Professor Prabal De, CCNY 2014
Posts tagged illegal
The Tale of the Golden Venture
011 years
It’s shocking what some people will do to try to get to the United States, and the documentary Golden Venture is a testament to that. Sometimes, it’s not about getting a better life in terms of money; rather, it’s getting a better life in terms of “freedom.” The film features the story of a four immigrants who were illegally smuggled from China in 1993 by way of cargo ship filled with hundreds of other illegal immigrants. The individuals each paid grand sums of money on the lucky chance that they would arrive on the shores of America, with nothing but bare necessities to start anew. Yet, what made these people willingly endure the hardships of the arduous journey, knowing there were more hardships to come once they landed in America? It was freedom. Most of these individuals had political issues with their home country (China) and were willing to sacrifice much for a seemingly meaningless journey–to them, this journey meant escaping the cruel laws imposed upon them, whether it be the limit on children or some other form of persecution. They all certainly had enough money to actually pay the “snakeheads” to smuggle them, so they didn’t really have economic reasons for leaving China. And yet, like any other immigrant, they saw a lower opportunity cost of coming here than staying in their home country, and they saw that the long-term benefits would overcome any short-term struggles.
Of course, as is the case with most illegal activities, there’s a chance of getting caught, and the Golden Venture had some rotten luck. The passengers aboard the ship were taken into custody upon arrival just south of New York and were arrested. They stayed in jail for years, though some escaped and some wished to be deported. Some of them finally got paroled in 1997, and even then, the 53 individuals let out on parole remained “illegal” immigrants. This meant that the state didn’t recognize them as legitimate people living in the U.S., and they didn’t receive any of the benefits of the government. This brings up the vehement stance of the American government against illegal immigration–is all this really necessary? This is a legitimately controversial issue, because the method by which illegal immigrants come here is definitely unacceptable, and it’s unfair for those who get real documents and get by the embassy. However, illegal immigrants are still humans and shouldn’t be treated badly, since many of them seek refuge or aid. Now that the number of illegal immigrants in this country have become significant, we need to devise a plan to deal with them, because they are a part of this country as is anybody else.
A Flickering Light at the End of the Tunnel
011 years
A Crime: an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.
Illegal Immigration: refers to the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country.
Hence, for all intents and purposes of this discussion, a person crossing the borders of the United States while in violation of the laws of immigration of the United States is termed an ‘illegal immigrant’ and is effectively, by definition, a criminal in the eyes of the law.
A trek made across the mainland of China. A voyage across the oceans crammed within an inch of another’s body. The chances of survival itself are in question and yet two hundred and eighty six people made the journey – and many counted these few hundred as lucky. Is life really that horrific in China? So unbearable that familial ties (a significant one among innumerable others) must be broken in order to reach out to grasp at a chance of a better life? Apparently so.
The search of a better life has been a revolving theme in the foundational incentive and drive for immigration. And here there is a diversion in the documentary where the inattentive audience member’s interest often peaks for the rest of the film – these women, children and men who were crammed within an inch of each other on a rusted vessel that had no business on an ocean all recognized something that could never have come across through a spreadsheet, a data table, a graph or perhaps even entire dissertations on the subject of illegal immigration and I might go as far to say, even a case study into the life of an illegal immigrant. They realized that in order to complete living a life that had a meaning that reached up to their standards they deserved better than what they had. And they were willing to go to extreme lengths to get what they wanted, in the face of death itself, they leaped into death’s jaws and pushed their limits of survival. A few failed but none of them can say they didn’t take the leap into an abyss not knowing whether there was a light at the end of the tunnel. When the mainstream media caught hold of political representatives there was a recurring theme in newscasts – reminding the people of the United States how many took the liberties and freedom afforded to them for granted while halfway across the world people would do quite literally anything to work their entire lives to achieve a quarter of what they had by virtue of birth.
However that was the lesson to be learnt for the individual, not an entity like political organizations. There was quite a significant message that pierced the heart of the organization and operation of the bureaucratic system here in the United States. The dangers of autonomy when knowledge on how to deal with dilemmas specific to departments was scarce in that very department. It’s quite amusing to say the least. We have a utilitarian view in getting things done when it comes to transparent political actions taken by government agencies and it’s clear from the documentary that this is the case. While one side can more than easily argue that the detainment of the survivors was the right thing to do to send the right message to potential illegal immigrants another can argue that it is simply not the right way for a superpower such as ourselves to treat other human beings in that manner and that they deserve to be freed and receive protection. What the latter puts aside is that this only encourages more illegal activities to take place and is an added incentive where none else is required. It is not until these proponents are aware of how they can be affected – and in some cases affected themselves – that they come to see that. However rarely do they get to see it which perhaps in itself is a good thing for them but it doesn’t take away from the fact that someone will most definitely be affected by the presence of illegal activities and in consequence, the whole.
Therefore while spending taxpayer money to imprison/ deport the passengers of the “Golden Venture” and spending lengthy court sessions lobbying back and forth may constitute the democratic process of dealing with this issue it can be agreed on by all conflicting sides that this is certainly not the most effective methodology to find a solution to the problem. Therefore it is clear that while the documentary delves deeply into the personal lives of the passengers of the “Golden Venture” the documentary itself most importantly showcases the flaws and confusions lying in the bureaucratic functioning of federal agencies and independent government organizations.
