Wednesday, January 31, 2018

"Chain Migration"

When the current president refers to "chain migration" he's referring to the immigrant story in America.  He's certainly referring to the Dubrow and Kaplan story.

Benjamin Kaplan came here from one small village outside of Minsk. So did Rebecca Friendland.  They met each other and had three kids, one of whom was Irving Kaplan, my grandfather, who went on to manage the Manhattan and Miami Dubrow's for many years, along with his sons-in-laws.  Benjamin Kaplan came from a poor village in pre-World War I Russia and his son went on to college, graduate school, and became a successful business owner.

Benjamin Dubrow came with his wife Rose, and three oldest children, from another small, poor village outside of Minsk.  My grandmother Sylvia was in utero, so I guess she was what anti-immigration politicians today would call an "anchor baby."  His youngest daughter was the first person in his family born here.  He went on to be the founder of the chain of cafeterias so many people still mourn and recall fondly today.

This is what our current leadership refers to when they refer to "chain migration".  It's just a way of demonizing the American dream as my family and thousands of others have lived it.

From what I knew about his politics, my grandfather would be shouting from his grave at the current state of this country, which was so good to him, a proud second generation immigrant from a "shithole country."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eve, I moved to the Kings Highway neighborhood just as Dubrow's was closing. I still live in the neighborhood. I cannot understand why our current President is going after immigrants- they work incredibly hard and their kids are stellar students. He is ignorant of the subject.

Regards, Dorothy Berman

Anonymous said...


Eve, I would love to hear from you. My e-mail is dorothyberman@hotmail.com.

Drager Meurtant said...

There was one moment in history, to raise a wall against all immigration. That would have been 1491. Since then, the continent was infiltrated by people the descendents of which are eager builders of walls. Physical and mentally.

Eve said...

Hello Dorothy Berman! Thanks for stopping by. Sorry - I just saw your comment now. Blogger didn't tell me it was here, for some reason. I share your revulsion with the current politics around immigration.