If I go back in my family far enough, I am descended from John of Gaunt, who was a son of Edward III of England.
My ancestor was born in Ghent, in Belgium, hence his name, John of Ghent, which became, over time, Gaunt.
The family was descended from a predominantly French line and was, it could be argued, not strictly English.
I suppose much the same could be said of our dear old Queen, who is, of course, descended from German antecedents.
The point that I’m making is that even in Britain, which is an old country, many people are, strictly speaking, the children, grandchildren, descendants, of immigrants; people who arrived for a variety of reasons and made their home there.
In a younger country, such as Australia or America, the proportion of persons who can claim that they are ‘indigenous’, that is, from their country over, say, three or four generations, is very tiny.
Why, even the President of America, and the one before him, are not from America.
If we look at Barack Obama’s immediate family, his dad was from Africa and his mum had English roots. It’s well known that our friend Donald’s grandparents were from Germany.
The fact is that we have been moving around the globe for generations.
It’s what people do.
They sometimes move because of wanting a better life in a more prosperous country, one of the so-called ‘pull’ factors.
On the other hand, there are ‘push’ factors, which are reasons why people are more looking to get out of a problem than necessarily being attracted somewhere else.
A classic, well-known example is the rush of people from various parts of Europe in the 1930s as they escaped dreadful persecution.
They were welcomed by right-minded people in many countries.
Britain, America and many more opened their borders and their hearts and said, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’.
It was, and still is, the right thing to do.
It is very simple: What would you want if you or your family were in that position?
You would want, even expect, compassion, empathy, even for people to try a little tenderness, as Otis Redding would have said.
Unfortunately, the so-called ‘caravan’ making its tortuous and painful way up from (mostly) Honduras and other South American failed or failing states is being used as a political football as America approaches the mid-term elections.
Mr Trump has even twisted (to snapping point) the truth by making unsubstantiated claims which are intended to frighten.
These are people just like the President’s granddad and grandma.
They are making their way to a better life. They are, more to the point, escaping simply awful atrocities.
What is the leader of the free world doing?
The beneficiary of his own country’s open-hearted open-door generosity?
He is not simply closing the door: No, he is putting an armed guard at the door.
He is making threats and telling them that they are not welcome.
And what is his fan-base doing?
Many of his ‘core’ supporters will be children or grandchildren of immigrants, but not in my backyard, my friend.
Long live America!
l Mike Gaunt is a former headmaster at St Christopher’s School, Bahrain – mikegaunt@gmail.com