Introduction: When people from any country start leaving their own place with intention to get shelter in any other country permanently, this course of action is known as Immigration. Normally people leave their own motherland in severe compulsions but there are a few who do it by choice also. There are several reasons behind immigration, it may be political, poverty, due to war or warlike conditions and in some cases people migrate willingly to rich countries. Prosperous countries are facing this situation these days and the issue is matter of concern within these countries. There are a number of instances where migrated people have been treated badly in these countries by government and neighborhood people of that country and sometimes by their employers also but migrated people have neither any choice nor any rights.
I am Malcolm Marshall, an assistant accountant working for the Arnold Legal Services, a leading law firm of the Missouri. I am residing here in Missouri for the last 6 years when I came here with my father. My father left our native place because there were several problems in our country for us as we were religious minorities in Pakistan. We never wanted to leave our country but suddenly many problems surrounded us and we were compelled to leave our place. My father was an experienced and visionary person; he wanted a better life for me. One of his friends helped us and we came here and later on helped my uncle in settling here down. Initially we had several problems here and adjusted a lot because we were in an alien country. We faced problems from everywhere but having no options forced to face all. This is not an easy task to get good employment in America for migrants, I was lucky to get one because of my father’s friends helped me in getting a job.
I was always worried these days about one of my cousins Joseph Mendez, whenever I used to think about his career and life I found that Joseph was not able to do any thing and ultimately he will have to drive the cabs as his elder brother John contra used to do. I remember it was a pleasant morning of May; I was reading newspaper at my house in Texas County in Missouri, somebody knocked the door, I opened it and surprised to see my uncle standing there, his younger son Joseph was standing beside him.
My uncle Fredric Williams was an active and a well known man in Missouri because he was the one who supported many people seeking asylums in America. He always stood up for the rights of people and made every effort to provide these migrants a good livelihood over there. Joseph was a graduate but not a very smart boy, my uncle was anxious about him, we discussed as how Joseph could be accommodated in Missouri. We considered several options but agreed on none, He left Joseph at my house because there was hardly any space at my uncle’s house, his house was in a very poor and congested area on the outskirts of the city and there were other members also in the house.
It was my liability now to do something for Joseph and get him accommodated as soon as possible. Though it was not an easy task because Joseph was not very good in communicating and what I thought for him was to buy a cab for him. A cab was bought and Joseph used to drive the taxi, he was a punctual, honest and hard working but he was very short tempered and unable to handle the odd situations. Joseph was residing at my place and was looking after all the tasks of house, he was a good cook and I was very happy with this quality of Joseph. He was a humorous guy and used to tell me all the incidents of the day. Once he told me that how an old lady left her handbag in the car and how Joseph searched that lady visiting the streets of Texas and returned her handbag to her. Joseph was almost satisfied by his new job and was also earning good money. Joseph had no bad habits and habituated to save money, he knew the importance of money as he had seen some very odd circumstances in his life.
Joseph once told me that he wants to by another cab, I surprisingly asked where is the money, how would you manage it, I do not have anything and I cannot help you, I added. He smiled and whispered I have enough money to buy a car, just come with me. I accompanied Joseph; we went to a showroom and bought a new car. After few months Joseph purchased a house for him and married a girl after few months. He opened a travel company and hired many people who were immigrants like Joseph.
Once I got an interview call and when I went to attend the interview and found Joseph sitting on the chair of managing director, he hugged me and pushed me in his chair. It was not less than a dream for me, beyond imagination; one could have hardly imagined what Joseph has achieved through his hard work and honesty. I came to know that there are more than eighty employees working in this company. Joseph offered me post of vice president of the company, I accepted the offer. It was like a dream come true, in America I was working in my cousin’s company. Joseph also started funding the NGO of his father that worked for the betterment and rights of Asians residing in America and other unprivileged people of the society.
Conclusion: Immigration is a political, social and emotional issue which is required to be looked by a different and new perspective with a touch of humanity because ultimately no one wants to leave his own place by choice. Due to certain compulsions and odd circumstances people leave their country and when they are disregarded by the people where they seek the asylum, it becomes the toughest task for them to survive. Whole world and especially governments of rich countries should look into the matter and try to help those who are seeking asylums in their country. These rich countries should make sure that their fundamental rights are not violated and that they could live with the dignity of being a human. Of course immigration is a political issue and sometimes making a straight policy is not possible because of the internal issues of a country but ultimately if there is a will, making way is not a different task. The people who migrated to America in early 60s and 70s have undoubtedly contributed as much the original residents have contributed in the making of America.
References
Klein, J. (2007, November 28). Time Magazine U.S. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from www.time.com: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1689201,00.html
Public agenda for citizens. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2011, from www.publicagenda.org: http://www.publicagenda.org/citizen/issueguides/immigration
Shah, A. (2008, May 26). Global Issues. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from www.globalissues.org: http://www.globalissues.org/article/537/immigration
