WHAT ARE YOU PROTESTING?

 Those who've left their home country—their family, friends, and entire way of life—know firsthand how difficult and challenging it is. It's an immense struggle that requires a person to start over from absolute zero, no matter their education, experience, or age.

Starting over is like going back to your teenage years. You go back to school and take on volunteer work, hoping to be accepted by those who rejected you for a lack of Canadian experience. No job, no experience; this is a feeling that only immigrants can truly understand. After years of learning, adapting, and living on a basic level, many of immigrants still haven't managed to get back to where they were. Some will never fully recover from the hardships of immigration.

While those who have overcome these obstacles with triple the effort hope to be recognized as equals, we're now witnessing protests on the streets against immigration, and it's not clear what they're even objecting to. Many immigrants sacrificed their savings and careers, taking low-level jobs or even investing their own money to hire others.

To me, it's not clear why one group of citizens is allowed to object to the very presence of another, simply because they weren't born here. I believe in freedom, but isn't the definition of freedom that you're allowed to do anything as long as it doesn't interfere with someone else's life? How can some groups in a free land believe they have the right to object to immigrants? Did they do anything against the law or harm anyone? They have only worked hard and, in many cases, sacrificed their lives for their children's future. How could that possibly harm a born Canadian?