Category: Moving to America

It has been stated that 24 immigrants have died in ICE custody in Trump’s administration, 6 of them being children. This doesn’t include migrants and previous years. The issue concerning asylum seekers has been around for years, yet there seems to be little progress regarding the issue. According to the United Nations, every two seconds a person is forced to leave home due to conflict, violence, persecution, poverty, and hunger; yet there are people who try to make it harder for these people to have another opportunity or they believe they make the country worse. Should the United States be turning their back against people pleading for help?

Concerns over refugee resettlement started to increase about a century ago, coinciding with the start of the recession and a wider trend of government and local anti-immigrant laws. In relation to financial and social issues, when millions of migrants fleeing Syria caught the government’s attention and President Obama raised refugee numbers, the idea that refugees pose security threats arose after 9/11 and gained actual momentum. Recently there has been new asylum rules that makes is difficult for asylum seekers to even apply as an asylum seeker. Under the rule, migrants who have crossed through other countries to get to the southern border cannot apply for asylum in the U.S. unless they have been denied asylum in another country. On one hand, you have people saying that immigrants are a danger to society, and on the other hand, you have those saying that they help the economy grow and should be given the opportunity to have a life they could only dream of.

Over the past two year and a half, refugees have been targeted together with other migrant groups in order to reach the Trump administration’s goal of reducing immigration. The government raised alarms concerning the potential threats and highlighted the costs of refugees ‘ public money, iterated travel bans, and had a drastic reduction in refugee admissions. The situation has gotten worse since then, refugee camps have been set up along the border where more than hundreds of people are held, many of them being asylum seekers. New laws make it more difficult for migrants to seek asylum and it will just keep getting harder.

Many immigrants attempt to come to the U.S. seeking asylum, trying to flee gangs, abusive partners, and others who simply seek a better future. Research demonstrates that refugees are contributing to the labor and society of the United States. Following a period of adjustment, refugees integrate into financial, cultural, and civic actions and contribute to communities across the US. Refugees are a diverse group and their individual circumstances differ significantly depending on the quantity of time they spent in the U.S. and their nation of origin, background in education, gender, and age at entry. They enhance their English language skills over time, though many remain constrained by low English skills and poor academic performance that affect their financial results. On average, refugees work at high rates in labor force jobs, their salaries rise, and their government benefits decreases. Those who arrive young often graduate from college. In a fast track to get a green card and citizenship, many of them become residents and become business and home owners.

As a daughter of two migrants, I couldn’t be any prouder for how much effort they put in to make sure me and my brothers had the opportunities we have now. I am a witness to their efforts and determination and I will forever be grateful for it. They came with nothing but a few pairs of clothes and a few cents. As soon as they arrived to the U.S, they began working jobs others don’t attempt to do. My father builds houses for a living while my mother cleans. Through these efforts, they bought a house, a car, and gained citizenship. Because of them, I don’t live in pain, poverty, or hunger.

To conclude, I believe that there should be a better way to handle the refugee issue. Detaining the refugees in camps is not the way to go about it if so many migrants have suffered and died. Not every migrant is dangerous who wish havoc on the U.S. Many of them run away from danger or hunger, while others want to pursue a greater future. I think they should be able to have that opportunity if they really are going to put in the effort.

No one really ever knew about six-year-old Mawi Asgedom, a refugee of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, until he came to the U.S. Not many ever really seemed to care and sympathize with Mawi and other refugees while they lived in harsh refugee camps in Sudan. The government of their homeland certainly didn’t care about them, as rather than providing its citizens with proper food, education, or health care, it started wasting its money to fight over the small, inessential area of Badme through a violent war. However, when Mawi and his family traveled to the U.S, their lives changed for the better. They, and other refugees, such as the Lost Boys of Sudan, were met with a land that nurtured a stable and fair government that cared, boasted a strong economy, provided a large variety of good food, and utilized excellent education opportunities. Mawi, who had been a poor refugee child constantly plagued by sickness, was able to work hard and graduate from Harvard University. Moving to the United States helped the refugees of East Africa succeed and grow. The refugees of East Africa are much better off in the United States than in their native country.

Perhaps one of the most important reasons why East African refugees should move to America is because many of their native countries are ravaged by constant warfare and an unstable government. Governments, one of the elements of culture, are supposed to keep order and protect their citizens. However, Sudan’s government has been doing the opposite. Omer el-Digair, the leader of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party, protested, “We do not need a security apparatus that detains people and shuts off newspapers.” This quote gives examples of the outrageous things the Sudanese government has done. Corrupt governments and rebellions can also cause violent warfare, such as what happened in South Sudan. CNN news states, “For several years, soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir clashed with forces loyal to his ousted vice president, Riek Machar, displacing millions of civilians and killing tens of thousands.” This quote shows how millions of people were killed or driven out as different people fought for power. During the war, children and teens were captured and forced to steal, rape, and sometimes even kill others. During Sudan’s civil war, about 17,000 boys were left orphaned or displaced, and they became known as the Lost Boys. The horrors of war are simply too horrid for many to imagine, and no one should be forced to experience it. The refugees of East Africa deserve peace, and that is exactly what America has to offer.

A second reason why East African refugees are much better off in the U.S is that the U.S has a stronger economy and a higher standard of living. Some people may argue that in the U.S, everything is expensive and costs money, so the refugees should stay in their homeland. However, the price of certain things in the U.S is nowhere near the price of items in many East African countries. According to the video “Saving South Sudan”, the price of gas in South Sudan is a whopping $20 per gallon. This shows that certain items are much more expensive in South Sudan than they are in the U.S and that South Sudan has a very poor economy. Economy, one of the elements of culture, deals with how people produce, sell, and use limited resources. Because the economy is dangerously low in South Sudan and other East African countries, many people live in poverty under horrible living conditions. After coming to America, refugee Mawi Asgedom wrote, “We had spent the previous three years living in a one-room adobe, and even then we had been grateful that we had the one room.” This quote reveals that Mawi’s family of six had all lived in one room, and even that had been something to be grateful for in Sudan. When they came to the U.S, they could not believe their eyes when they were told that they could stay in a two-story house with a huge yard. He exclaimed, “Is it for real? This whole stretch of house and yard ours? It’s too much.” This quote shows how unbelievable it was to refugees that they could have that amount of living space. Large houses, cars, and roads are all human characteristics of Wheaton, the area where Mawi was taken. Place, one of the themes of geography, is made up of all the physical and human characteristics in a certain area. All of those human characteristics support the fact that Wheaton has a higher standard of living than Sudan. The U.S has a stronger economy and a higher standard of living than most East African countries, so refugees should definitely move there.

Another reason why East African refugees are better off in America is because of America’s abundant food and water. The video “Saving South Sudan” explained the fact that many everyday people in South Sudan are forced to hunt and kill animals simply in order to eat. Erminio Sacco, a food security expert who works at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N, also states that when South Sudan began to undergo a famine, many people were forced to “… spend days foraging for wild foods such as water lily roots, fruit, or fish.” In other words, many unwilling South Sudanese people had to go through extreme human-environment interaction to find food. Human-environment interaction is one of the five themes of geography. Although everyone interacts with the environment, foraging and hunting in the wilderness to survive and eat is a painful and dangerous struggle. Regions, or places that share similar characteristics, is another theme of geography. Living in regions that are very dry or have long dry seasons makes the struggle of finding food even harder. There are many places like that in East Africa. Mawi Asgedom and his family were lucky enough to make it to a refugee camp, but even there he said that they barely “… survived on goat milk, eggs, U.N rations, and whatever we could grow in our small gardens.” This quote illustrates the point that Mawi had very little variety in his food. However, when Mawi moved to the U.S, he was amazed at what he saw. He found constant, delicious food, and he especially enjoyed the Reese’s chocolate he received on Halloween. Mawi even found some of his traditional Ethiopian food waiting for him, such as inerja bread or sebhi stew. Those traditional foods are examples of Customs and Traditions, which is one of the elements of culture. In America, Mawi’s culture was able to stay with him through food, and so did his full belly. Another refugee, Peter, discovered that he loved cheeseburgers and that he could finally eat more than twice a day. The scarcity of food in certain parts of East Africa is simply too much to bear. By moving to America, the refugees were able to find much better food and a much better life.

Some people may argue that it is almost impossible to get a good education in America if you are unable to understand English. However, that is not nearly the case. For example, Mawi Asgedom, a refugee of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, came to the U.S when he was seven years old without knowing any English. However, because of all the books, libraries, and helpful teachers in America, he was able to learn how to understand, speak, and read English very quickly. He said, “I graduated from Longfellow’s ESL program at the end of second grade, and by sixth grade, I was making the high honor roll.” The quote explains how Mawi became very fluent in English quickly and that he actually did very well in school. Language, the element of culture which explains how people communicate, is generally not a problem adapting to for most refugees. There are many resources to help them, and if they still need help, they can always ask their friends. In Mawi Asgedom’s book, Of Beetles and Angels, he explained that his father was always there as a translator when his refugee friends needed him most. Thus, adapting to a country with a new language is not nearly as hard as many people think it is.

Through these reasons, it is clear that traveling to the U.S would be more beneficial to East African refugees than if they stayed in their homeland. There, many are forced to live off of the same food every day, without knowing whether or not they would have enough for their next meal. The idea of being immeasurably poor, under times of constant struggle and death, a time when the government doesn’t even try to protect its citizens, seems unimaginable to many Americans. However, this is the life of countless East African refugees. If they have a chance to get a good education and start over in a wonderful, new land, why shouldn’t they take it? The refugees of East Africa are easily much better off in the United States than in their native countries.

The book of beetles and angles, is a based on a true life story of an Ethiopian refugee who ends up in the U.S. The boy and his family flew the Ethiopian civil wars and find themselves in the Sudan asylums. He embarks through a hardship journey until he finds success. A successful flee from one’s mother country, is not always assured of a safe and secure refuge destination. Many are cases where refugees are left homeless for years in their first destinations. The initiative to settle refugees in northern America is purely an individual initiative. We take a long journey into Ethiopian refugees who have managed to secure full permanent settlement in America.

​The Ethiopian refugees Sudan experiences is just a show of the initial steps in the migration process. The trip is harsh and involves an encounter with many risks. In rare occasions, you will find they have the pleasure of accessing means of transport. The journey involves all day-night walking sometimes without food or water. Often they oversee the possibility of rejection and take the risks of robbery, attacks among other violent encounters. They even risk contradicting diseases such as malaria. They tend to settle in the most immediate peaceful environment. In the book; of beetles and angles, we are confronted by a case where Mawi and the family first flee landed them in Sudan. They spend three years in the asylum, till they decide to take a personal initiative to move to America. The Ethiopian refugees have been increased by the frequent civil wars mostly along the borders.

Sudan is the most reliable and convenient first destination for the Ethiopian refugees. The conditions these refugees live in are not very welcoming. The majority end up in the rural set up with about 1% gaining access to the cities. They are less mobilized and end up settling in a rather scattered manner among the Sudan nationals. They are awarded small plots where they can settle in but this occurs after a long time. They survive by providing labor services in cases where wage- settlement is offered. The case of Mawi and the other migrants is not any different from these conditions. For three years they are faced with similar situations in the Sudan camp.

Communication barrier is usually a challenge for the refugees. The Ethiopian refugees are not any unique to this challenge. In Sudan, they have to learn a new language while adapting to the new culture in a bid to survive. There is a daring lack of shelter, public health care, and subsistence. Deaths being reported a short period after arrivals in the camps. They face risks of depression, home-sick with a feeling of isolation from where they once called home. Somehow feeling a loss identity. With studies showing the refugees 4-5 years later they usually live with the same problems (Mekuria Bulcha, p.30). About 75% are not anywhere near achieving economic sustainability and self-reliance 3-4 years later. Mawi and the other refugees are forced to find alternatives due to such problems. Three years later they still struggled in the Sudanese asylum.

Unemployment is a millennial problem that has cropped many African countries for decades and centuries. With refugees, underemployment is a common trend. The rate of market labor accumulating the refugees is usually very slow and low. Most of the refugees’ households live below the poverty line i.e. below a dollar a day (Mekuria Bulcha, p.58). The households are economically crippled with the poverty matching for new refugees and old refugees. Their attempts to exist in cities such as Khartoum is futile due to lack of documentation exposing them to exploitation. The situations nor unique to Mawi and the group. A close look into Ethiopian migrants or rather refugees to Sudan draws major critical points. Refugee flight involves great risks of impoverishment. This means even the financially stable citizens in their motherland are greatly financially disabled.

The initiative by the U.S to offer a settlement to the refugees, an increased number of refugee arrivals increase. This move saw Ethiopians enter the U.S borders back in the late 1970s. With the enacting of the Refugee Act in 1980, the move saw a further increment of refugee arrivals in the subsequent years. Though later the numbers started declining annually. This is associated with the move by Sudan to approve applicants with relatives in the U.S. many preferred to settle in places that were occupied by Ethiopians in the past. The areas “flooded” by Ethiopians were DC, Washington, New York, and Dallas. Their patterns of assimilation closely preferred Washington and DC due to economic friendliness.

Adapting to a new environment incorporates learning the new ways of life. Ethiopians in the U.S never learned to adapt to a new way of life. Being in a fully capitalist society means there are less economic dependency and more financial stability. Consequently, this resulted too many even committing suicide and a series of depressions. Even though some cities where Ethiopians were many managed to form foundations that supported them. The Greater adaptation also achieves in areas with more Africa Americans within active engagement in social and economic activities. Over time the Ethiopians gain more economic dependency in this area than the Sudan asylums. In the book, we are presented with a situation where Mawi and immigrants take a bold step and start off to the U.S a land believed to offer more opportunities.

The U.S is a country that has almost achieved universal health care. Ethiopian refugees enjoy this advantage fully. They enjoy good health facilities and other social amenities such as schools. In their country especially the rural areas, these facilities are limited and not enough for all. With many being presented in the U.S service industry, they have been offered medical covers. Even though a section of them also rely on subsidized health from their employers. In regards to education, Ethiopia suffers a high level of illiteracy. In the U.S, they have access to the same schools to Americans. Many immigrants have taken advantage to attain academic literacy even though a handful of other immigrants have turned into crime and criminal activities in the cities. Citing racism and decline of Christian churches for the Ethiopians and major contributor. In the book; of beetles and angles, we are presented with Mawi an Ethiopian immigrant who seize the scholarships granted and goes all the way to Harvard University. A prove the immigrant have full access to social amenities.

The refugees are allowed to have close relations with their home country. They are allowed travel permits back to visit their relatives. Many manage to go back to their country and back. With less civil war being experienced there. Studies have shown the refugees maintain a positive attitude to their country even though they not willing to go back and resettle there. They give reasons such as the occupation of their original land rendering them homeless (Mespadden and Moussa, p.199).

It is clear being a refugee is not more of a personal choice. The flight location and destinations of the refugees are never predetermined. Therefore it is true to argue the refugees live and survive at the mercy of the host country. Refugees suffer a lot of frustrations and live in more deplorable conditions. The United States put into consideration a lot of factors to establish a settlement scheme for its refugees. This will forever impact her refuges by positively changing their living standards.