Immigrant

I have been considering the term “immigrant” lately.  Two songs I have heard recently have got me thinking.  The first was called “Immigrant’s daughter” but the one that started me off said “I arrived an immigrant and you made me a citizen.”
I may be wrong, but it seems there are two camps in Australia.  Those that fight for the immigrants cause no matter what, and others that put up with immigrants as long as they arrive according to the rules.  I personally feel both have a case.  I am very much for immigration that follows the rules, but I don’t imagine the powers that be always get it right.  I feel very much for the Afghani’s that assisted the Australians.  If we do not help them it will cost them their lives.
The reason I am giving it some thought is that although people have cases there is often prejudice and agendas that go beyond facts and colour an argument.  While a premise may be correct, its interpretation is seen as licence.
There is a whole other side to this that is another story.  It has to do with immigrants being willing to take on the characteristics of the new country rather than making it a clone of their old.
But when it comes down to it, I do feel that we are all immigrants.  It does not matter if I am the offspring of those who arrived here first or the latest to arrive.  We all came from somewhere else.   Early on they walked.  Mostly now it is by plane.
Although the terms are often used interchangeably there is a difference in meaning between immigrant and refugee.  I looked up how immigrant was defined in Dictionaries and all said basically the same thing. “A person who leaves one country to settle permanently in another.” (thefreedictionary).  The definition of a refugee is “a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.”  (Merriam-Webster) The key word is flee.
I was talking to one of the cleaners where I used to work, and I don’t know how they came to Australia but they were a refugee.  They had been a lawyer (their qualifications were not recognised in Australia) in a central American country that had had a change of regime following a civil war.  They had to flee as their life was in danger.  My real estate agent came to Australia as a refugee.  Their story of capture and escape was quite dramatic.
Someone I know used to complain about the number of foreign sounding names in the Australian soccer team.  I suggested that if Kuskie was added it would not look out of place.  In fact our name was changed.  The surname used to be Kwaitkowski. 
I was chuffed to be of Prussian heritage.  One beanie I wear looks so right it does not surprize my heritage is from a cold country.  Prussia no longer exists and the name Kwaitkowski is very common in Poland.  In fact, a relative visited a place they knew we were from and thought a look in the phone book would suffice.  Turns out Kwaitkowski in Poland is as common as Smith or Jones here.
For me it always comes back to how I would like to be treated.  My forebears arrived as immigrants and were made citizens.