by Storyteller Nestor Gomez
As a young boy, Nestor and his siblings cross the Guatemala/Mexico and Mexico/USA borders to join his parents in the USA
- The application process is long and sometimes too expensive for many people looking to emigrate. It also depends on the country from which you are emigrating. For instance, some countries have longer waiting periods than others for visas. If people cannot obtain documents, why do people make such a dangerous trips to get to the U.S.?
- Do you know people who have escaped war, famine, who have risked everything to be reunited with their families? If you were facing violence or starvation and such, would you think about leaving?
- What are some of the risks of getting caught by the immigration authorities?
- Do you know anyone who has been deported or incarcerated for trying to come to the U.S.? Do you think it’s fair that if refugees are caught, they are never able to legally apply for U.S. citizenship?
- What are some of difficulties of adjusting to life in a new/different country?
- Besides the language, the newcomer has to learn the many different traditions, customs and idiosyncrasies of the country where they emigrated to without losing their own identities. What do you think would be the strangest aspect of American culture for a newcomer? What part of your identity would you never want to lose?
Teenage Refugees from Guatemala Speak Out by Gerald Hadden
The Quetzal in Flight: Guatemalan Refugee Families in the United States by Noria Vlach
Since 1990, GCIR has sought to influence philanthropy to make donations to programs that address the needs of the country’s growing and increasingly diverse immigrant and refugee populations. Nestor was helped by this organization: ttps://www.gcir.org/
Family and Childhood