Southeast Asian in the US Ques - Essay Example

? My mate Louis was born in America, but his father emigrated from Vietnam. His story is one that is probably similar to many of the people thatemigrated from Vietnam after the conflict was over between the Communist and Nationalist forces. He says that he is glad that he was able to immigrate to America. Louis says that his family wanted to leave their home in Vietnam because of Communism. They felt that there would be less opportunity for the next generations because of this political system. They were afraid that they would loose all of their property and possessions and that their children would be very poor under Communism. Louis says that his father had access to the port and the fishermen there because his job took him there often. The first part of the plan to emigrate from Vietnam included lots of secrecy. Louis says his father made it a point to be very friendly with all of the fishermen for a long time. He made friends with one of these men and they became close. Because of this close friendship, Louis says his father knew that the fisherman was someone that could be trusted. He started to ask him to take him on a trip that would enable him to escape from Vietnam. It took a long time to convince the fisherman to agree to do this. Louis’ father had to pay the man money little by little over the course of an entire year to convince him. It was difficult to convince him because he knew that there was lots of danger involved for him as well. After a year, the fisherman agreed to take on the job. He actually worked to organize a group of people that all wanted to go. This helped to defray the cost of the fuel and the risk for the fisherman. Once the group was ready and had paid, the fisherman took them on a two-week boat journey from Vietnam to Malaysia. The trip was very difficult but it was worth it. Once the Vietnamese immigrants were in Malaysia, things got much easier. The Malaysian government worked quickly to issue visas to the Vietnamese. This allowed movement within the country and the ability to work. Louis said that his father had no desire to stay in Malaysia because opportunities were limited, so he almost immediately caught a boat headed for the Philippines. Upon arrival in the Philippines, he was placed in a refugee camp. It sounds worse than it was. He was given enough food and a clean place to sleep. Moat importantly, he was taught English for six months, so he could get along once he arrived in America. After the six months was up, he moved to California and then on to Boston, which is were he still resides today. My classmate Louis’ father had a very different experience immigrating to America than a member of my neighborhood did. Mr. Milanovic emigrated from Bosnia with his wife and two daughters. His decision to immigrate was caused by more urgent circumstances that Louis’ father. The war in Bosnia and Mr. Milanovic’s ethnicity were factors in his immigration. He did not immigrate to America just for a better life. He came to America because his life was not safe in his homeland anymore. Mr. Milanovic saw his nieces, nephews and two of his brothers killed in a raid by Serbs. He says that it is a miracle that his entire family was able to escape intact and alive. Mr. Milanovic knew a friend with a truck that routinely traveled past safe areas where the UN was gathering Bosnian refugees. After the visit to his Brother’s home and the raid by the Serbs, he decided that he needed to get his family out of Bosnia. They packed almost nothing and went to the UN refugee camp to wait. They waited a very long time. He recalls boredom being the real enemy. People would grow tense because there was nothing to do except worry about missing family members. After nearly a full year in the refugee camp, the Milanovic family arrived in the United States. They arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska because that is where the organization that had arranged for sponsors was located. All the Milanovic family knew is that they were going to be taken care of for the first few months in America by a church group. This made them nervous because they weren’t very religious people. Once in Nebraska, they realized there was some confusion. The family sponsoring the Milanovics was in Pennsylvania. They slept in the home of a sponsoring family that night and then flew to Pittsburgh the next day. This is where they met the Clinton family. The Clintons were sponsoring the Milanovics. They had committed to supporting the family until Mr. Milanovic and his wife could find work. Mr. Milanovic said the generosity of the Clintons was astounding. They provided food, rent and new clothing for everyone. They bought the family a used car, helped the girls enroll in school and get the language services they needed. They all could speak English on a very basic level. Mr. Milanovic was able to get hired as a welder. His wife got a job working retail. Mr. Milanovic says that since he arrived in America, it is like living in a dream. He said that work here even feels different because what you earn really feels like it is your own. You don’t have to worry about some group or individual trying to take it away from you just because you have a different last name or live in a certain section of town. The one similarity that seems to run through both of these interviews is how difficult and boring it is to live in a refugee camp or to be a refugee. In both of these cases, the people wanting to immigrate to America were held for months before they could arrive. I cannot imagine living very closely with complete strangers for months with nothing to do. There are not any real jobs and there is little to do to occupy your time. These interviews helped me to see that being a refugee is not exciting in any way. It is a sad, boring experience that many immigrants go through before they arrive in America. Not that I think the current system works well, but I do see why so many immigrants are so happy to live in America. After being through so many trials, America probably does look like a bright, shining place compared to where they are arriving. This is not intended to say America is so much better than everywhere else in the world. I’m just saying that after being smuggled on a boat, or having endured the loss of loved ones and witnessing the destruction on my community, America probably really does appear as a beacon of peace. I think this is especially true for immigrants that are able to incorporate themselves into the social and economic culture in America, as both of these immigrant families I interviewed were able to do. Immigrants that are ghettoized probably just find that they are going to experience many of the problems they had in their old countries here in America. The big lesson that I am taking away from this assignment is to not take my citizenship in the United States for granted. I understand the sacrifices people have made to have the opportunities I have had given to me. Read More