The immigration system mythology in Canada, the USA, the UK & Australia
6 min readThe immigration system mythology: The Secret factor which is affecting South Sudanese in the Western countries
By Willy Mayom Maker, British Columbia, Canada
May 10, 2016 (SSB) —- In South Sudan and other parts of Africa, people live in structures, and wild animals are allowed to roam freely. But in Western countries, it is completely opposite: the wild animals are kept in structures (zoos) and the people are allowed to roam freely throughout the country. In Canada, the U.S.A or Australia, for example, all ‘foreign’ animals (lions, giraffes, tigers etc.) are kept in the zoo, but domestic or local animals (bears, coyotes, kangaroos etc.) stay in the wilderness where they belong. The animals brought from other countries are properly tamed and kept in the zoo mainly for tourism and entertainment purposes.
As an immigrant in any of these Western countries, however, you feel like you are in the zoo, too. But your zoo is invisible to the naked eye. When you first arrive in Canada or the U.S.A, for example, you must accumulate at least three years of physical presence in the country, before being given a Permanent Resident Card (Green Card). In that period, travelling outside the country is strongly discouraged. If you travel without the PR card or Green Card, you may not be allowed back into the country, especially if you stay away for ‘too long.’ In other words, the strong-headed immigrants, who travel against the will of the ‘Immigration System,’ (which I call Domestication or Taming System), can’t be readmitted into the country simply because they appear to be too difficult to tame.
After five years without ‘criminal records,’ you’ll receive your Permanent Resident Card. Finally after a few more years, obeying every petty rule or regulation, you will be granted your citizenship status and passport. Apparently, they have noticed the success of their taming process in you.
After you get your citizenship and passport, you want to visit your home country, but you can’t, because you have no money. You have to find a job first. But you can’t find a decent job, because you don’t know English. You have to go back to school to learn English and gain knowledge and skills required in the workforce. Even if you possess a degree from another country, your degree is irrelevant. So you enroll in a nearby college.
Four or five years later, you graduate from with a degree. And with sky-rocketing tuition fees and living expenses, your student loans and other debts are up to your neck. You must find a job quickly in order to pay off all the debts. But first, you need a car that can take you to work on time. But you are broke, so you rush to a nearby bank to get some loan to purchase the car. And while you are getting the loan at the bank, the bank financial advisor stuffs mortgage, line of credits, and credit cards down into your throat. “Hallelujah!” you said, “God has finally answered my prayers, and my financial outlook is improving right before my eyes!”
No, you moron! That is not the work of God; that is the work of devil! It is a booby trap! You have just fallen into a fit dug by the devil as your permanent grave!
Before you know it, you have been living in the United States of America for over ten years already. You miss your love ones, relatives and friends dearly in South Sudan and you wish to visit so badly. But you can’t, because you are completely chained and cemented down by the government, employer, and bank – through taxes, mortgage, loans, bills, health care fees, and so on.
After working days and nights for more than 20 years, you finally pay off most of your loans and mortgages. You feel like a free man for a moment. Suddenly, you receive a letter in your mail box. After opening it, the letter states that the house that you purchased over 30 years ago is too old, and it requires renovation. Son of a bitch! You have to go back to the bank to get more loans for the renovation; otherwise the government will mark it as ‘unsafe’ before demolishing it. While you are thinking about how much is the renovation is going to cost, you receive another letter in the mail. The letter is from your ex-girlfriend, whom you lost contact with over ten years ago. She claims that you had impregnated her and that she has your ten year old child and she needs you to pay child support. She to takes you to court and the judge rules that you owe over $50,000 in child support.
Your hell has just broken loose! You can’t afford to pay the child support, loans, credit cards, and all other bills. As a result, you are sent to a collection agency – a ruthless group of people trained for a specific purpose of driving you crazy in collecting debts. They start garnishing your wages. Your credit is ruined – you are not qualified to get any loan from any bank anywhere anytime, ever. Additionally, the government confiscates your passport and other personal identifications to prevent you from leaving the country. Now, you are just like a fly caught in a spider web. And the web master is slowly but surely sucking the blood and flesh out of you.
You are already in your mid-thirties. And because you are an African and you want to fulfill God command that says you must “multiply,” you get married and have children. At school, your children are mocked and bullied by other children, because of their skin tone, hair or other cultural significances. Your boy fights back in self-defence against the bullying. Now your child is a trouble maker. The school principal calls you in a meeting and warns you to do something about your son’s bad behaviour; otherwise, he will be expelled from the school.
You come home angry and whip your child on the buttocks and warn him not to fight in school again. The following morning, your son goes to school looking unhappy. “What is wrong with you?” a teacher asks.
“My father beats me!” he says. The teacher immediately calls the police and Child Protection Services. All your children are taken away from you, because you are nothing but a ‘child abuser.’ And from there on, they’ll continue yanking children out of your wife’s behind like chicken eggs. Your children are kept in government shelters or given to other people for adoption. They are already in the zoo.
Before you know it, you are already 65 years old. You are officially retired, but you have no retirement savings. You still haven’t completed your child support payments. On top of that, the bank is threatening to foreclose your house. You have no choice but to leave the retirement and go back to the workforce. But by that time, technology has changed, and the workforce requires a new technology. You have to go back to school again to learn the new technology before you are hired by an employee. You are backed to square one again.
You are stressed, exhausted, old, worn-out, lonely and broke. Finally you succumb, just like those poor animals in the zoo.
Willy Mayom is a BBA – Financial Services & Management student at British Columbia, Canada. He can be reached at willymayom@yahoo.ca
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