It's kind of difficult to understand the reasons people do what they do when we don't walk in their shoes or see the world through their eyes.

Born in Vietnam, Tran Quoc Tan, better known as "Lee," is a proud American citizen who takes the impact of immigration issues very seriously.

Readers may know Lee better as previous owner/operator of Burien's Sola Nails and his wife, Kim, as owner/operator of Des Moines Nails in QFC plaza. Children Nickolas, age eight, and Nathan, age six, complete their family.

Lee said he dreamed of having "freedom of speech, choice of political and religious preferences, and opportunity for education." Now an American citizen, Lee is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Services at Highline Community College.

In a class essay he responded to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's new immigration law.

Defending her new law to demonstrators at Capital Plaza, Governor Brewer said, "The law is another tool for our state to use as we work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix."

Lee's Essay reads in part: "Images of immigrants have been washed-up, repainted and washed-up again throughout United States history of immigration."

Who can say the United States achieved the dominance it enjoys in the world economy today without the major contributions of immigrants?

In the early 1900s, more than two million Italians and 4 million Jews and Poles arrived in the United States. In his book, "Twentieth Century Immigration to the United States," Stuart A. Kallen relates that majority of Americans believed it was not their responsibility to help foreigners from impoverished lands.

Many also expressed resentment of immigrants who refused to learn English, adopt cherished American customs, or otherwise assimilate into mainstream Americans society.

Those who favored immigration countered the United States needed immigrants to work at menial jobs, also arguing that diversity provided by immigrants helped make America a stronger nation.

Many Americans blamed immigrants for the lack of jobs during the Depression. However, the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany caused thousands of people to immigrate to the U.S.

In 1941, at the start of World War II, immigration was severely monitored and restricted.

That all changed in the 1940s and 1950s when the United States needed laborers to pick crops. This cheap labor led government and growers to consider the program an ideal system.

However, illegal immigration grew steadily, and the government feared that unrestricted immigration would undermine the internal security of the United States. President Dwight Eisenhower's order to "secure the border" drove out about one million people. (New York Times.)

The 9/11 attacks a decade ago changed the attitudes of Americans forever. Immigration laws were examined and strengthened once again.

Arizona's newly passed immigration law is the toughest in the nation, and it authorizes massive punishment for illegal immigrants, provoking people throughout the country.

About Lee - At 17, he left Vietnam for Chicago with his parents and four siblings to pursue work paying enough to get an education.

"Only wealthy people can afford education in Vietnam. America offers scholarships and student loan programs. If you aren't getting an education here it's because you don't want to get one."

Average Americans drive cars. Average Vietnamese people ride bicycles. "In America, with determination and goals, nothing is impossible. The biggest obstacle is learning the English language."

At age 24 Lee met and married the beautiful Kim.

"She was so honest and just being herself, I fell in love."

The standard of America is "obey the laws." And what opinion does American citizen Tran Quoc Tan, aka Lee, have about immigration?

"I do not agree with Arizona's law that failure to carry immigration documents is a crime. I do not want to be wrongly arrested because of my race identity. I did not dream of living where I was pulled over by police just because of my race. I don't want to be treated differently by race identity. I do hope there is a better solution to solve the crisis so Kim and I with our children still have basic rights and obligations of any other American citizen."

People agree or disagree - yet the beauty of America speaks in song. "From the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, God Bless America, my home- sweet- home!" And the people said, "Amen."

Today's Thought: "If you're too busy to laugh, you're too busy."