Commonwealth Journal; Today's Refugees

This is the award winning Commonwealth Journal weekly magazine a feature news and information brought to you as a public service of the University of Massachusetts at Boston and WM B FM. I'm Bob mermen and this week we'll talk about today's refugees and also Vietnam and the media. That's coming up next on Commonwealth Journal. It's amazing some of the things that we see and hear on television these days and some of the things that we read about in the newspapers when it comes to learning languages. One of the things that we're going to be talking about now is language English language obviously in particular because that's what we're use on a day to day basis. My guest is Daniel lamb He is director of the Massachusetts Office for refugees and immigrants. And Dan welcome to the program. Thank you very much. Pleasure to be here. It is my pleasure to have you here. The office of the Massachusetts Office of refugees and immigrants I don't think too many people know it exists because we think of this as the Immigration Service in Washington D.C..

Right. In fact at the Massachusetts Office for refugees and immigrant it's a state and say that we exist for about 10 years now. Our function is to assist refugee an immigrant who come to the commonweal. We would like to function very much number one as the advocates within the government as well as outside the government. Number two we are coordinating services for them among these three agencies. And number three we are the designated agency between the federal government and the state government. And you are right about that. Many people every time when they talk about immigrant services they immediately thinking that here is the federal bureaucracy. No one really wanted to talk to immigration officers unfortunately this is exactly our job here. Our job here is to assist refugees that immigrant

when they have difficulty dealing with bureaucracy. We have as interesting as you point out not we really want to deal with that all of us in Washington. You know of course we hear stories about the illegal aliens and all of a sudden there's a raid on a clothing factory or something like that and all of a sudden you have to show your papers and you really don't want to because you don't have any. Many times I. I jokingly sometime talk to my colleague in the federal Immigration and Naturalization Services saying that gee I think you guys probably should change your name. It's not services anymore you got puppies with car immigration policing because the way that you guys operate is not really servicing immigrants. You guys intimidating intimidating people and particularly people who are not yet understand how to move between governmental rape tape in United States and we don't even understand sometimes our lesson. I think you're right. I think I think it's so important that how

we work so hard to make government truly truly government truly a government of the people and make it simple. I don't believe that government have to be so complicated. I understand that this be law there should be a check or balance. And so and so forth. But unless we make government simple and simple we don't have to serve the people. Then the government of the people is no longer meaningful we have to do we still have quotas for people coming in from other cities. I mean other countries in the world I guess immigration still set a ceiling and caught us. But also there's also exceptions for example for Citizen United States citizen or legal permanent residence. They are have they have the

privilege to petition to have their relatives become over here. Particularly for citizen citizen who want to petition for their spouse. Or the children who are not yet become a doubt. These are not within the limitation of a quota. But in terms of how many people is allowed to come from one region of the world or one country of the world. Yes we do have those. And that's part of the so-called control that we have. We seem to see more Asian people coming in here Southeast Asian people over there. Well since the Vietnam War. Right take a look. A lot of people think that there are a great many of these folks coming over more than quote a quote unquote right. Is that so or not. I don't think so. Yes I think if we look at the number of sub this Asian coming

in the past 10 year or 15 years even ever since the fall of Vietnam Cambodia and Laos today communist the A-rab be about 1 million people coming in that way and these people came because of the former United States government. I worked for United State government I haven't been over there are some of them may be considered as dangerous by their government simply because they are they went to school. I think it's quite important for us to know that in terms of the United States commitment accepting refugees in the world we're not really under the top of the list that really accepting people. And we always thought we were. No no no. In fact not quite true at this point in the world. The 16 million. Refugees in the world.

Many of them obviously in Africa as well as some Middle East country for example Bangladesh. OK. Three million people united state on a yearly basis. In the past three four years in fact taking only less than 100000 people a year. So 100000 people compared with 16 million. I mean that's there's the way that we are there's how many refugee that we really accept are wellcome per year from the world. And I think the general perception out there is thinking that boy we're really going way over in about what we can do. It's not quite true at all. There have been several stories in some publications over the last six months to a year about the Irish and the underground Irish in the Boston area in particular if you remember those stories yes I do.

Why when they the Irish people speak English like our trained are talented in many instances. They have to be underground where we have people coming in from Southeast Asia from other countries of the world that do not speak the language that are not trained for the most part and yet they can come in. I think there are at least two aspects of this. Number one is that this country has a law that called refugee admission. And the definition of a refugee according to our federal government is people who fleete persecution because of their race or their faith or the association with a social organization. In this situation for people who are from Vietnam and Cambodia and so on and so forth they would recognize it by our federal government as refugee because of their form of high country. So they stay behind in their home country. There will be kill I

mean and this is how we consider them as political refugees. Our government also from time to time. Or should I say in general does not recognize people who have to leap the homeland because of hunger or because our poor economic situation. In my opinion personal opinion I think is unfortunate. An individual who have two fleet for once late because of political perspicuity perhaps in many ways is similar for to an individual who had to flee their homeland because of hunger. They are basically dealing with survival money. In both cases now in this case as in Ireland the metrology are the people who have to leave Ireland because of poor economic situation.

Because of unemployment. Some are highly educated college or university students just cannot find a job. We have highly skilled Choying individual nurses for example came over here in fact become nanny to me I think that crime is unconscionable to have a person who can function to one function at a higher level and that it will have to be that way. Why that have they have to live underground. Because the fact that they don't have a piece of paper that allowed them to stay here legally. Yet it's interesting Dan that at the turn of the century. Yes when grandparents came over. Yes. And aunts and uncles came over right from Europe and from places like that because of those very reasons. Exactly exactly. I always she would make Holly and my friend. That part of the

reason that our country United States of America is great because we remember where we are coming from. This country began because of the good but Peik people who fled religious persecution and then this country follow the tradition off let's help whoever they need to have shouted this help whoever the need need food. I understand some of the argument that coming today saying that look where was the line drawn. We don't have unlimited resources and so on and so forth. And I always pointing to two people and my my little personal experience. I was born in poverty. We were poor. We have five brothers and sisters. And every time when we saw a kid even when we were poor we

saw a kid that need some food. We may always saying hey look we have to take care of our own first. But now in a country we say no because we know we experience and understand what hunger feeling hungry is like. And even if we still have to look at the limited resources that we have it's a matter of our value. And I added you and where we stand. I feel it's quite I feel that is quite enough and for a fortunate today for some of our colleagues or friends saying that hey look. We want to do all this good thing but we just don't have enough resources to do it. I'm always saying no what you were saying is you don't want to do what you don't want to do it is like taking care of one's grandparent.

Sure no one's parent. Sure. Instead of putting them away in a nursing home or in a hospital or something. Yeah I don't think I don't think it's a matter of value again and is a is a measure of whether or not we do believe that we have the moral obligation to assist another human being and our resources always make for example. We can be always believe that each and every one in our family should have a little bedroom. All we may say hey look he has a not a kid who is hot who feels hungry. Yes we don't have another bedroom at home but maybe we can relive what our children and persuading that maybe would put another little bit even about in bed in one room and say look maybe we can take another kid. It's a matter of will do we want to do it or don't we want to do it. And while we're on that subject we've got a couple of minutes left. Yes about the people who come over here I think of

Southeast Asians again not knowing the language learning the language and two or three years and going on to excel in school for example. And yet our students who were born here did they have that well some don't have it good at all as the saying goes. They come from a poor section of town or whatever. And yet our people don't excel or don't want to excel. Why the difference. I really don't have a scientific answer for that but I think perhaps my little example can serve as an answer. I came to this country knowing very little English. I went to college at the time and I took my first job mapping floor. I was paying a dollar and twenty five cents. I came to this country knowing full well that this is a country with this deal giving me opportunity. If I want to work hard

and this country also give me the kind of freedom and the kind of opportunity for me to really to really work it and become somebody the metrology of the refugee and immigrant if not all of them arriving in United States holding on this kind of attitude and value we have no alternative but we have to see. We don't have no alternative. There's no return. Some good points. Diana thank you very much for spending the time. Thank you very much about found very interesting. Hopefully you'll come back and we'll will we'll talk some more. Sure. My guest Daniel lamb director of the Massachusetts Office for refugees and immigrants.