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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Benjamin Miller Log in
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Fraud and Coming to America
Fernando describes what things pushed him to leave Guatemala:
I wanted to help my family, I wanted a better life…. I was happy and life was going great for me. I was in a good position economically. But it changed when my parents became victims of fraud… the land we lived on wasn’t ours…we had land titles and everything but they were false–We had to take out a loan from the bank in order to pay for the land […] but later we realized that we didn’t have the means to pay those loans off.
Immigration
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, has been in the United States for 23 years. Her immigration to this country was aided by a helpful nonprofit organization:
Actually some immigrate – some organization help us to – with immigration. It was Jewish organization, NYANA, which, upon arrival to this country – actually, we started with this organization, they gave us some input, how to…whatever, how to start our new beginning in new country, and this way, at least – okay, this way, we can rely on something to give us a hand.
Making the Process Look Easy
Jenny, a 20-year-old woman from South Korea, briefly states why moving to New York City was easy for her family:
My dad came with a student visa and then he got a green card because his company sponsored him. So it was kind of a great thing for us. After like a year of arriving here we got our green card.
Its All Worth it in the End
Jane, a 24-year-old girl who moved to America from Canada two years ago, talks about the rewards of the immigration system:
I guess my overall reaction is that it’s a pretty grueling process, with lots of intricacies, and it can be annoying and inconvenient. And there is definitely one thousand percent room for improvement in the system. But in the end of the day, the people who want to immigrate for the right reasons shouldn’t have a problem. I mean, I’m sure there are good people who get denied acceptance, but I got a green card in the end. And so did my sister, so it wasn’t just by chance. I’m grateful for that, because I get to live here and go to school here and work here and raise my beautiful baby here.
Losing Out For No Fair Reason
Jane, a 24-year-old girl who moved to America from Canada 2 years ago, talks about the frustrations of getting a green card:
The process of getting a green card just takes so long, the job wasn’t willing to wait to find out if I was approved. They were like, listen, you’re a great candidate for the job and your exactly what were looking for, were so sorry, try again next year. I ended up getting a different job, but its not as good, I get paid less and I have worse hours. So I didn’t get the job I really wanted because of the green card process.
A Welcoming Journey to America
Miriam discusses her voyage to America.
We came, uh, on a ship. And I remember coming and I could speak a little English, so I was able to talk to the sailors, and I also played the piano, and they taught me some American songs. And I would play and sing. And I remember when we came here we had to stay on the ship an extra day because we came on Thanksgiving day and the immigration office was closed. So the captain of the ship had a Thanksgiving dinner for us and explained Thanksgiving and what it meant and Thanksgiving was always a special holiday for my family because, you know, it was really a day of giving thanks for being here.
