Immigration Experience
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Immigration Experience
My life in the US is a mixture of joy and sorrow. It all began with the persistent famines rocking Poland, my homeland country, from the mid to late 1800s. Earlier, Poland, formerly Galicia, experienced famine and starvation, which turned into an imminent threat to the entire inhabitants. Further, there was an alarming hatred and persecution of various religions from the middle up to the late 1800s, and as a Jewish, my life was facing an outright threat. The trending population influx in Poland accelerated by the constant natural disasters, including drought, floods, and wildfires, prompted an imminent danger to every life. As a result, every inhabitant had to invent his survival ways or face the extreme famine or the wrath of religious atrocities.
In 1891, I and my bother, decided to find our ways into a foreign country to experience a better life away from home. After thoughtful consideration, we concluded that the United States was one of the safest nations owing to the porous immigration laws, religious freedom, and the availability of vast economic opportunities. We took a ship, an evening ship that would later lead us to the Promised Land, Ellis Island. Ellis Island was the default destination of most to all immigrants following President Harrison’s 1890 declaration. Throughout the journey, life was not easy. We experienced a real struggle in accommodation due to the scarce food and the limited sleeping resources resulting from the overloaded ship.
Nineteen days later, we safely arrived in the new land, the Ellis Island coastal region of New York, exhausted and confused. The crowded Ellis was noisy but promising. Immigrants preferred Ellis since it was closest to the Ocean, saving them from an extensive search for better settlement places. As cautious newbies, we decided to get a space in Midlothian town. Here, we survived on the little food we carried along, and after two weeks, we decided to invade the various companies and industries within Ellis and other extensions.
While at Ellis, life was not frustrating since it hosted varied people with joint problems, immigrants seeking freedom and opportunities. However, the situation was not similar in the entire county and a few surrounding. While we struggled to get jobs as volunteer indentures, we faced adverse and discriminative attitudes from the born Americans. We got scorned several and denied opportunities we matched. Arguably, there was a negative perception of the immigrant and their potential threats. Some of the individuals viewed us as inferior beings in both capacity, knowledge, and race. Occasionally, we could be denied the opportunities to purchase from the American-owned shops and groceries. At first, we were denied access to proper housing; hence we would occasionally settle in some low structures. However, some hardworking immigrants from other nations had opened shops that non-discriminatively served all people regardless of social or economic affiliation. Sadly, despite the decline in immigration rate into the US following the 1870s economic depression, the native-born American people staged rapid protests and activities against immigrants claiming that we were real threats to the job opportunities.
While moving from one company to the other, trying out our luck, my brother got an opportunity in a timber-processing firm. At the same time, I secured a chance in the textile industry as indentured servants for housing and other incentives. Comparatively, the working condition in the US was fairer than in Poland. The wage for casual employees was between $6 and $8 an hour. We worked for 9hrs every day with small meal breaks. Employees’ rights were protected compared to Poland despite the raging discrimination manifested in salary and the recognition.
After hard work and commitment, I enrolled in one of the local institutions for a technical. Upon my graduation, I was recognized with a higher position. This opened doors for more opportunities and freedom. As legal reformulation took place, the call for equality and respect conquered the atmospheres, and to date, my children enjoy equal opportunity, respect, and dignity.