Our Places and Spaces Change

Because Najeeb Abreely remembers what it was like to emigrate to America, he can soothe the fears of frightened immigrants he must now inspect and question.

In their trek from Mexico to the U.S. border, this young group is reminded that dangers lurk beneath them and hang over their heads every day and every night.

“He said, 'When the border patrol changes shifts, you're going to run.'”

In this essay, Nhi relates her experience of moving to the United States from Vietnam when she was in high school. Her story illustrates the value of perseverance and “putting yourself out there.”

Medical and legal inspections were the first of many tests immigrants would have to pass on their arduous journey to establish lives in the United States.

Sean McCollum gives an account of writer Julia Alvarez's move to the United States from the Dominican Republic as a young girl. Although Alvarez struggled to fit in in this unfamiliar place, she finally found a comfortable niche in her writing.

Margaret Batchelder writes to President Theodore Roosevelt to tell him how women inspectors welcome immigrants—with smiles and encouragement. Although not allowed to question the immigrants, the women make a difference in the immigrants' first experiences on shore.

Mariel visits her birthplace in China with her adopted parents. Although she struggles to fit in at times in her school in Miami, visiting her old orphanage helps her learn about where she comes from and opens her eyes to how lucky she is.

This film documents English language learners as they write and tell personal stories from their past.

This video clip addresses reactions from Japanese Americans to the 8 p.m. curfew, forced imprisonment in internment camps, and creation of the 422nd Regimental Combat Team.

“Tosh Yasutake’s father was arrested by the FBI after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and held in internment camps administered by the Department of Justice. The rest of the family was incarcerated in the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. Tosh volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team while still in camp. In this clip, he talks about making that decision.”

“While in the Mindoka concentration camp, Idaho, during World War II, Frank Yamasaki refused his draft order. As a result, he was imprisoned at the McNeil Island Penitentiary, Washington.”

Line dance leader Kit Cheung teaches her class of Chinese-American women in an unlikely place: the parking lot of a local library. No other public location offers both the outdoor space and sun cover the group requires for their twist on the traditional Chinese exercise of tai chi. The relationship that forms between the initially reluctant library and Kit’s dance group has created some unexpected opportunities.

“Esperanza is an undocumented Mexican immigrant in Compton, California. She suffers from fears and anxieties caused by her four previous deportations and her high-stress role as her family’s caregiver. Esperanza doesn’t see depression as a health problem. When she shares her struggles with a local priest, she discovers a network of support that ranges from her compadres to a free clinic.”

“Traditional sports build cultural solidarity. In rural North Carolina, Tomás, a retired semi-professional soccer player from Mexico, co-founds an organized soccer league with family and fellow Central and Latin American undocumented immigrants. The common language of the sport forges bonds among the players and across generations, helping to foster more open communication between fathers and sons, and creates mentoring relationships with other adults. Moreover, the league's frequent games promote physical and psychological resilience in a community burdened by the risk of deportation.”

“Padam and Purna were forced from their homeland in Bhutan and trapped in camps in Nepal for decades before being resettled in an alien land: Clarkston, Georgia. The refugees have found some stability, but still feel frustrated and uprooted, which leads to domestic violence and suicide in the refugee community. Padam and Purna realized that familiar food is the first step to feeling at home. They have opened a food store and other refugee-run businesses, which offer safe spaces and sources of mutual support for all the Asian refugees in Clarkston, who are united by their experience of trauma.”