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Analysis of Interview with
Saifoloi Fata
After my
interview with Fata, I noticed that he did not fit the typical reason
most of us believe immigrants come here. According to the Douglas
S. Massey article, "Five Myths About Immigration: Common Misconceptions
Underlying U.S. Border-Enforcement Policy," myth number four states
that “Migrants are attracted to the United States by General Public
Benefits”. Fata’s story helped support this myth. Fata did
not come here to get access to public benefits. His story relates
closely to the Tongan Family that we read about. Author of Voyages Cathy A. Small stated
that “she [Emma] is a woman who relates her personal development to her
new nationality. Before she was ‘nobody’, but now she is
‘somebody’”. When I asked Fata if coming to America was worth it he
stated yes because if he hadn’t he would “work at some government job
or just sitting around an do nothing”
Many
immigrants have a common misconception about America; they believe that
America is wealthy and that there is no poverty here. Remi, the
prophetess who tells her story in Crossing
the Blvd written by Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan, she states
that “’the streets are made of gold’ that’s what people say in
Nigeria”. Remi and the Nigerian people share the same thoughts
with Fata. Fata stated during his interview that his biggest
surprise about America is that “nothing comes ‘free’ you have to work
hard to accomplished everything”.
Fata's
integration here in the US fits that of a Transmigrant. The
article Transnationalism: A New
Analytic Framework for Understanding Migration written by Nina
Glick Schiller states that a Transmigrant “develop identities within
social networks that connect them to tow or more societies
simultaneously”. When I asked Fata if he knows other Samoans he
stated he does. He stated in his interview that “if you asked a
Samoan if they knows this Samoan the answer will be yes”. Fata
also stated that he keeps in touch with his homeland culture by
attending the Aloha Festival every March.
Fata shared with us a story about a Thanksgiving
when he reached a language barrier with the cashier. In Charles
S. Clark's article "The New Immigrants" he writes that “speaking
foreign languages creates barriers…which produce frustration among
Americans that leads to the anti-immigrant backlash”. I don’t
however believe that Fata’s language barrier helps support or create
frustration, it more than likely created some laughs.
Return to Interview Introduction
Return to
Fata's Story
Read about Samoa
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