I was reading recently about the early days when the first Asians (mostly Chinese) were arriving on American soil in search of a better life.  That search being, as we all know, the intercontinental railroad and the Gold Rush.

I was never actually aware of the specific acts of racism and injustice these early-day immigrants had endured; I just assumed that they had, and that it must've been some pretty awful stuff--mid-1800s?  The Wild West?

But, one tidbit that I did not know was that many of these immigrants, after having worked off their contracts and indentureships, were denied their right to return back to their homelands.  In other words, they weren’t allowed to leave America.

This might not seem like much, but when taking into the larger context of what’s going on today with the difficulty the government is having with trying to keep people from coming into the country, it all just brings into focus the karmic irony of it all and how much times have changed.  But not really...since people are still coming here for the exact same reasons they did back then.