Over the years, there has been an influx of immigrants into the USA. The statistics are show a staggering increase in the numbers with approximately only 30,000 a year in the 1930s up to 3,000,000 a year in 2005 (Center for Immigration studies 2006). It is also estimated that over half of all immigrant activities in the world involve the USA as the most preferred destination. The reasons for moving to the US may vary for many but at the end of the day, everyone is seeking a better life.
The situation is further compounded by the number of illegal immigrants that come into the USA through various means and routes. According to the Centre for Immigration studies (2008), the population of illegal immigrants in the USA is slightly above 15 million making this singularly, the largest proportion anywhere in the World. It is thus by no fluke that you hear of people taking off in search of the American dream.
However, coming to the US or any other foreign country for that matter is not as easy as many may opt to think. Moving to a foreign land comes with its difficulties making the transitional process a very unpleasant one for most people. This does not mean that all immigrants face difficulties. Each individual has his or her own story on how their first time was when they travelled to the US. It is for this reason that I take this research to understand how the whole process is for the immigrants in a new country. There is no better way to get this information than by actually interviewing a first generation immigrant. Getting first hand information from an immigrant on their experiences and adaptation process is what I seek to establish in my study.
In my research, I interviewed Mr. Taarabat Hashmi, a 54-year-old immigrant from Kashmir region in India or Pakistan depending on how you choose to look at it. He has been in the country for the last 30 years. He originally was in the country as an illegal immigrant but has since acquired citizenship. He has three sons and one daughter who all together with his wife live in a large house. He currently resides in Oregon with his family and runs his own electronics shop. I held the interview at his home in the presence of his youngest son, Hashmi Jr. who is 15 years old.
Mr. Hashmi, came into the country under a student exchange program and never went back home.”I could not go back now that I was finally in the US. No…. I just could not.” He states. He sought refuge from a friend who had established himself. The friend hid him from the law for the first few months. According to him, he had to move about from place to place, house to house until things cooled down and people stopped looking for him. From there, he worked his way up. He started by carrying out simple tasks and jobs for the friend before he came to own his own electronic shop. He also got married and had kids.
In my research, I carried out an interview with Mr. Hashmi, which was basically a question and answer session. I had a questionnaire, which I had prepared before hand with the necessary question to complete this task. The questions were simple and straight to the point, which require short responses from the interviewee. Where necessary, I asked the interviewee to elaborate or even give examples to best help answer my questions. The questions were open ended by nature thus allowing as engaging in conversations, which made him open up even more.
Main reason for adopting this form of data collection is the fact that it allows for a one on one, face to face conversation thus reducing the risk of the interviewee lying. It is also possible to tell if one is lying by sitting across them. In addition, it generally yields the highest cooperation rate among all other methods of data collection. It also did suite this form of research because there was only one individual from whom data was to be collected. This made it a cost effective way of acquiring or receiving all the information that I required in my study.
Some of the questions in the questionnaire that I asked Mr. Hashmi included’, the reasons that forced him to move to the US, how he got Into the country, his initial experience in the US, the difficulties that he faced when settling down, when things started working out for him, some of the socio-cultural differences that he found intriguing or revoking and so on. Each of the questions that I asked was aimed at understanding the real situation that faces immigrants in foreign countries.
“To be honest, any one that knows anything about the Kashmir region would not ask me that question.” Hashmi started off when I asked him what drove him to seek a new life in the US. According to him, he could no longer take the political strife in the region. At the time, he was a student at a local university and as such was a target of the ruling class. Most of the demonstrations against the government of the day were always led by university students. This made every student, even Taarabat who never participated in the in the demonstrations under constant threat from the police or military personnel. “So many of my friends and comrades were arrested and even a couple killed in such police raids.” He says. For this reason, alone he had to leave for his life.
Other than the above factor, felt that the region was not safe at all due to constant threats to his life. Taarabat says ”You cannot imagine the number of things that could easily get you killed. On one side, we had the Pakistani and Indian troops fighting for the territory and being caught in the crossfire was as easy as waking up in the morning. On the other hand, you had religious extremist going about killing and maiming everyone that was not of his or her religion. Finally you had the police that every so often cracked the whip on students.”
Finally, due to the state of affairs in the region, the region has always been backward. The Kashmir region has stagnated economically since no one can dare risk investing in such a volatile region (Ganguly 20). “At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have to say that I have always been an ambitious person and the region was doing nothing to help me achieve my goals.” Says Mr. Taarabat.
Without much thought, Mr. Taarabat says the most difficult thing he faced was the fact that he was always running away from the law. The first few months were very difficult. “I was no less a beggar moving about from house to house.” He states that for a moment he regretted deciding to stay in the country illegally. He had no money at all and he always had to rely on his friend for handouts. “For someone with such a big ego, this was not easy thing to do day in day out.” He sighs.
On top of having to run away from the law, he could not approach them either when he ran into trouble. Mr. Taarabat says, “I remember once I got stubbed in the stomach by a group that mugged and robbed me off my possessions once I had started my business. I knew one of the gang members but because I was illegally in the country, I could not go to the police.” Immigrants in the country are subjected to all sorts of wrongs which they can chose to either let go or retaliate in their own way without involving the law.
One other common problem that faces immigrants in the US is that they are subjected to racial discrimination. According to Hooks (1990) race will always be an issue in the society especially a multi-cultural one. Those that feel they are more deserving may opt to degrade the new or minorities in the region. Mr. Taarabat remembers that he had to keep off specific parts of the estate that he lived in order to avoid being subjected to racial discrimination. “There were cases of people being beaten up and even women raped for being of a different race. They considered us parasites….” He says. He could not even continue with his education for fear of being discriminated against.
“I still am alive!” he declares when I ask him the question. He thinks that if he had stayed in Kashmir, he would have died a long time ago. Having survived the knife stubbing at the begging, he have never felt more secure and assured in his life.”It is such a nice feeling waking up in the morning and not having to worry if you are going to make it back to bed in the morning.” He continues. Hardly do men in the Kashmir region live to see their fortieth birthday (Dr. Ijaz 11).
Mr. Taarabat considers moving to the US a blessing despite all the difficulties that he faced in the beginning. The fact that he now owns a business and a house that he is very proud of counts as a great advantage.” I am certain that if I was still in Kashmir or its environs I would not have anything to show for my life’s work.” Mr. Taarabat states with an air of authority. Building in such a volatile region is simply asking for trouble or failure (Ganguly 9).
Finally, Mr. Taarabat is most thankful that he moved to the US because it gives opportunities to his children that they would otherwise been missing in the Kashmir region.”I keep on telling my kids how lucky that they were born here. To enjoy the same opportunities in Kashmir would be a pipe dream even for the ruling class.”
Works cited
Dr. Ijaz, Hussain. Kashmir Dispute: An International Law Perspective. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, 1998.
Ganguly, Sumit. The Crisis in Kashmir. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Cambridge : Cambridge U.P., 1997.
Hook, Bell. Yearning: race, gender and cultural politics. South End, Boston, MA, 1990.
Researcher’s Name. Immigration
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