In a July 28 article, the highly-respected travel publication Condé Nast Traveler listed the countries that have issued travel advisories to their citizens about traveling to the U.S. There are concerns about possible violence related to political instability, detention at the border, harassment, prejudicial action against LGBT+ visitors, natural disasters related to climate change, gun violence and more.
On the list are: United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and China. (“The Full List of Countries That Have Updated Their U.S. Travel Guidance” by Rachel Chang, July 28, cntraveler.com)
Did your ancestors immigrate here from any of those countries? Mine did (United Kingdom). In fact, of the citizens in Utah, 27.7% have British ancestry, 12.4% German, 6.1% Irish, 5.9% Danish, 2.2% French, with smaller percentages from the other listed countries. (American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau, 2010)
It is sobering to think that if those countries had regarded the United States back then with the same misgivings and alarm as they do now, those Utahns’ ancestors — maybe your ancestors — might never have immigrated here and you and I might today be speaking with a British or Irish accent or speaking German, Danish or French and be living in those ancestral lands, not here. And think of potential immigrants today who will never come.
If we are at least partly defined by how others perceive us, it’s sobering — and sad — to think about those perceptions of our country by others today and what is behind them, to think of what we have become.
Al Forsyth, River Heights
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