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| Statue of Liberty. Image source. |
The long and short of it is, I have always lived my life with the assumption that I can travel to any country I want. I visited Canada so many times growing up. I knew people who went on vacation to beautiful cities in Europe. And I grew up evangelical, so I heard all about missionaries going to live in various places all over the world. God calls you to go to some strange faraway country, and then you go. It's hard work, but no government will stand in your way. Yeah maybe it's a country that's not too keen on American missionaries- then you just get a bit creative on your visa application. If God wants you to go there, God will make it work out.
I'm American, and I've lived in China for over 10 years now. I'm an immigrant. Why did I move to China? Well, I felt like, the reality is that there's so much I don't know about the world. There are so many different cultures and languages out there. Billions of people, whose lives are completely different from mine, and God knows and lives in them to the exact same extent that They know and live in me. If I stay in the US, it's too easy to fall into the false belief that I basically understand the world. That I basically understand people. That I basically understand God.
I felt I needed to go somewhere where I had no idea what was going on, where I didn't understand the language or culture, because the truth about the world *in general* is I don't know what's going on, and I don't understand the language or culture.
And because I have a US passport, I could do that.
And then...
And then I found out that for millions of people all over this world, it's not that simple. They are refugees looking for a safe place to live, and governments simply refuse to let them in. The US simply refuses to let them in.
That there are people in this world- ordinary people who just want to make a good life for themselves and their family, and they think "I want to go to [country xyz]" and they just can't.
This is what radicalized me. I've never gotten over it. I can go live in whatever country I want, and other people just can't. Simply because I was born in the US.
This is unbelievable. I can't even describe how shocked I was when I found this out. Everyone should be able to live in whatever country they want.
I firmly believe that. Everyone should be able to live in whatever country they want.
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When you apply for a tourist visa, the main thing your destination country is looking for is whether you're likely to overstay the visa. Are you really coming as a tourist, or are you trying to be an immigrant? If they think you're likely to immigrate, they will deny the visa.
On the visa application, you have to show that you have ties to your home country. Do you have a job? Do you own property? Do you have family members who need you to be there to care for them? Have you traveled to other countries and not overstayed your visa? Write down all those things on the application.
Tourists spend lots of money. Countries want tourists to come. But bringing in immigrants is more complicated.
I've heard of Americans in China who have a Chinese spouse, and the Chinese spouse applied for a US tourist visa and was denied. The US thinks, "you are married to a US citizen- it's likely you are actually trying to immigrate to the US." Especially if the Chinese spouse is from a poor, rural, middle-of-nowhere part of China, the sort of place that makes US visa officers think "why would anyone want to live there?"
It's outrageous that some people are in this situation where they can never go visit their spouse's family, just because of countries and borders and governments.
I think *most* American/Chinese couples don't have this problem. It's only the ones where, on paper, the Chinese spouse's life in China doesn't really look like it's worth coming back to.
For me and my husband- because my husband is a Chinese citizen- someone gave him the advice to apply for the US tourist visa before we got married, and to not mention in the interview "my girlfriend is American." So he followed that advice and got the 10-year US tourist visa, thanks Obama. Now he has a nice record of traveling to the US, staying for a couple weeks, and then going back to China- like an ideal tourist- so we won't have any issues in the future when he needs to apply for the US tourist visa again.
Here's the thing, though: If you are from a "poor" country, it's likely that you're just not going to be able to convince the US that you won't overstay your visa. If there's a decent argument to be made that you would be better off living as an illegal immigrant in the US, rather than in your home country, the US simply will not issue the visa. Regardless of your actual intentions.
I have read articles about African researchers applying for temporary US visas to attend academic conferences- and being denied. Maybe because they can't prove that their home countries are good enough to go back to, or maybe just because of racism.
No African citizens granted visas for African trade summit in California
Africans Not Welcome: The Punitive US Visa Application Process
And a similar one about Canada: Canada refuses visas to over a dozen African AI researchers
And Europe: How visa rejections are stalling Africa's health research
That's what radicalized me.
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I can tell you all about the immigration process for China. First I had to find a job. While in the US, I applied online for English teaching jobs, did an interview over Skype, and got an offer. Was I qualified? Uh, no, not really. The main thing was that I am a native English speaker. You have that, and you can get a job teaching English in China.
(Fortunately, after a few years of being an English teacher, I switched to an engineering job, because that's what I'm actually good at.)
I don't mean it was "easy" for me- there were parts of the process that were very stressful and annoying. I didn't *want* to teach English, but it was the job I was able to get, as an immigrant. And you have to be aware of the risk that your employer will turn out to be shady- some people move to China and then find out the job is totally different than what they were told, or that their employer wants to hold on to their passport "for safekeeping" (WTF). But my point is, there was a process, very realistically doable for someone in my situation.
I had also been studying Chinese, and had gotten to the point where I could go about my life speaking and reading Chinese and not using English at all. This helped me a lot in that English-teaching job, but it was very much NOT a requirement for the job. Most of the other international teachers I worked with couldn't speak Chinese, and nobody saw that as a problem at all.
Actually, the Chinese employees I worked with were all very impressed that I could speak Chinese. It was baffling to me, after a lifetime of hearing rhetoric about immigration that said "they came to this country, they should learn English" (which was often said about people who could speak English but preferred to use their native language when talking with their own family, and Americans who were within earshot were highly offended about it). I couldn't believe that some Americans were really coming to China knowing only enough Chinese to ask "how much does this cost" and "where is the bathroom", and they thought that was fine, and Chinese people thought that was fine, and Chinese people would talk to them in English and say, "I'm sorry for my poor English."
What is going on? Well... how should I put this... No one holds white people to that same standard.
So I could get a job in China with no real qualifications, just that I could speak English- but if we look at the opposite case, at Chinese people working as Chinese teachers in the US- they have actual academic degrees related to teaching. They all speak English fluently. Of course they do.
When I was going through the process of finding a job and applying for the work visa and moving to China, I didn't think about the whole scope of it and my place in the world. It was just, here are the steps to apply, and I did the steps. I wasn't aware of my own privilege and the fact that for the vast majority of people in the world, there are no such "steps" available to them.
But when I found out, that's what radicalized me.
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China allowed me to immigrate because they determined that I would earn money and benefit the economy.
Rich tourists are allowed to come because they benefit the economy.
So basically, the people who are allowed to cross the border are the people who don't really need to. They just want to have a fun vacation. They just want to see the world. They could get a job in their own country but they have a sense of adventure and want to live in a different country instead.
But the people who are truly in need, who can't stay in their own country, who are fleeing violence or climate disasters, they're the ones that governments/ people/ political movements don't want to allow in.
You're never going to convince me this is okay. You're never going to convince me that it's right that I can live in any country I want, just because I was born in the United States, and other people can't, because they were born elsewhere.
Everyone should be allowed to live in whichever country they want.
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I have nothing but admiration for immigrants. The amount of courage and hard work it takes to go to somewhere completely unfamiliar and adapt to it and make a life for yourself there. Wow.
I know what it's like, not understanding what everyone around you is saying. I know what it's like, feeling confused and awkward and vulnerable because you don't know what's going on and everything is so weird, but for everyone around you it's normal. I know what it's like, being stared at because I stand out.
I know what it's like, trying to just buy a normal loaf of bread to make sandwiches, and I can't really find that in China. First of all, bakeries sell bread in packages that have 4-6 slices. You can't buy a "normal" sized loaf, probably because Chinese people can't even imagine eating that much bread. And there's always something a bit off about it. Either it's butter-flavored, or the difference in firmness between the crust and the bread part is just a bit weird, or it's too thick, or or or...
I think all immigrants have had experiences like this.
Leaving behind your home and your culture and learning to live in a whole new place- that's an incredible thing, and we should be amazed by the immigrants we meet.
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So I don't care if they are legal or illegal immigrants. Everyone should be allowed to live in whatever country they want.
Some legal immigrants will say things like "we did everything the right way, we had to deal with all this paperwork and fees and waiting, and those illegal immigrants didn't have to do any of that and they're getting all the benefits." You won't find any of that here. (Seriously- the system was unfair to you by making you wait or denying your visa, and you're mad at illegal immigrants? Be mad at the system!)
What's the actual difference between legal and illegal immigrants? I have a US passport, and they don't? A US passport is a social construct. It's just something we made up. Visas, borders, countries, all made up. I don't think any of these are good enough reasons to put someone in jail and deport them.
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Ah, but what about the practical parts? A country can't just simply let everyone in.
Okay, I don't know the details about the practical parts. Probably there is some limit for how many immigrants a country can reasonably accept. But I know the United States is not anywhere near that limit. We can and should be doing so much more.
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Why can I live in any country I want, but other people can't? I'm never going to be able to accept this. I support all immigrants. Everyone should be able to live in whichever country they want.
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Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
- "The New Colossus," Emma Lazarus
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Related:
On Immigration and Double Standards
Culture, Objectivity, God, and the Real Reason I Moved to China
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