Conclusion

by Kerri Bastin

 

            Interviewing Dmitri was an interesting experience. There are so many different stories of why people have decided, or were forced, to leave their homes and families for another country. In the case of Dmitri, he came to the United States so he could have more choices in his educational pursuits. He stayed here after graduating from college and has since become quite successful at what he does with a good job and a nice house and car. I am sure that this is a situation common for many people who migrate to the United States. Unfortunately, this is not the case for a lot of migrants. Throughout the semester we have learned about Mexican migrants, who in desperation will cross the border illegally in very dangerous environments just to make it to America. The Borderlinks field trip to Nogales and the included reading material brings this to light. In the article Border Death-Trap: Time to Tear Down America’s Berlin Wall by Joseph Nevins, the author likens the U.S. – Mexican border to that of the Berlin Wall, with would-be migrants trying to overcome the wall and dying in the process. The United States had reached a milestone 2,000 migrant deaths of people trying to cross the southern border between 1995 and 2002. That is roughly equal to one corpse per border mile. This has led to increased policing of the border, but it does not keep illegal immigrants out, it just forces them to find even more remote and dangerous holes in the border for them to try to get to the other side.

    The U.S. – Mexican border is not the only frequently crossed border that we learned about in class. The book In & Out of Morocco by David A. McMurray discusses how people are leaving Morocco for European countries to find work. It is very similar to the story of the Mexicans, who leave Mexico for the United States to find work because it is the only way they can make enough money to support their families back in Mexico. The border between Morocco and Spain was also difficult for Moroccans to pass. A person would have to have “connections” in order to obtain documents to cross legally.

    Not all migrants have borders that are so close for them to cross. Some of them cross oceans to try to find a better life for themselves and their families. The book Voyages by Cathy A. Small is a study of how so many Tongans leave their homes to find jobs in California. Tonga is an agricultural ex-colony island trying to find its way in the industrial world. Tongan tradition was becoming intertwined with the Western world, where cultural practices such as making tapa cloths and family obligations became complicated with the desire of Western goods such as imported food. The increasing needs and demands the people to keep up with both cultures was a driving force for them to leave Tonga in search of jobs that could help their families to afford these luxuries, even though it was at the risk of taking a job of very little prestige.

    In fact, many immigrants take jobs that few Americans would take themselves. They are jobs that can be physically demanding, possibly dangerous, with very low pay and few, if any, benefits. Some of these jobs include construction, house cleaning, meat-packing and landscaping. There has also been a shift in the people who are migrating, with more women leaving their own homes to find work overseas as caretakers in the homes of others. In the book Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy by Grace Chang, she talks about how so many migrant women in the United States are treated as disposable workers, even though they are deemed to be indispensable. These are women who are coming from Third World countries to find work. In the United States, though, there are policies in the work place, like English-only rules, that place restrictions on the migrant worker so it makes them unemployable and thus unable to assimilate into American society, which in turn makes them “disposable”. These women are also falsely perceived as welfare burdens that are in this country using up all of our resources. This is unfortunate because they are a great resource to this country, taking care of our homes and our families.

    Even though the Mexicans, Moroccans, Tongans, and the Third World domestics mentioned previously were not refugees forced to leave their countries in fear of persecution, it does not mean they had a choice in leaving. All of them felt that in order to feed and support their families, they had no choice but to leave. Even though Dmitri had more opportunities in America to succeed since he had the chance to come here legally and go to school, he too has the same family obligations as the other immigrants to send home remittances. It seems to be a common theme for many immigrants, no matter where they come from or where they go.

    One thing these immigrants can be thankful for was that they were not in physical danger when they decided to leave their countries. Earlier in the semester I did a report on the lost boys of Sudan. They are young, male Sudanese refugees who were forced from their homes and had to walk thousands of miles from one refugee camp only to be forced to leave again to search for another. They have stories of their friends being eaten by crocodiles at their sides while crossing a river when fleeing from their homes. Their sisters and mothers were tortured and raped, and the rest of their families killed. One thing that sets the refugees apart from the other migrants is that they have to leave because their lives are in immediate danger. They often have to leave their homes with little or no warning, and many times can only take with them the clothing on their backs.

    So as you can see, there is more than one type of immigrant. One book that really summed up the class is Crossing the Boulevard by Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan. The book tells the stories of many different kinds of immigrants from around the world who settled in Queens, New York. They all tell a different story of how they came to the United States. Many are stories of refugees who were forced to leave their homes for one reason or another, such as political or religious persecution, many also came for economical issues. They come from all over the world, and go to countries like the United States, although migration is not limited to the United States. It is an international phenomenon.

 

Crossing the Valley

Facts about Russia

Dmitri's Story

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