourth. Since 1985, she has operated Atelier de Paris, an international art business, on Robertson Boulevard. Her email address is rosemary@atelierdeparis.com.
