This is a wonderful article that appeared today in the New York Daily News.

It reminded me that almost all of us are the children or grandchildren or descendants of immigrants, except for Native Americans.

The author, Vesna Jaksic Lowe, writes:

Melania Trump and I both grew up in a country that no longer exists. Yugoslavia broke into pieces in the early 1990s after a civil war, and since her husband became President, I am reminded more of it each day.

Mrs. Trump and I came to the United States just a year apart and, at one point, had the same type of visa. We both moved to New York City, married American men, and had a child. I don’t have anything resembling her cat eyes or model looks, but I’m also a tall brunette, just an inch shy of her 5’11”.

But despite her big platform as a prominent naturalized citizen from the war-torn Balkans, the First Lady has chosen to stay silent while her husband unleashes harm on immigrants to America.

I was 13 when my family left Yugoslavia on the brink of war. As an eighth grader, I’d come home from school to see my hometown engulfed in smoke on CNN. A childhood friend was killed in a bombing, along with his dad. Soldiers stormed my uncle’s rooftop. Friends and relatives went into hiding when they heard the air-raid sirens.

Melania Trump faces many ‘unspoken rules’ moving in White House
Like most conflicts, the Yugoslav one was complicated. But like many civil wars, there are some common threads. Nationalist leaders stoked ethnic tensions. In Croatia, Franjo Tudjman boasted about Croatian nationalism. In Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic pushed for Serbian interests. Both used the media to spew lies and government propaganda, and spark ethnic hostility.

Paul Glastris, a journalist who covered the conflict, said Trump and the late Milosevic had a lot in common, including their brash personalities, obsession with manipulating the press, and fueling of ethno-nationalism.

I see many parallels between the Yugoslav conflict and the current situation in the United States, such as attacks on media and the targeting of Muslims, refugees and immigrants. Hate crimes are on the rise here, and many people are being told to “go back to their country.”

Such events remind me of a day in Croatia when a classmate told me to go back to Serbia, where I was born. I was confused about why this suddenly mattered to a seventh grader, when my whole class had always known this.

Now, for the first time in my 20 years in the United States, I fear someone could tell me to go back where I’m from if they hear me speaking Croatian. And yet, that is nothing compared to the fear undocumented immigrants feel each day, worrying they or their loved ones may be taken away in another inhumane deportation raid encouraged by our President.

And throughout it all, as Trump fights to close our doors to refugees from war-torn countries, to boot, our First Lady has said nothing.