A few weeks before my grandma died in Oct., she said to me, "Trump is ruining this country." This is a woman who was a war orphan, for whom the US was her only escape from the abuse she suffered under the hands of her oppressors, whose family died in Auschwitz. I read these stories and think of her.
Feb 3, 2026 23:45Did she know the full history of US oppression and imperialism? Of course not, she was an immigrant with no education (she was forced out of school age 14). But she knew that immigrants deserve safety the way she had it. It broke her heart to see other immigrants treated like dirt.
So I'm grappling with this weird sense of bitter relief that she didn't live long enough to see the news coming out about these concentration camps. I don't know how she would have coped. I know this is a weird facet of grief. I'm trying to channel it into action, because she would be proud of me.
I also feel grateful to the immigrant women who provided support to us as she was dying. Her favorite was a Jamaican woman named Wendy, and the two of them bonded intensely over the last few months of her life. Even when Wendy had to change jobs, she came by to visit in my grandma's final days.
I wish everyone had more immigrants in their lives, so they could see how much immigrants are an integral part of this country. When my grandma came to America, she found safety in her Dutch Jewish immigrant community, and as she spent her final days, she found safety with immigrants again.
