Having an Asian face with a U.S. ambassador title, I am often asked "where I am really from." Or perhaps more politely, whether I am "nissei" or "sansei" — or just how many generations back did my family emigrate from Asia to the United States? I am generally forgiving, even to the comments of how "good" my English is, as no ill will is intended. And often it reflects the speaker's own experiences, American or not, with immigration and immigrants.
For numerous countries in the Asia-Pacific region, immigration remains a contentious issue. Consider Australia's controversial efforts to intercept at sea a new generation of "boat people" fleeing impoverished, strife-torn nations. Or reflect on Japan's own much-documented immigration laws effectively barring many ethnic Koreans from becoming citizens despite years of living, and indeed being born, in that country.
Even in my own country, perhaps the nation best known as a land of immigrants and their descendants, the debate rages on. U.S. President Barack Obama, due back in Asia soon, and his predecessor George W. Bush have been unable to move a recalcitrant Congress, split between Republicans and Democrats, to act on immigration.