No. 9: On Borrowed Privilege

From Brooklyn to Venezuela, and being an alien

On Borrowed Privilege

Today is Memorial Day, and I’m thinking about sacrifice. About Americans who gave their lives so this country could remain free and strong. I think about my Brooklyn-born grand-uncle and his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Decades later, that Brooklyn birth certificate became our family's lifeline. My grandfather used it to become a citizen. Later he sponsored my mother. Her green card was approved a month before I turned 18.

I didn't earn my permanent residency, I inherited it. Bureaucratically, strategically, accidentally.

I'm here on borrowed privilege.

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Where I'm From

Venezuela was once our family’s fresh start — where three brothers rebuilt their lives after leaving Europe.

I'm Venezuelan. In the United States, I’m a registered alien.

I've followed every rule, filed every form, paid all my taxes. Built a career in tech. Created a family. And gave birth to an American baby. I've contributed in every way I legally can, because I love this country enough to want it to be better.

And still, every immigration checkpoint, every policy debate, every headline framing Venezuelans as the kind of immigrant America doesn't want, hits with a sting.

Right now, the door is closing on people like me. Universities are suspending student visa programs. Immigration rhetoric gets uglier by the hour.

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Not the Time to Be Small

In America, visibility matters.

Memorial Day is about remembering those who died for America's ideals. But those sacrifices mean nothing if we don’t extend the ideals they fought for to the people still building this country.

My dad made sure we learned English well enough to attend college here in the U.S.

He was born in British-occupied Germany, where food and gasoline were scarce.
He grew up watching Clint Eastwood westerns and reading Charlie Brown comics.

He found Venezuela in his twenties, or maybe Venezuela found him. Either way, he loved it with all his heart.

I’m also German by bloodline, as is my daughter. Our papers were issued in Berlin. That’s how it’s done in Germany. Here in America, that’s not how it’s done.

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Aliens

America believes it's being invaded by aliens. Enough to justify mass deportations. Enough to invoke the Alien Enemies Act.

I think about my family's lived experience in Europe during the 1940s.

If we're worried about America's national identity, then mass deportation to detention facilities in other countries is anti American. It's dehumanizing and it's not even rational.

This Memorial Day, as we honor those who died for American ideals, let’s get serious about national identity and what actually makes America great. Not the fear of who doesn't belong, but the courage to build an open society that values freedom and truth.

💌 New Is Nice, Always — Eva