The Journey to a New World

Greetings Readers!

Each and every story around immigration into a new country involves a memorable journey, both for good or ill. In this post I'm going to take the time to share a story of immigration that stood out to me, as well as cover some of the things that can make the journey difficult. To begin, I'd like to invite you to watch as Tri Nguyen tells the story of how he escaped a war-torn Vietnam when he was only a child, and eventually making his way to Australia. The film won the Audience Award and the 2015 Human Rights and Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia. It was later featured on The Guardian website, and has screened at events in the US, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. This short documentary uses beautiful artwork to help the viewer visualize the journey as Nguyen tells his story of immigration.

Then I Came by Boat 

One of the things that stood out to me about his journey is how traumatizing the beginning must have been for a child. For example, as a boy he enjoyed a daily ritual where used to walk out into the field before sunrise with his Grandmother, and she would say, "Tri keep your eyes on the sun, and let the light of the sun fill your life with light." His journey begins when one day his grandmother takes him out to a different path, trembling, and with tears in her eyes. When he asked her why they weren't going to see the sunrise, she only responded, "The sun will not rise today."

His journey was a rough one, to say the least. On the way across the ocean to a refugee island, their boat was battered by a large storm with three days of rain and thunder, leaving a young Nguyen fearing that he would drown before ever seeing a new home. When they finally reached the island, they were met by soldiers with machine guns who tied all of the refugees up without shelter, until they were brought to a warehouse to be strip searched. Later on, Nguyen found out that quite a few women were raped and harmed during this process. A terrible thing to both witness and suffer when immigrants thought they were leaving horrors behind for safety and a peaceful new life.

A resident now in Australia, Tri is truly grateful for the country for welcoming him and giving his family a new home. So thankful in fact, that during Lent/Easter time, he takes a walk with a boat representing the one he arrived on, but with the addition of wheels. On the side it reads "Thank you!", during this walk he is met with great warmth and positivity by his fellow citizens. This story stood out to me because it shows the positive nature of welcoming refugees and immigrants into a country, as you can see with Tri, he is immensely proud and thankful to be living as an Australian citizen and in a new safe world and home.

((Image Source)

What makes immigration so difficult today?

Numbers vs Percentage is a major difference that is often overlooked. As the world population grows, certain countries and government use the art of framing by mentioning the amount in numbers of immigrants allowed in the country each year, making it sound large. In reality, however, these numbers are not as large as you would think in comparison to the population size, which would be reflected if percentages were used in the media more often. An example of not changing due to population growth would be that, "The U.S. hasn't increased the number of certain visas it grants each year since 1990, when President George H.W. Bush signed an immigration bill that set quotas based on the country's population and labor and economic needs at the time." (Source)

Before World War I, the current Visa system was not in place, allowing for the United States to have open borders. This was a time where the American Dream was popularized, as the journey was not so rough because immigrants were not met with such resistance and difficulties upon arrival with the process of entering the country. 

Let's take a brief glance at what the paperwork alone may look like...

(Source)

Just simply glancing at that paperwork process already is giving this writer a headache...

Those that wish to become a US citizen face an incredibly uphill battle. As evidenced, "Until the Immigration Act of 1924, everyone in the world was eligible to immigrate to the United States unless the government proved they fell into an ineligible category. In other words, innocent until proven guilty. Since then, the foundational principle of U.S. immigration law is that everyone in the world is ineligible to immigrate unless they prove to the government they fit into an eligible category. The result is that over 99 percent of all those wanting to immigrate to the United States cannot do so legally." (Source)

Whether it is a physically dangerous journey, or an incredibly difficult one due to government regulations, purposefully overwhelming paperwork, and waves of resistance, immigration is an intensely difficult journey for all those who take part in it.