Here’s our second recorded conversation, this time about our school education on immigration.  Same as before, the conversation is very casual and just discussing our different experiences in a realistic way.

Today we got together and recorded two of our conversations, each with a different topic. This first podcast covers racism and our experiences with it from grade school through college. It was super eye opening to be able to have a fluent and dynamic conversation about such an important topic. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as we did!

Immigration, even when legal, can be dangerous. Unfortunately, many people from poorer countries don’t have the means or funds to immigrate legally to the United States. In high school, I was told to read the book Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. This book gripped me in a way that few books have. It follows the story of Enrique who is trying to illegally enter the United States to find his mother, who had left 11 years ago. Enrique’s main source of transportation is trains, which take him from Honduras to the boarder. There are heartbreaking stories of people also trying to immigrate being maimed by the train, beaten and raped by gangs, taken advantage of and stolen from by false allies, and of course many more awful things.

The reason I bring this book up is because many people don’t understand the why behind immigration. Why do they leave? Why do they do it illegally? Why can’t they just stay at home? This book answers those questions perfectly, many times with answers that are heart-wrenching. A lot of people don’t understand that this type of immigration isn’t something these people want to go through if they don’t have to. There are so many dangers to making the decision to flee that people from the United States don’t understand. Enrique’s Journey brings empathy and morality into a problem that many people see from a statistical standpoint.

The Department of Homeland Security lists some of the dangers of immigration from Central and South America:

• Being trapped in travel containers without air conditioning
• Being captured and sold into human trafficking
• Being without food or water for days at a time
• Getting separated from family, with children being left behind under the age of 10
• Sleeping in unsanitary conditions with human feces, urine, and other bodily fluids
• High possibility for rape and sexual assault
• Exposure to violent gangs
• Natural disaster pose an increased risk to those without shelter
• Freezing to death
• Dying of heatstroke

There are many more occurrences of violence the DHS lists here: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/07/19/perils-illegal-border-crossing

The United States is listed by UN News as being the most desired location for immigrants in 2019. Close to 2,500 people have died trying to cross the southern boarder of the U.S. and those are just deaths that have been recorded.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/01/1056202

For many, immigration is a last resort that is in no way easy. Even if they reach the U.S. it’s still not easy going and there are many obstacles they face. All too often, human beings are simply a statistic without any regard to their humanity. Books like Enrique’s Journey help enlighten those who choose to read it. I highly recommend expanding your library, and mind, by reading this book!

When I was in my freshman year of college at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, we did a unit in one of my classes about the Vietnam War and talked about the large population of Hmong in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  The class was in the process of reading a book called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman.

Via. amazon.com

When I saw the book on the reading list, I wasn’t too excited about it and assumed it was going to be another boring read.  Instead, from the first chapter I was captivated by the story about the experience of a young Hmong child, her family, and the various struggles they faced when moving to the US after the Vietnam War.  The story humanizes an experience many people don’t have to deal with.  I found myself enjoying myself throughout the whole story.  The author actually met up with the family to get the story.  The book opened my eyes to another culture in a way that I hadn’t experienced before.

One of our assignments to go along with the book was to go and listen to 3 audio recordings of immigrants telling their stories and transcribe them.  The task was tedious, but hearing people tell their own stories hits differently than reading about it in a news article.  All the stories that were available to listen were about people that lived in and around the La Crosse community.  I will be honest and admit that I hadn’t really heard about the Hmong until this class.  The transcripts we used were on campus at UW-LAX, but you don’t have to be there to access similar stories.

Via. Minnesota Digial Library

The Immigrant History Research Center at the University of Minnesota has a project to collect stories from immigrants.  There are hundreds of people of all ages recording their unique experiences.  You can find them here.  I encourage you to check them out!

For more information about Immigrant Stories: https://immigrantstories.umn.edu/about/show

Link to The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Catches-You-Fall-Down/dp/0374533407

Here’s the interview with Laura Kluge, a German exchange student playing hockey here at SCSU. We learned a little bit about her experience as an exchange student, and she gave us some insight as to what it was like being in a different country. See what you can take away from this! It was quite a pleasure to be able to talk with her, and we hope that you can enjoy the experience as much as we did.

Many people know that becoming a US citizen isn’t an easy process.  Now, I know this doesn’t have to do with MN Immigration specifically, but I do think that it is an important aspect to know about.  The process to become a naturalized citizen is lengthy.  Naturalization is how a foreign citizen can become a US citizen.  There are many requirements to become a US citizen as well.  There are a few various ways to become a US citizen.  They are:

1. Be married to a US Citizen
2. Be a lawful permanent resident for at least 5 years
3. Served in the US Armed Forces

This list does not include all the specific scenarios, but covers the main pathways.  Not only do immigrants have to apply and pay fees, but there is also an interview process, English tests, and American Civics tests.

I (Kendra), was not born in the US, and am a naturalized citizen.  Because I was adopted so young, I didn’t have to do any of the stressful processes many immigrants face when trying to become a US Citizen.  I consider myself lucky.  One element that has always interested me is the civics test.  I took the practice test provided by the USICS a couple times, and there were a few questions that I didn’t even know.  People that are becoming citizens sometimes have more knowledge of the country than we do.  One question that got me is “where is the Statue of Liberty located?”  Maybe it’s just me, but I know it’s in New York, and I know it’s near Ellis Island, but being from MN, that’s about it.  The correct answer was the New York Bay.

It is just an example of how even though I grew up here my whole life, there is still a lot I don’t know about the United States and I can’t imagine having to cram for a test about civics for a country I didn’t live in my whole life.

Try out a practice Civics Test here!

https://my.uscis.gov/prep/test/civics

Sources:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/chapter4.pdf

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/the-naturalization-interview-and-test

Hey fellow bloggers!

I just wanted to write an update on how our progress was going and where we were thinking of heading next for our group. We decided that at least one of our video projects that we wanted to do is a filmed interview with either a first or second generation immigrant to the St. Cloud area or Minnesota in general. Even an exchange student that has had more than one year of experience here at St. Cloud State. We think it’s super important that other people understand the difficulties that immigrants and exchange students face. For exchange students, going back and forth between one culture and another can make it difficult to get used to cultural norms. For immigrants, it can be difficult being so far away from a home country. The point in doing a filmed interview is to get these feelings and emotions out there for others to see. We want to know if the transition has been smooth. If it hasn’t, what’s made it particularly difficult? That’s why we are so excited to be doing one of these interviews, and if we get more volunteers, hopefully multiple interviews!

The entire point of this project is to inform and educate others on the process of immigration and the experiences of those who choose to live here. We believe that the hatred and racism we see around us is partially caused by fear and misunderstanding. By doing an filmed interview, we can show how everyone, regardless of background, is a human being with their own colorful history! We wanted it to be filmed to humanize our volunteers. It’s easier to dismiss someone’s words in writing, but it’s a lot harder when you see them talking face to face with another person. Seeing them speak about their own stories allows others to draw connections to them.