Coming to America

I heard Neil Diamond’s song “America” (which is frequently referred to as “Coming to America”) today as I was driving alone in my car. It was released in 1980 as part of the film The Jazz Singer, and became a huge hit single in 1981.

If my reaction to hearing it again after 35 years is typical, it is still a huge hit among people who love their nation. Among people who are willing to risk their lives to protect their nation. Among people who are willing (although not necessarily happy about it) to pay their endless taxes and obey the countless laws that seem to spring up like crabgrass in their lawns each spring. America has a nearly bottomless pool of welcome for those from other lands and cultures who come here. My own family over the last two and a half centuries have come here from England, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Sweden, Switzerland, Indonesia and more – lots more. Why did they come here? Have you ever asked yourself why your own family came to America? Diamond must have asked that very question of himself and his ancestors and the answer was the base for his song “America.”

Far, We've been traveling far Without a home But not without a star Free, Only want to be free We huddle close Hang on to a dream

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“Free, only want to be free” I think sums it up pretty clearly. The only thing almost every immigrant who has ever come to these shores wanted was their own freedom. Well, that was the primary goal for centuries. But is it still the goal of many immigrants? Do illegal immigrants just want to be free? Or is there something else that they want that is not primarily freedom? Could they want to come to a place where those who already live here will support them? Could they want a place to live that costs them next to nothing? Are they seeking a cost-free education? Regardless of how you might label an illegal alien, the fact that the word “illegal” is clearly understood that they are not “willing … to pay their endless taxes and obey the countless laws.” Has anyone asked these illegal immigrants WHY they are coming to America? When they answer that question are they almost always speaking of that they WANT from America? Those who come here often have an answer to the WHY part of that. Neil Diamond’s next verses describe the WHY pretty well.

On the boats and on the planes They're coming to America Never looking back again, They're coming to America Home Don't it seem so far away Oh, we're traveling light today In the eye of the storm In the eye of the storm Home To a new and a shiny place Make our bed and we'll say our grace Freedom's light burning warm Freedom's light burning warm

These people come to America, and recognize that they no longer have a home that is not America. They come to America and never look back at where they came from without thanking God when they say grace for the bounty that is here in America. They recognize that their life today is not due to the country that they left, but the country that they have come to, the country that they think about as their home. Immigrants, the legal kind, should be reminded that every one of them came to America not because of what America will give them. America welcomed them as fellow Americans, countrymen, people who are willing to share their dream with the rest of us.

Everywhere around the world They're coming to America Ev'ry time that flag's unfurled They're coming to America Got a dream to take them there They're coming to America Got a dream they've come to share They're coming to America

The illegal sort of immigrants who come here whining about how hard they have it in their “home” country apparently aren’t willing to share their dream with Americans, but rather expect Americans to share the dreams of Americans with them. Americans are more than willing to share with their families, neighbors, friends and other Americans who already share the dream of freedom. As the old saying goes, “Freedom is never free”, but this concept seems to have passed many, if not most, illegals right by.