Which Way Home and International Migration

Hello, and welcome back folks!! This week in FYE class we discussed the hot topic of immigration. In the beginning, I was a little scared of what the class sessions were going to be like. The reason why is that I am personally just not a big fan of talking out loud about politics (which I know is not always the best).

Monday

That being said, Monday was surprisingly very interesting. The class began with us filling out a piece of paper that asked a serious of questions about immigration. The very first question on the sheet of paper asked us to "Mention anything you've read of heard about recently regarding the controversial topic of immigration?" I wrote that the most recent thing that I have had heard regarding immigration was about Trump and "The Wall." Similarly, my partner Charlotte, and other people in my class also discussed that they wrote about Trump, immigration laws, and the wall.  However, I found it very interesting that Matthew discussed the immigration issues in his home country Trinidad. He shared with us that immigrants from Venezuela are trying to escape their misfortunes in their home country and come to Trinidad. I learned that Trinidad and Venezuela are super close to each other, and for some reason that just really amazed me. Then, for our "homework" we were instructed to watch the documentary "Which Way Home," and to be prepared to discuss on Wednesday. I went back to my dorm and watched the film immediately.

Wednesday

The documentary, "Which Way Home," was a tear jerker for me. I was simply shaken at not only the amount of people that travel to the USA by the train called "The Beast," but I was also speechless about the amount of children who travel solo.

In this picture, you can see the amount of people traveling. In the film, they stated that it is hard for them to patrol the situation because of the mass of people who travel it.

 Personally, the most jaw-dropping scene was whenever the step father in the film said "I thanked God when he went to the United States." It just broke my heart for Kevin because no child should be left with the feeling of being unwanted. In class however, we separated into groups and discussed the film. My group (Carter and Tonilynn) discussed the messages and meanings of the film. We discussed that the all of the children described America has the beautiful place with somewhat endless opportunities, but these ideas are not as true as people perceive them to be. For example, Kevin wanted to go to the United States so that he could go to Manhattan. However, when arriving at one of the immigration facilities in Texas, he described himself of feeling "trapped." Even at the facility, he had a bed, pillow, and food, yet it still was not enough for him because it did not meet the expectation he had. I believe that is probably an issue for many immigrants coming into the United States. It is not as glorious as people make it out to be, yet they do not know that because there is a lack of knowledge. My group also discussed that one of the techniques that the filmmakers used to communicate essential ideas was that they traveled with the children on the train for a good amount of time, did personal interviews with the children, and they even incorporated the parent's opinions. This also linked the emotional connection between the children and the audience. Ultimately, I thought it was a great film to watch.