Module 2: The Migration Journey
Lesson Objectives
Trainees will be able to:
Recognize there are emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of migrating that migrants are experiencing in tandem with their physical journey across borders.
Acknowledge that the migration journey does not end when one stops crossing borders.
Understand how these non-physical aspects of migration continue to impact migrants post-physical migration.
Introduction
Whether it be the journey through the Darien Gap or across the U.S.-Mexico border, the physical aspects of migration are often the first images that come to mind when thinking of Latin American migration journeys to the U.S. Nonetheless, it is often the non-physical and invisible aspects of the migration journey that have the most profound and long-lasting impact on migrant’s lives. The emotional challenges associated with leaving one’s family behind in their home country can “mark” a person long after they have created a new life in the United States. Cultural differences and language barriers present another intangible obstacle that migrants encounter even after crossing barbed wire walls and dangerous terrains. Many Latin American migrants reference their faith as a source of strength that generates hope in difficult times of their migration journey. These non-physical “journeys” are critical to understanding the past and present experiences, traumas, and convictions of newcomer Latin American migrants.
Emotional Challenges: Loved Ones Left Behind
The experience of migration can cause people to feel a number of difficult and complex emotions: guilt, sadness, fear, grief, and longing. One significant and common characteristic of migration is that of leaving one’s family behind. While some people travel with members of their family, most people still leave loved ones behind whether it be parents, children, friends, or community members.
“Bueno. Lo primero del viaje es dejar a la familia. Ahí empieza el primer trauma. Desprenderse de uno de su familia, es algo que lo marca a uno ya. Eso marca, yo diría que por día porque aunque uno vuelva, ese siempre ese momento que ha impregnado en uno. Y de allí viene que hay que pasar ciertas controles para que lo admitan a uno si es que lo admiten, que viene que lo dejan a uno en un refugio, te puedes esperar a veces dejan pasar o no lo dejan pasar, de allí entra uno, bueno, logra entrar viene el tema de ubicarse, de buscar un empleo, de buscar algo para sobrevivir, para sobrevivir, o sea, empezar en otro país no es fácil. Y pues como experiencia propia, la verdad, y de todo el tema del viaje y todo me tocó hasta dormir en un auto, un mes y una semana. Y esas son cosas que…con el tiempo se van superando pero al principio son duras.”
“Well, the first step of the journey is leaving your family. That’s where the first trauma begins. Breaking away from one’s family is something that already scars you. That scar I’d say stays because even if one is to return that moment always stays. And from there comes the need to pass certain controls to be admitted– if they even admit you– and what comes is that you are left as a “refugee,” and from there you can be allowed in or rejected…from there you enter, well, you are allowed entrance and what comes the task of settling yourself, looking for work, finding ways to survive, to survive, honestly, starting in other country isn’t easy. Coming from personal experience, the truth is, everything about the journey and everything it took, to the point of sleeping in the car for one month plus a week…those are the things that . . . with time they are overcome but the beginning is hard.”
Listen to Beatriz
Though separating, sometimes indefinitely, from loved ones is common among migrants, the feelings associated with the departure vary and impact them differently throughout their journey. For some migrants, they may be the first in their families to migrate while others may have family members already living as immigrants in other parts of the world. In either case, it is an incredibly difficult and emotional decision to make and leaves traumatic scars that follow migrants throughout their journey.
“Nosotros cuando tuvimos durmiendo en el auto, yo tengo un hermano que él también es migrante, pero él está en Europa y él me decía “no no Beatriz, ya ya regresate a Houston, vuelve allá, no es mucho tiempo” o sea, él como que le dolía más que a mi que lo que estaba pasado, el piensa que era mucho tiempo “no puede dormir tanto tiempo en el auto, no es recomendable.” y yo “no no, tranquila hermano, yo aguanto, nosotros aguantamos.”
“When we were sleeping in the car, I have a brother who is also a migrant, but he is in Europe and told me ‘“No no Beatriz, you have returned to Houston, go back there, it doesn’t take to long” it seemed liked it hurt him more that what was happening to me was happening for so long “you can’t sleep for so long in a car, it is not recommended.” And I said, “no no, relax brother, I am enduring we are enduring.”
Listen to Beatriz
Cultural Differences
Though there are many migrants whose ultimate destination is the United States, there are many more who, for various reasons, aren’t allowed entry to the U.S., don’t make it the U.S., or decide to settle in other countries in Latin America. An increasingly overlooked aspect of the migration journey is the encountering of stark cultural differences, which is often only discussed in relation to the U.S.
“La verdad en Houston, sentimos como hay más personas de nuestro país, acá no vemos, acá hay hispanos pero todos son salvadoreños. Allá en Houston, digamos, hay gente de Colombia entonces como, uno siente una alegría, uno siente una hermandad y como que uno ve al hermano, como pueblo y eso, eso en cierta forma lo alegra a uno. “¿Usted de dónde?” “O yo de Colombia” “oh! Yo también da da da.” Son momentos que le traían a uno alegría como si se transportan a su país. La verdad acá no he visto, no me he encontrado colombianos. Acá siempre son latinos digo “¿de dónde es usted?” “...de El Salvador..” “de Honduras,” “Guatemala” pero no hay Colombianos.
“Truthfully, in Houston, we felt that there were more people from our country, here we don’t see that, here there are Hispanics but they’re Salvadorans. In Houston, there are people from Colombia, so one feels happiness, more brotherhood…and it’s like one sees a brother, like a people, and that a brings one a form of happiness. ‘Where are your from?’ ‘I’m from Colombia’ ‘Oh! Me too! yada-yada-yada.’ Those are moments that brought one happiness because it’s like being transported back to your country. Truthfully, here I haven’t seen that, I haven’t found Colombians. Here always with Latinos I ask ‘where are you from?’ ‘…from El Salvador…’ ‘from Honduras,’ ‘from Guatemala’ but there aren’t Colombians.”
Listen to Beatriz
Unless migrating from Mexico, migrants have often spent days, weeks, even months in various Latin American countries. This is especially true for recent waves of South American migrants, who journey through Central America to reach the U.S. However, Latin America is not a homogenous region and each country has a distinct history, culture, norms, and even language dialects. Consequently, migrants face these stark differences at multiple points throughout their migration.
“Y estas son las famosas arepas de los venezolanos que dicen que las arepas son de Colombia pero no, son de la Venezuela, de los venezolanos, la famosa arepa. Hay arepa rellena de pollo mechado, de carne mechada, y la otra es la que decimos domino que es con carne, caraota y queso. Entonces esas son las arepas que también son venezolanas.”
“These are the famous Venezuelan arepas, they say arepas are Colombian, but no, the famous arepas are Venezuelan, from Venezuelans. There is the stuffed arepa from shredded chicken, shredded beef, and the other is what we call ‘domino’ which is with meat, beans, and cheese. So…These are the arepas that are also Venezuelan.”
Listen to Deisy
Of course, there are many differences between the United States and any country in Latin America. From language to gender norms and superstitions, the U.S. can seem like an entirely different world for recently arrived migrants. And yet, there are cultural differences migrants may have seen about in popular culture or even dreamed about when considering their migration.
“Una de las que cosas que como mi sueño era pasar una navidad acá en los Estados Unidos porque siempre lo veía por la televisión y lo veía está lindo, las calles, las partes así organizadas con esos árboles, entonces yo siempre soñé en vivir una Navidad en Estados Unidos…”
“My dream was to spend Christmas here in the United States because I always saw it on T.V. and it seemed beautiful…the streets, the parts like this one decorated with trees, so I always dreamed of experiencing a Christmas in the United States…”
Listen to Beatriz
Language Barriers
One of the most commonly cited non-physical aspects of migration is the language barrier. For those who speak little to no English, migrants can find it difficult to access necessary resources like healthcare and primary education for their children. Above all, finding a job that will provide for one’s family but does not require English proficiency makes language a critical challenge.
“También nos ha afectado mucho el tema del idioma, la comunicación. A veces lo hemos tratado de hacer por lo menos usando este—cuando yo le digo que de ellos nos empezaron a decir ‘que hacemos ahí?’, ‘que quién éramos?’— el teléfono porque no sabemos como comunicar entonces el idioma siempre ha sido una barrera.”
“The issue of language and communication has also affected us a lot. Sometimes we have tried to do it at least with the phone - like when I mentioned that they started to tell us 'what are we doing there?', 'who were we?' - because we don't know how to communicate so the language has always been an barrier."
Listen to Beatriz
The impact of these language barriers on the daily life of a migrant can add up. To be in a country where English is the center of all social, cultural, and economic opportunities, the inability to find others who speak one’s native language contribute to the feeling and fear of being an outsider who does not fit in.
“Es que estamos en un país que habla inglés, entonces es primordial que tenemos que adaptarnos al idioma, porque si no va a ser difícil siempre para nosotros.”
“We are in a country that speaks English, so it is imperative that we adapt ourselves to the language, because if we don’t it will always be difficult for us.”
Listen to Santiago
Though English proficiency is critical to finding success in the United States, recent studies show that English language-acquisition takes at least 8 years to fully develop. This commitment to learning is much too long for migrants who have immediate needs to meet and likely requires the ability to dedicate hours of the week to English education.
Important to note is that some migrants learn English in their home countries before arriving to the U.S., but this does not represent a large majority of recently arrived migrants.
“Por que, lo básico aquí a veces un poco del tiempo que uno no sabe ni que lo están diciendo y uno se siente como… me entiende. Quisiéramos aprender lo más importante que uno puede dialogar con una persona… como tú comuniques con cualquiera persona, tú a comprar cualquier cosa si no sabe lo que va a decir.”
“Because, basically, here some time passes as you don’t even know what people are saying and you feel like... you know? We would like to learn the most important thing s, enough to talk with people, how can you communicate with anyone or buy anything if you dont’ know what to say? ”
Listen to Eriko
Spiritual Strength
Finally, given the difficult nature of the migration journey, there is a particular strength migrants draw from to persevere—spiritual and religious institutions. As will be explored in the next lesson, many migrants reiterate just how challenging the journey is. So much so, that they “can’t believe” they accomplished it. Yet, those that do suggest it was made possible by the grace of God who guided them and gave them strength in their most difficult moments.
“Creo que aquí va nuestro tema, o sea, van a ver muchas cosas, pero el día día logrando más experiencias, más cosas, más sorpresas, más bendiciones, más vivencias. Es importante mantener mucho fé el que no tiene fé, yo pienso que… ¿para qué vivir uno sin fé? Si pongo esa negatividad, sí me cae.”
“I believe that here is our point, people will see many things, but day to day, gaining more experiences, more things, more surprises, more blessings, more experiences. It is important to keep a lot of faith because when one has no faith, I believe . . . ‘why live without faith?’ If I had this negativity I would fail.”
Listen to Beatriz
Where do you find strength in difficult times?
“Dios. Dios. Digo las oraciones por lo menos en el caso de mi madre. Nunca nos ha abandonado.”
“God. God. I say prayers, at a minimum for my mother. He has never abandoned us.”
Listen to Beatriz
Reflection Questions:
Think about the multi-faceted challenges that migrants face during their migration. How do they intersect and overlap?
How might understanding the non-physical, often invisibilized, aspects of migration contribute to a shift in narratives about migrants?