The New Americans

I had finally finished watching the last instalment of The New Americans which I had taped off KLRU a couple of months ago. It's an amazing documentary and puts a very human face on the immigration issue.

The program follows four groups of people as they immigrate into the US. It includes Ogoni refuges from Nigeria, a Palestinian bride from the West Bank, Ball players from the Dominican Republic, Laborers from Mexico and Tech workers from India. All of the people are engrossing and their stories and struggles captivating.

The show made me appreciate how easy I've had it and some of the issues that my parents must have dealt with when they left Czechoslowakia for Switzerland. Although we didn't have it as bad as many of the families in the documentary -- after all, my parents are educated, had some school friends in Switzerland, the host country was supportive of immigrants and there was a strong ex pat community -- they still dealt with many of the same issues: lack of financial resources, essentially starting from scratch at age 34 with two children, heaving to deal with a foreign language, customs and a certain amount of xenophobia.

If you get a chance to see this movie, by all means take the time for it. Until then, check out the web site and take the Immigration Myths and Realities Quiz. I failed quite badly...