Lori Chesser

Opinion contributor

I never met my great-grandfather on my mother’s side, but I knew his house: a white one-and-a-half story one-bedroom on a small-town gravel road. I spent part of every summer and Christmas vacation there growing up. The attic served as a make-shift bedroom for me, my sister and my parents as it had for his four children, and later for my mom, her sister and two brothers after my grandfather gained ownership.

The house sat at the top of a steep hill, which was planted with Concord grape vines, harvested to make jelly and sometimes wine. My grandparents, and likely my great grandparents before them, kept a large garden to feed their family. My mother remembers they also kept chickens, which she despised.

My great-grandfather brought his wife and three children and their “immigrant trunk” across the Atlantic from what was then Bohemia. He was a butcher by trade. My grandfather, born here, was a carpenter. My mother earned a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter. One of her brothers became a college president after serving in the military. My daughters are both college graduates, gainfully employed.

Opportunities for immigrants lead to success

I tell this story not because it is remarkable, but because it is not. America has prospered on the principle that giving people opportunity will result in success.

The Department of Homeland Security recently published a proposed rule that says immigrants seeking to enter and stay in the U.S. must show they will not need public benefits. Reading this "public charge" proposal is like looking at America in a funhouse mirror. It distorts the role and nature of immigration in our country until it is unrecognizable, and concludes that the only good immigrant is someone who has already succeeded.

Had this rule been published to address a rash of welfare fraud or high public benefit usage rates by immigrants, the 183 pages detailing multiple factors that must now be documented and weighed (among them age, medical conditions, family status, employment status, assets, resources, education, skills and whether they have ever received public aid), could have been justified. But this is not the case.

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One study showing immigrants use more in public benefits relative to native-born was done by the Center for Immigration Studies, which aims to limit immigration. The Cato Institute found the opposite — that immigrants are less likely to use public benefits, and that they use lower amounts. It said the CIS study inflated usage because it was based not on individuals but on households headed by immigrants, and those often include people like spouses and children who are native-born.

Would I be here today had the proposed public charge rule been in effect when my great grandfather arrived? Unlikely. I am proud of him for taking the risk. I am grateful for his hard work (and my great grandmother's, too) that allowed his progeny to achieve and thrive, as well as pay plenty in taxes to Uncle Sam. Seeing the people now standing in his place being called a burden is sad not only on a personal level, but for our country.

I believe that people like my great-grandfather are necessary for America to maintain her character and energy. With only a few exceptions, our laws already limit immigration to those with close family ties or job offers — good indicators that they will not be a burden — and require legally binding Affidavits of Support in most cases as a backstop in case something goes wrong.

We must all tell our stories to stop this

The fact that people use legally available help at some time after they arrive does not mean our immigration system has failed. It means that for immigrants, like those born here, life happens. Helping people is part of giving them the opportunity to succeed.

We can all think of people who may be shut out by this rule if implemented as proposed: the woman not allowed to work in her home country because of tradition or discrimination, the widow coming to help raise her grandchildren, the couple prevented from starting a business because personal loans are not available in their home country, the family who would be forced to leave behind their child with a disability. Denying these people entry will make us poorer, not richer in any sense of the word.

To have any chance to keep the proposed public charge rule from taking effect as written we must all tell our stories. Share them on Twitter with the hashtag #MyImmigrantHistory. You can also submit comments to the government through Dec. 10.

We owe it to our ancestors, ourselves and generations to come to remind America that poor does not equal undesirable. To the contrary, the future success of our nation will continue to arrive — if we let it — with three children and an immigrant trunk.

Lori Chesser is an immigration attorney based in Des Moines and member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.