My grandfather, Joseph Aloysius Bodey, immigrated to Southwest Missouri in the early 1880’s with his parents. There he later met Margaret, a daughter of immigrants, married her, and together raised four children. One was my father, Carl, born in Pierce City in 1916. Over the last few hundred years this is the story of America. With hard work and determination, immigrants like them have made our nation better. We are now a diverse and free country, with most of us their descendants.
But today immigrants are often mistreated and demonized by some Americans. and even assaulted by members of ICE. Regardless of where they came from, these human beings are mostly hardworking individuals with families, who have jobs, pay taxes, lived here for many years, and have no criminal record. Many are our friends or neighbors.
