Give hope to those who seek the American Dream
By Michelle Ostrelich
My immigration story is not unlike those of countless other Americans – from Europe to Ellis Island. To my grandparents and great grandparents, America symbolized freedom and opportunity. But the road was far from easy. Both sets of my grandparents came Michelle Ostrelich from Central Europe. One side was Jewish and the other Catholic – they didn’t live in the same village or celebrate the same holidays, but they did share this: a desire for a better life, and the very real pursuit of the American Dream.
My paternal grandfather was just five years old when his parents brought him to this country. Of Croatian descent, they didn’t speak English but quickly immersed themselves in American life. They settled in an Ohio steel town and eventually opened an inn for the steelworkers. When the mill closed after the Depression, they headed east and my grandfather became a welder – working 16-hour days building WWII ships at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
My mother’s family fled religious persecution in Europe. My maternal grandmother was fourteen years old when she boarded a boat for America; though it was February, she had left behind all of her winter clothes – believing that in America the sun was always shining. With no formal education, she soon began working in a sweatshop. After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911 – killing 146 workers in NYC’s garment district – she felt compelled to take action and joined the walkout that brought nationwide attention to the poor working conditions and led to workplace safety reforms in NYS, setting an example for the rest of the United States. In a new country, speaking with a foreign accent, she had the courage to risk everything to stand up for what was right. I couldn’t be prouder to be her granddaughter.
My grandparents didn’t have easy lives. They did what they had to do to get by, and with hard work and perseverance were able to provide for their families and pave the road for subsequent generations. And that’s not all they had on their side – they had each other. When I see what is happening at the border today, my heart is broken at seeing and hearing the images of families being ripped apart. But heartbreak isn’t enough. We have to take action. It’s always been about families coming here together. Supporting each other. Immigration simply makes us better. My grandparents were from different backgrounds, but came to embody the American Dream. As we come together to celebrate the birth of this great nation this week, let’s remember that we’re all the children of immigrants – ordinary women and men who risked it all to come here and helped build this country into what it is today. And let’s do everything we can to give hope and help to those who seek their own American Dream. Michelle Ostrelich is a Democrat from Niskayuna running for the 49th state Senate District seat, which includes parts of Saratoga and Schenectady counties and Fulton and Hamilton counties.