Why Do People Immigrate? Holiday Ponderings Continued…
I must apologize for my tardiness in posting this second part article on immigration. I was myself, ironically, experiencing some “migrating” issues and trying to deal with a few unripe lemons dropped my way. Thank you for your patience. Recap from Part One: In my last article, we took a quick jaunt down Historical-Holiday Lane and pondered the reasons behind the diaspora of our migrating European ancestors to New England. The famed Mayflower with her passengers and crew traversed the Atlantic for a better life and celebrated their first year in New England with their generous Indian neighbors by having a Harvest Feast. Today we remember that celebration with our version of Thanksgiving. What was surprising to learn was how many of the Mayflower’s passengers died in that first winter, about half of them. If they left in September to cross the ocean and knowingly landed in winter with all the hardship that implies… Why do it? If the risk of sea travel were so well known, why did they even go at all? Why do people risk life and limb, family and home, to make a go in another land? Let’s find out… Migration: To begin with, let’s settle on the idea that “migrating”, or moving around to find new places to live due to food, climate or war, is nothing new. Historically, man has been on the move for millennia. The basic causes for migration are still the same. But in today’s day and age, we have political, cultural, population and global warming issues that make immigration a little more complex. The Past, Present, and Future of Human Migration | Omnia (upenn.edu) Migration | United Nations WorldRiskReport_2021_Online.pdf (weltrisikobericht.de) Personal “immigrating” experience. For myself, I have been an “migrant” a few times in my life. I have lived overseas as an exchange student in the United Kingdom and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa. My reasons for “migrating” are therefore not the same as those mentioned above, nor was my life “threatened” by my actions of choice. So how do we distinguish between an avid traveler with a penchant for service, like myself, from someone with a more driving need to migrate? Maybe we need some definitions… Defining clarifications: Immigrant: noun, a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country. (North American Term) OR Migrant: noun, a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions. Can be permanent. Refugee: noun, a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. (Simplified) Hmmm… Quite the difference in the application of a simple word in describing the “person” involved. One implies choice, the other states a clear lack of choice. The Ukrainians come to mind. Specific Immigration Categories. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are five categories of immigrants: Naturalized Citizen – Citizenship is granted after a certain period of time. John Oliver is an example. Permanent Resident – Legal residents who can choose to become Naturalized. Twilight/Liminal – Protected status for a limited period. The construction workers in Qatar… A whole other topic! Refugee/Asylee – Forced to flee their homes due to lack of government protection. Again, the Ukrainians for example. Unauthorized – Undocumented or Illegal. Choosing to immigrate. Based off these definitions, I was a “liminal” immigrant while I lived overseas. This may be somewhat simplified, but I had the legal status to live overseas for a limited period of time. In the case of Naturalized, Permanent and Liminal it would seem that being an immigrant is one of choice. You choose when to travel and you choose where you travel. Therefore there is some form of monetary expense involved, and in some cases, a sense of limited time abroad. For our Thanksgiving ancestors, they were “paying” immigrants who choose to travel abroad and stay in the United States. Explainer: Who Is An Immigrant? | migrationpolicy.org Refugees | United Nations John Oliver Is Officially an American Citizen | Vanity Fair Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Immigrants to the United States (insider.com) Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: What’s the difference? | International Rescue Committee (IRC) Now that we have our immigration terms clearly defined and a few examples provided… Let’s get into what is driving the immigrants and refugees to our American Soils today. The Push and Pull of Immigration. The causes for immigration are many and varied. If we were to use the terms “push” and “pull” that the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services uses, we would then know the following: “Push factors are reasons that compel or push people to leave the area of where they reside and settle someplace else. Common factors can include armed conflict, disaster exposure, gender inequality, lack of job opportunities, political corruption, and lack of access to competent healthcare and education. In simple terms, push factors are negative reasons that prompt individuals to leave.” Some of these factors would seem to describe reasons for the of risk-of-life-and-limb for a safer home abroad. “Pull factors are, on the other hand, the exact opposite of push factors. They attract or pull people to move and settle in a particular area. Common pull factors may include better work opportunities, greater security, and access to adequate healthcare and education. Simply put, pull factors are positive reasons that prompt individuals to move.” “Immigration, however, is not as simple as being pulled and pushed for merely a few reasons. The push and pull framework is a combination of factors that encourage a person to leave a place of origin and factors that draw a person to a destination. Push and pull factors are never the same for everyone, and the reasons for immigration are unique to each individual. However, even though factors can change depending on age, gender, health, social class, and ethnicity, a push or pull factor may describe a pattern that can be attributed to many different reasons.” Why reinvent the wheel?
Thanksgiving Day Ponderings about Immigration…
‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving – and what should I write? A piece about presidents? A line about Sprites? The week was away and the Guests for next day… How to amend my deep thoughts for Monday! Thanksgiving Memories: I enjoyed writing this little quip for this piece. Something about the holidays, makes you nostalgic for the childhood memories. You want the turkey “high” and the real whipped cream for your pumpkin pie. You expect the holiday favorites on the table, the atmosphere full of smells, colors, family and friends. And if you have young children, you expect the hand-turkeys and paper cornucopias on the frig. I have fond memories of the Thanksgiving fun we would have in elementary school. I grew up in S California and I can recall those costumes we would make for Thanksgiving. The black construction paper top hats for the boy pilgrims, the white construction paper collar and bonnet for the girl pilgrims. Then the highly decorated paper bag “vest” and paper feather head bands for the Indians. We would wander around the room and look at each other in our hard work and be proud, as only six year olds can be. Not to mention just being “cute as a button”! Our Thanksgiving history, like so much of our American history, has been as “purified” as the Puritans were. We all visualize a peaceful, rustic first meal that some of our early American Ancestors shared with their Indian neighbors. So very dignified… Disney-fied more like! Why Immigrate? But if you read the story of our first Harvest Feast, it is amazing that any of the Mayflower passengers survived at all. What would cause someone to risk the ocean crossing for a land they knew little about, arriving in the dead of winter? As the distant “relatives” of these early colonists, the act of immigration has become a hot topic in the United States of America. Debates over our borders can get many people hot-under-the-”paper”-collar, depending on which side of the political fence you stand on, figuratively and literally! So it seemed to me that a quick jaunt down History lane might help US better understand why people immigrate. Double entendre intended! Thanksgiving 2022 – Tradition, Origins & Meaning – HISTORY What’s the Difference Between Puritans and Pilgrims? – HISTORY FYI The Mayflower. The Mayflower left Plymouth, England, on Sept 16th, 1620. “Sailing for more than two months across 3,000 miles of open ocean, the 102 passengers of the Mayflower—including three pregnant women and more than a dozen children—were squeezed below decks in crowded, cold and damp conditions, suffering crippling bouts of seasickness, and surviving on meager rations of hardtack biscuits, dried meat and beer… The crew would occasionally let some of the passengers up on deck to get some fresh air, but on the whole, the Pilgrims were treated like cargo.” Sounds like a tagline from some cruise pamphlet. Ahhh, no. What Was Life Like Aboard the Mayflower? – HISTORY Sailing Conditions… Since I am not a sailor, my knowledge of this is based on media renditions I have seen or read. I personally have a thing for period pieces and real-life movies. I therefore really enjoyed Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World. I enjoyed the science of how they determined their location using a sextant, using a knotted rope to determine their speed and the desperate conditions when trapped in the Doldrums with no wind. But what I really “liked” was the reality of ship life. The cramped living quarters, the hard work of the crew, and the horrific conditions of sailing during a storm. I would NOT have been a sailor, gender notwithstanding. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) – IMDb Even in today’s day and age, sailing in the open ocean is still dangerous, regardless of the new-fangled gadgets we have in our high-tech society. Why do people do it? Risk life and limb, family and home, to make a go in another land? Let’s find out… The Passengers on the Mayflower. For the Separatists on the Mayflower, it was all about religious freedom. The Church of England, closely based on Catholism, had strict rules about attendance, life, dress, etc. There were also punishments for not attending. They chose to risk the passage for the freedom to worship as they pleased. For the rest of the 60+/- passengers, it was about a new life and the chance of land ownership, or just good-old-fashioned wander lust. What did it cost them to make that crossing under such adverse conditions? One died on the trip over. One was born on the trip over. “Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring.”* *Thanksgiving 2022 – Tradition, Origins & Meaning – HISTORY The Mayflower Story | Mayflower (mayflower400uk.org) Life at sea in the age of sail | Royal Museums Greenwich (rmg.co.uk) Fictional Oceanic Crossings… These were the sailing conditions of 200-400 years ago. Even the early missionaries in Michener’s historically based book Hawaii risked hazardous sailing conditions in service for their faith. The severe conditions seem little worth it to me, a comfortably housed, warm and well-fed person. But one man’s tolerances are another man’s hell. And if your life seems little worth living, then maybe risking the past life for a brighter future in ____ is something you would consider risking your life for. Hawaii by James A. Michener (goodreads.com) I read this for my trip to Hawaii. Yeah, don’t wanna sail! The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (goodreads.com) A childhood favorite. Also NOT pro-sailing conditions! Holiday Wishes: Now since this is a holiday week, and I had other agendas to attend to, this is all I will “ponder” for now. Next week, I will get into the MODERN
