For People Of Color In Kansas City, 'Go Back Where You Came From' Is A Familiar Refrain

"I remember as a kid, in kindergarten, elementary school, you know, and hearing the same thing," says Kansas Democratic Rep. Susan Ruiz, whose father immigrated from Mexico.

She didn't understand the sentiment at the time, but her father certainly did.

"He said that there are some people that will not accept you because of the color of your skin," remembers Ruiz, who represents parts of Shawnee, Lenexa and Overland Park.

Mahnaz Shabbir has similar memories.

She was out of the country when she first read the tweets, and "it made me terribly sad," she says. Shabbir is a company founder, consultant, activist and public speaker who wears hijab.

"It brought back growing up," she says, "things that were said to me or my children."

It's a lesson immigrants to the United States have been learning for generations, or at least since the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed in 1798. That series of laws, signed by President John Adams, made it easier to deport foreigners and harder for new immigrants to vote.