I’m an immigrant. I moved here 12 years ago from Australia, to work at *awed whisper* Harvard University. In BOSTON. Which was suddenly a real place, not a movie set! The Red Sox had just won the World Series again and, deprived of cricket, I became a fan. I had two J1 visas.

Then I got headhunted by NASA. THE ACTUAL FREAKING NASA. I moved to sunny California. I worked as an astrophysicist on the Kepler mission, discovering incredible new worlds around other stars. I had two H1-b visas.

I snagged myself a boy, and we threw the two-body dice. We landed permanent jobs at Caltech - he in the astronomy department, myself at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. I keep track of all known exoplanets for NASA. I have a green card as an alien of extraordinary ability.

Now, I have two scrumptious twins. I pay taxes, volunteer, give to charity. I give public talks for free, set up citizen science projects, march for causes I believe in.

I’m now eligible for citizenship. But if America doesn’t want immigrants, that means it doesn’t want me.