America is considered the land of
opportunity especially to African’s in the third world country. To have a family member or a friend in the
United States is considered to be one of the biggest blessings that could
happen to an individual or to a family, people view it as an opportunity to
better the lives of individuals. People are no aware of the hardship in trying
to achieve financial stability being an immigrant and also do not understand
the cost of living in the United States. Being that in most countries income
taxes, state taxes and federal taxes are no included in any of the good or
services provided; styles of living in Africa and in the United States are very
different.
I have an uncle who through illegal
means years ago, got the opportunity to come into the United States to help
provide a better life for his family as well as his self. Illegal means
meaning, he used someone else identity who was a United States citizen to get
into the United States. Doing those times, it was very common practice amongst
Africans who were desperate to get into the land of opportunity; also, security
was not very tight during those times. Prior to the tragic 9/11 incidents,
getting into the United States illegally was very easy. Once in the United
States, my uncle began to work several jobs to make ends meet and also to put
himself through school. He eventually got a job with a local bank in New York
and was making a decent amount of money to send money back home to help take
care of his family. He was eventually becoming financially stable to be able to
go back to his home country of Ghana to help support his family and also give
back. One thing however was hindering his possibilities of going back home, he
was not a permanent resident or citizen of America. That meant ones he left the
United States, he might not be able to come back into the United States.
Through his struggles of finding a
guaranteed return to the United States, he met an African American who took
interest in him and was willing to marry him so he would automatically become a
citizen. He refuses the offer because the young lady is not a Muslim and also
that he wanted to actually be married to someone he saw a future with; based on
his religious beliefs. Eventually he gets frustrated and goes back home to see
his family. His name is Mohammed, one of the most common Muslim names known,
and right after he goes back to Ghana without any “paper” the tragic 9/11
incident occurred. That tragic lead to a drastic increase of security at the
airports and embassy; going into the United States was practically impossible
for a long time. His name also did not help the situation, and due to this, he
was stuck in Ghana. He was under the
impression he was vacationing in Ghana thus left all his belongings and priced
possessions. As a result of not having the proper documentation, my uncle was
back to the life he was running away from all along.
The sudden change in lifestyle and
career caused my Uncle to go into a serious depression because he was not ready
for what had occurred to him. He had finally worked his way up to a comfortable
position just to lose everything again. He was warned by many not to leave the
United States with the proper documentation but he refused to pay heed. Till
this day, he often reminisces on the situation and wished he had taken a
separate approach to the situation. He is greatly affected by his poor decisions
years back because he was supposed to help put his entire family in a
comfortable position but he believes he let him down.
Immigration is clearly a hot button issue now, given both the refugee crisis in Europe and in the U.S. the prior concern about illegal immigration. The latter is mainly discussed in the press with regard to Hispanic immigrants. I don't recall reading anything about immigration from Africa and illegal immigration in the U.S. With the lack of a common border, it hardly seems a pressing issue, even post 9/11. But security at airports and other ports of entry clearly has changed dramatically since then. It makes the story you told about your uncle a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThere is a question whether the pre 9/11 sort of illegal immigration that your uncle engaged in is really a victimless crime, especially if the person is eager for work and to better himself. Passions run high on this matter. The argument that there is no harm is that such immigrants do jobs that American citizens wouldn't do themselves. The argument in reverse is that such people consume social services but don't pay taxes.
When my mother was still alive she lived in a condo in Boca Raton Florida and needed health attendants to care for her. Many of the women who did that sort of work at my mother's condo were from Jamaica. Might some of them be illegal immigrants? I don't know, but the demand for people to provide long term care services to seniors is quite high and it is long hours at low pay type of work, so not something that many people would find attractive employment.
Was your uncle acting opportunistically when he first came into the U.S.? Perhaps. Was anybody else hurt by him doing this? I'm not sure. Absent knowing about the harm, while it is an interesting story, to be sure, it may not be a great example for our class.