Sentenced Home

Sentenced Home is a documentary about the plight of three Cambodian Americans who were granted refuge in the United States during the 1980’s. Growing up in Seattle, the three of them made rash decisions that led them into trouble. The US government perceived these actions as a danger to the country and began using these petty actions as an excuse to deport Cambodian Americans. Loeun Lun, a victim of this act, was sent back for firing a gun in self-defense. Not only was he jailed for his actions, but also as soon as he was released his marching orders had arrived. As if suffering in prison was not enough, he now has to bear separation from his wife and kids. I don’t understand how the United States can be cruel and impassionate sometimes. The US doesn’t realize the impact deportation will have on the lives of the people. Kim Ho Ma is a perfect example of this idea. After being deported, Kim has had a hard time adjusting to life in Cambodia. After having spent majority of his life in the United States, it was difficult for him and his family to relocate to a country in which he does not understand the society’s ideals. That is the reason why he vents out his frustration against the United States for first accepting him and then throwing him away like trash.

Perhaps, Many Uch’s scenario is the worst of them all. Many Uch has a wife and kid but he does not when he will be deported or whether he will be deported at all. So he must live his whole life precariously hoping for the best and praying that he does not get separated from his family. The United States might justify this as a mean of protecting the nation but in reality they are destroying people’s livelihoods.

Golden Venture

Golden Venture was a ship carrying illegal Chinese Immigrants from the province of Fujian to the coast of Queens. Ah Kay, a dangerous Chinese criminal, and his partner Sister Ping, were in charge of this operation. Both these snakeheads charged exorbitant fees for the illegal passage to America while also keeping people on the ship in unhygienic conditions. Their plan was foiled as there was a struggle on the ship between the leaders and in the meantime the ship ran aground. With freedom in sight, some immigrants jumped off the boat and into the cold icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately 10 of them died because of the freezing waters while the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INF) took the remaining people on the ship into custody.

About half the people were deported back to China in two years while others chose to fight their cases in prison. I personally believe the US made a huge mistake in sending the illegal immigrants back to China knowing fully well that the Chinese government would crack the whip on these defenseless people. Yan Li, one of the deported, was subject to much abuse on his return to China. He was beaten, fined and forced into sterilization. By keeping the remaining immigrants in prison, the INS separated them from their respective families for about 4 years until President Bill Clinton released all the remaining Chinese immigrants.

Even after being released, the US government is still deporting these Chinese immigrants due to security reasons. I am not able to fathom this fact because these people now have families, a livelihood and a taste of freedom for which they yearned. Instead of deporting illegal immigrants, the government should do a better job protecting the borders in the future. I am not saying that all the people seeking asylum should be allowed in the US but that those who are already here deserve a piece of the American dream.

Flushing

Bayside and Flushing, two neighborhoods that are fairly close to each other but differ in a lot of categories. Flushing is an area dominated by people from Asia. As you can see from the table below, 54.6% of the total population is foreign born. Since most of the people are foreign born, they might have trouble finding high paying jobs because of language barriers, cultural assimilation etc. The median household income is rough $52,000. Also about 50% of the people living in this area have gone to some sort of college, and 38% have at least one degree. Overall, Flushing is a very diverse neighborhood that is still developing into one of the major areas in the city.

PLACE OF BIRTH
Total population 251,278 +/-7,484 251,278 (X)
Foreign born 137,133 +/-5,499 54.6% +/-1.2

WORLD REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN
Foreign-born population, excluding population born at sea 137,117 +/-5,495 137,117 (X)
Europe 13,629 +/-1,449 9.9% +/-1.0
Asia 97,093 +/-4,709 70.8% +/-2.0
Africa 1,064 +/-419 0.8% +/-0.3
Oceania 28 +/-33 0.0% +/-0.1
Latin America 24,985 +/-2,627 18.2% +/-1.7
Northern America 318 +/-154 0.2% +/-0.1

Bayside

Bayside, a neighborhood to the east of Flushing, is dominated by whites unlike the majority of the population in Flushing. Approximately, 56% of the people in this region are whites and 35% are Asians. Unlike Flushing, only 40% of the population is foreign born and out of those, 85% came after the turn of the century. This means that the people in this area have assimilated with the American culture and hold high paying jobs. The median income of Bayside is roughly $72,000, about $20,000 higher than flushing. As a result, people in this area can take advantage of many resources that are not available in the Flushing area. 65% of the people have gone to college, and 48% of those have at least one degree. Bayside is one of the most prosperous neighborhoods in New York City.

PLACE OF BIRTH
Total population 118,499 +/-4,128 118,499 (X)
Foreign born 48,540 +/-2,707 41.0% +/-1.7

Screen Recording

Having visited the Tenement Museum in lower Manhattan, we were exposed to the life that many immigrant families, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, experienced when they first arrived in New York through Ellis Island. All these immigrant families shared a common idea: to take advantage in the “Land of Opportunities”. The immigrant families envisioned America to provide them with all the tools necessary to live a happy life. But was this assumption rational or just wistful thinking on part of the immigrants? A brief visual tour of one of the tenements on 97 Orchard Street gave us the answer. Noisy street vendors and non-stop pedestrians on the black and white pictures along with our guide’s story telling describe the neighborhood livelier than texts do.

The actual tenement museum was a few houses down the road from the visitor center. This clever arrangement took us back in time to the past Orchard Street where many ancestors of current New Yorkers lived in. The entrance to the building was very narrow, thus we had a hard time getting through. The first thing we noticed was the compact space and dim lighting. Another astute observation we made was that everything was made of wood — this was quite hazardous in the event of a fire. Moving up the creaking staircases, we encountered the first room where the apartment suite was not entirely restored. In this suite, the interior was left purposely untouched to give visitors the atmosphere of that time period. Jacob Riis, a muckraker, described the living conditions of immigrant families in tenements in hopes to bring about social reform. In his book, Where the Other Half Lives, he described that a single room contained 6-7 members of one family.

In particular, we noticed sweatshops in each of the apartments. The immigrants worked long, laborious hours trying to make as much clothing as possible because they were paid per piece and not per hour. Imagine the atmosphere of the room while they worked and the sweat pouring over their brows as they sewed the cloth together. They probably did not waste a single second of their working hours doing anything else besides concentrating on the clothes. It was shocking how wealthier people even detested the clothing because they considered the immigrants dregs of society and did not want these immigrants handling their clothes.

The entire family worked for countless hours everyday, slept in cramped spaces every night, lived with caution because of a vulnerability to fire, and dreamed of a better life for their children. Yet, their traditions lived on their culture thrived in their hearts throughout the hardships and tribulations. These people must be acknowledged for what they have been through and what they experienced. The heart of the immigrant lives on, even today.

The Irish faced a dire situation starting in 1845 called the Great Famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine. One third of Ireland’s population was entirely dependent on the potato as the main source of sustenance, especially for the poor. This staple food made the agrarian economy grow rapidly. However, a common potato disease called potato blight decimated the potato livestock leaving the people with insufficient food supply and less will to remain in their homeland. Emigration skyrocketed at that point and social, political, and economic issues only encouraged people to leave the country.

In contrast to the trend in the 1900’s, the trend in the late 2000’s has been starkly opposite. The Immigration Explorer, a tool on the New York Times website, tells us the migration patterns of various groups to America during an extended time period. Looking at the population of Manhattan, NY in 1890, and 2000, we notice a drastic decrease in the population of foreign born Irish. The population of Manhattan was roughly 1.5 million in both these time periods. The difference is that in 1890, there were 190,418 foreign-born Irish to the 4,147 in 2000. That’s a 98% decrease in the Irish population in New York. Much of this can be attributed to Ireland’s recent economic upturn.

In 1996, Ireland reached its migration “turning point,” making it the last European Union Member State to become a country of net immigration. The main reason being that rapid economic growth created an unprecedented demand for labor across a wide range of sectors, including construction, financial, information technology, and health care. This had a direct impact on the unemployment rate as it fell from a 15% to 3.6% in no time. Ireland had turned from “being a country of emigration to a country of immigration.” The cause of a decrease in Irish immigrants to the US and an increase in emigrants to Ireland is because of this Irish economic prosperity, better known as the “Celtic Tiger” era. This change in the population flow of Ireland is significantly reflected in the Irish immigration trend in the Immigration Explorer. The economic boom in the late 20th century and early 21st century became a major attraction for immigration to Ireland and also helped keep the Irish natives. Thus, there is an apparent decline in the migration of Irish people to America.