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

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

Image Via Mix 94.9

This blog is dedicated to providing information about immigration both here in St. Cloud and Minnesota in general.  I thought it would be good to start by providing some basic information about what immigration looks like here in St. Cloud.

I looked at an Immigration fact sheet from the city of Saint Cloud.  Due to it having been a while since the last official US Census, some of the statistics may have changed, but it does help to lend a hand in seeing the trends in recent years.  The city provides information not only on where immigrants have come from, but also citizenship status, employment, along with much more information.

One particular statement I found interesting is that the fact sheet states “none of the 9/11 terrorist attackers arrived in the U.S without authorization.”  I think this speaks to the continued fear of people of Islamic beliefs and those from the Middle East. A lot of people are misinformed about the identities of terrorists, and attribute that fear to immigrants both legal and illegal.

Some other interesting trends and statistics of foreign born immigration include (as of 2010):

• 20% of immigrants in St. Cloud come from “Other East African Countries” which includes countries such as Somalia.
• 18% of immigrants from the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) come from Mexico
• 7% of immigrants from the MSA come from Korea
• 8% of immigrants from the MSA come from Vietnam

The fact sheet also shows that immigration to St. Cloud is increasing.  From 2000-2010, all races went up in percentage except for individuals that are Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

Having grown up around St. Cloud my whole life, I didn’t realize that the area is actually more diverse than I thought.  Although it still has a high white population, even from 2000-2010, the white population dropped over 6%.

Sources:

https://ci.stcloud.mn.us/DocumentCenter/View/8986/Immigration-Fact-Sheet

Image:

https://mix949.com/5-most-viewed-st-cloud-videos-on-youtube/