It was the simplest thing.
I pulled up to the security area on my bike. I handed the guard my passport. He asked me a few questions and then he let me pass into Canada.
Easy peasy.
Well, it was easy because I had a passport.
What if I didn't have a passport?
What if instead of some invisible border it became solid, a line I could not cross?
Thousands of people face this dilemma of being "trapped" in the United States of America.
For whatever reason or however they came to be here, they no longer have the freedom to leave.
And if they do, they may not be able to return.
As a legal, documented United States citizen I have no idea what it feels like to live within boundaries. I have
never been confined to any one location. I have the mobility of a bird and can go wherever I choose. How often I have crossed international borders, state borders, crossed from one country to another, flown to other continents without a worry or care.
It's rare that I am...forced to think about the rights I received at birth. Rights I don't question or worry about having them restricted from me as I am 1) a legal citizen and 2) law abiding and there's probably a 3) and a 4), I just can't think of them. These rights, the ones most of us never even consciously think of, are just another layer of privilege deeply embedded in the USA. To say I don't appreciate them or exercise them A LOT would be a lie. And I don't think I can or would renounce these privileges. However, with immigration laws and policies (and The Wall) at the forefront of political issues in our country, yes, I should be thinking about these privileges and what it means to have them, and to not have them. I was born a citizen of the United States of America. Others weren't so lucky.
I guess not everything sucks about being a United States Citizen. But I do believe the motto engraved on the Statue of Liberty so long ago, proclaiming to THE WORLD to send US, the United States, "your tired, your poor, and your hungry," rings a little hollow and with a bit less truth for most of the US today.
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| this makes me proud to be an USA citizen |
3 comments:
We are very fortunate to be able to cross borders like we are. I need to update my passport actually and it's gonna cost something like $200! Can you believe that?! That's not even for a rush job. That's for the 4-8 week, mail it in deal. I am fortunate to be able to even afford to renew it!
As a side note, that's so fucking AWESOME you rode your bike to Canada.
@csnizzle - i have to renew mine too before 2011! I wanted to do it before the new price hike but I didnt make it. Ah well.
I was just having this same conversation with a friend. If you stop to think about what real freedom is, it is truly amazing. And how often do we do that?
Great picture!
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