December 9, 2008

Coming to America

Posted by Diana Jou at 4:16PM

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My newly immigrated cousins.

“Why do stores open at 4am on Black Holiday?” Michelle asked. “Black Friday is not a holiday. It is a shopping event. But Thanksgiving is a holiday” I responded. She looked a bit puzzled.

Michelle is my cousin, a fashion loving 15-year-old, who just emigrated with her family from Taiwan. I made sure to clarify that it was not an African American holiday in case she got confused. With a newly elected African American president and a dramatic downturn of the U.S. economy, I can see why she would think it was a celebratory holiday for African Americans and not a shopping event for shopping Olympiads. In her English Language Development class Michelle had a briefing about the historical day where Pilgrims and Native Americans worked graciously together on Thanksgiving, but those references quickly faded into the oblivion of Black Friday advertising.

It was up to my family to show my aunt, uncle and my two younger cousins the traditions of an American Thanksgiving celebration.

Before they arrived to America I was worried that Michelle and her younger sister Rachel, a sporty 12-year old, would have a hard time fitting in or getting used to American culture. Nine months later, Michelle thinks it is perfectly normal to wear chunky fur boots in 80 degree climate. Rachel can’t help but describe good as “totally awesome” and bad things as “so not cool.” If being an American teen means using a skimpy vocabulary and wearing Eskimo inspired pieces in Los Angeles weather, then Michelle and Rachel are as American as their classmates.

For the first three months my newly immigrated family lived with my parents and me in our modest home. I slept on a full-sized bed with Rachel and Michelle slept on a twin bed two feet away from us. Through their probing questions I learned that there were a lot of things I don’t understand about America. One question revealed the strangeness of American culture, “What does an Easter bunny have to do with Christianity?” “Good question. I’m not sure.” I replied.

The situation for their parents is less about acculturation. Immigrating to the U.S. in 2008 is more complicated than when I immigrated here with my family in the late '80s. New immigrants have to be weary of not being in the way of US Immigration and Customs (ICE) fighting a domestic war on terror, which ICE does by cracking down at immigrant work places. The economic recession is a serious concern for many Americans, but new immigrants like my aunt and uncle are even more vulnerable to the slumping economy. My aunt and uncle are worried just like everyone else, except they have no credit history and lack strong language skills to make their work experiences competitive with the other job seekers.

The great transformational politics of “hope” and “change” do not translate to tangible benefits for new immigrants. In fact, many health and career services for immigrants are cut back or all together shut down due to lack of federal and state funds. The Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) reported (PDF) that over 290,000 new immigrants have settled in California in 2002, thus making immigrant services an important resource for many new residents. With the California state deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger already cut out 10 billion dollars in the state budget but is currently proposing deeper cuts (PDF) to prevent lawful immigrants from getting cash, food, and health assistance. My aunt, uncle and cousins waited patiently for 13 years for their immigrant visas in order to pursue an American dream and came here only to be greeted with aggressive public policies that serve to limit their opportunities.

My uncle, a respected commercial photographer in Taiwan, sold most of his studio equipment and gave away his client list that took years to build so he can do laborious warehouse work for minimum wage while chasing better opportunities in the US. My aunt telecommutes for her old company in Taipei as an account manager. Every three months she has to leave her family in the US to goes back to work in the Taipei office for two-month periods. That leaves my uncle with more parenting responsibilities while my aunt lives in Taipei to bring additional income to the household. My aunt’s company makes her pay for her trips to and from Taiwan. For harsh economic times like this, my aunt and uncle have a fortunate arrangement.

Immigrating to the U.S. is still a dream for many people. When they arrive they are forced to measure the trade-off of obtaining the American dream. Will all the sacrifices be worth it? My aunt and uncle, like so many people before them, came here for better educational opportunities for their children. The future is uncertain for everyone, but one thing is for sure, Michelle and Rachel will be able to say “Fo shizzle” in perfect American English.