An immigrant tale on why Vermont must fix things at home before helping others

by Mark Coester

Our nation was founded by the sons, daughters, and grandchildren of immigrants. The Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Continental Congress were created by immigrants or their direct descendants.

While we must acknowledge that many immigrants have been abused and exploited throughout our nation’s history, countless others have become the most patriotic citizens, rising above trials to help make our nation a beacon of hope for the world. One side of my family descends from a long line of American citizens, while the other comes from a direct immigrant.

My father, at ten years old, met brave, kind, and generous American soldiers at the end of World War II during the U.S. occupation of West Germany. To him, they embodied American values—kindness to children and families—qualities he had never experienced growing up under the German socialist regime. At eighteen, after completing an apprenticeship to learn a trade, he immigrated to America.

My mother, a teenager at the time, met him while visiting northern Vermont, where he worked on a dairy farm and horse stables, and she took riding lessons. Somehow, they stayed connected. My father later joined the Army, served in Korea (likely during post-war reconstruction, as timelines are unclear), and earned U.S. citizenship. After his deployment, he worked as a master toolmaker in eastern Massachusetts. His military service and trade skills eventually led him to Silicon Valley, California, where he assembled and tested the machines that produced America’s first computer chips.

We cannot ignore the contributions of immigrants to America, nor can we deny the dangers of unchecked illegal immigration. I’ve heard leftists argue for an easier pathway to citizenship, but the process is not overly difficult. I personally guided my ex-wife through it, even after our divorce, assisting with documents, schooling, and paperwork to help her become a citizen with all the rights and privileges that come with it.

Given that millions of non-citizens were already in America before the “Auto Pen Presidency” allowed an influx of 20 million more, I argue this is not the time for a faster pathway to citizenship. It’s factual that many of these individuals are criminals, terrorists, or ne’er-do-wells with no interest in becoming citizens. Others pretend to be community leaders to gain power, representing only the nations they left behind. This is why I fully support dismantling criminal networks, rejecting false asylum claims, rescinding temporary asylum, and deporting all improperly vetted migrants who entered during the Auto Pen Presidency.

Still, many honest seasonal workers will continue to come, and legal entry will, in fact, be easier. Most of our ski areas employ respectable seasonal workers, and many farms I know have welcomed the same legal seasonal workers for 25 years. Up and down the seacoast, seasonal workers come and return year after year without issue. Follow the law, and you are welcome.

In 1975, my family and I worked with Vietnamese refugees here in Vermont. Later in life, I taught a man from Togo, Africa, who was attending the School of International Training, how to drive on soft-shoulder backroads in Vermont at the end of mud season. I’ll never forget his face when he met a fully loaded logging tri-axle truck coming up a one-lane road. He followed my instructions, jammed the car into reverse, and backed up to a driveway. When the truck passed, he looked at me and said, “I will never be scared again.” God bless him.

In conclusion, Vermont must first stop forcing our young people to leave due to over taxation, overregulation, poor job markets, overpriced single-payer healthcare failures, and globalist climate policies that cannot affect the climate in any meaningful way. We should support family unity and an affordable Vermont where residents can raise families who will stay and keep Vermont the salt-of-the-earth place it was when I grew up—where honesty and a handshake meant more than any contract.

Our legislators, both state and federal, should advocate for residents and Americans, using this historic economic boom to benefit Vermont’s future generations, whom we hope will stay. They should focus less on “Trump bad,” self-pity, and unchecked immigration. Even Governor Scott has stood for legal migration only. First, we must fix the mess designed to bankrupt America, then revisit the subject of immigration. Americans first.