Opinion
OPINION: Our pioneer ancestors were immigrants too
Madelyn Wilson | Lehi Free Press
Every year around Pioneer Day, I reflect on a few of my ancestors who said goodbye to their homes in search of a new home; a place they felt called to by God.
I think of Lars Peter Oveson, my great-great-grandfather who left Denmark as a boy to emigrate to Utah with his family. Upon finally arriving in Salt Lake City, he and his family were told to carry on their journey to settle Ephraim after only a few days of rest. He devoted his life to his family and to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after saying goodbye to his homeland at only 10 years old.
I think of Ruth Campkin Randall, my great-great-great-grandmother. Her family left England the year she was born to be with the Latter-day Saints in America. She and her husband, Alfred, descended into Arizona’s Tonto Basin with their children. Their wagon was chained to a tree as a makeshift brake as they walked down the steep and rocky trail. She called back to her children, weeping, “I think your father is taking us into hell!” Ruth, the devoted mother she was, faced genuine peril in order to travel to the place her family felt called to settle.
This reflection isn’t meant to put these people on a pedestal, nor is it to erase the flaws and errors of many pioneers in the early days of the Church. I reflect to recognize what people are willing to sacrifice for a better life for themselves and their families — sacrifices we see people making every single day as they try to build a new life in the United States.
Last week, the Utah County Commissioners unanimously approved an agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the County Sheriff’s Department. The approval came after four hours of public comment from residents of Utah County. About 100 people spoke in that time, asking questions and sharing concerns over the agreement; none of the commenters spoke in support of the agreement.
One brave commenter, a 12-year-old girl named Adelaide, shared the story of her friend Ashley who was detained by ICE in January of this year.
“One day she was here, laughing with us, learning with us; the next day she was gone. No goodbye, no explanation. Just fear, silence and an empty seat in class,” Adelaide shared. “I care deeply about people in our community, and I believe no one should be afraid to go to school, walk home, or live in our city because of where they were born. … How can we feel safe when someone can just be taken from their family just like that? … That’s not the kind of city I want to grow up in.”
I attended that meeting and was moved to tears along with several others in the room who heard Adelaide’s message. I am a mother, and this trauma and grief is not something my sons should witness in their classrooms or neighborhood.
Those of us with Utah roots may often reflect on our pioneer ancestors and all that they lost in search of a better life. In many cases, those losses were due to infant and maternal mortality, violence and succumbing to severe weather conditions.
But this is the modern, developed world. The infant mortality rate has dropped a whopping 95% in the last 200 years, and maternal mortality has dropped as much as 99%. We don’t have extermination orders in Utah County. We, for the most part, have shelter to keep us safe in severe weather. What we have now that tears families apart, that strikes fear in natural-born citizens and immigrants alike, is ICE. Our ancestors couldn’t control the weather, but this government organization’s reach in our community is something we should have a say in.
Were it up to me, ICE would never be allowed to set foot in this community. While I am not at personal risk of being detained and separated from my family, I have friends and neighbors who are; and yes, those people are all here “legally.” In the past several months, we’ve seen ICE disregard due process and detain individuals who live here on a green card or with full citizenship — simply because they look or sound like they came from another country.
While it was stressed in the meeting that ICE is already here in our community, my fear with this agreement being approved is that we are sending a message to ICE that their strong-arm tactics are welcome here, and that the average Utah County resident is okay with that. Let me be clear: I am not okay with it, and the majority of people I know living here in Utah County feel the same. That opposition to ICE is not based on party lines; it’s based on humanity and empathy.
Latter-day Saint pioneers were migrants often outlawed by the courts, vilified on a national level and ostracized from their existing communities. The same can be said of many immigrants facing detainment today.
If you have pioneer roots, I urge you to turn inward. If what is happening now to our Latino friends, family and neighbors were happening to your great-great-grandfather, would it be okay with you? If your great grandma were separated from her breastfeeding child, would you stand by and let it happen? Our pioneer ancestors were immigrants. Let us have the same compassion for our neighbors as we do for them.
