Opinion | I know first hand how Trump’s USAID shutdown will hurt migrants. It will also hurt the U.S. (Toronto Star, Print and Online)

There is a home video of me as a toddler, bumbling around with candy in my hands in my family’s living room in a village in southern China. My older brother comes by and snatches the candy and I fall to the ground kicking and screaming.

My family always talked about that moment. Watching it as an adult recently, I heard for the first time the conversation that was taking place between my mother and the relative who had come to film this video to bring it back to my dad, who was an immigrant in the U.S. at the time.

These videos were precious because my father had to leave China while my mom was 7 months pregnant with me, so these videos were the only way he got to see his daughter 8,000 miles away.

In the video, my mom can be heard saying it’s OK that our plans to immigrate will be delayed because the U.S. had entered a recession in the early 1990s because Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait led to oil price increases and a poor economy. Ultimately, our family reunification took place in Canada, delayed by four more years. During that time, my father faced many challenges sending money home.