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One of the constant dichotomies that i(and maybe other immigrants) live with are these: The privilege of being a model minority [1] [2] yet being on the edge of

One of the constant dichotomies that i(and maybe other immigrants) live with are these: The privilege of being a model minority [1] [2] yet being on the edge of having to lose it all if the immigration system shits itself. One might be a senior software engineer paying 100K + in taxes and probably drive EVs and own a home, your largest infraction are parking tickets, yet the risks are asymmetric; the whims of bureaucrats and a border guard who is having a bad day. The purchasing power parity of my $$ salary affords me secure a comfortable financial future, but these are golden handcuffs; You cannot always work for the companies you want because if the company goes bust and you chance to lose a lot. These are the dichotomies I(and many immigrants) have had to live with. Time is a great healer of things and over time and with financial cushions the dichotomy might fade, I am still not sure it completely goes away. One can only think of the present and make the best of it. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/the-making-of-a-model-minority/617258/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/the-mak... [2] https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Karma_of_Brown_Folk/j7YmWfbNtNcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Karma_of_Brown_Folk...

notch656a 4y ago
>a border guard who is having a bad day. This is not to be understated. I was born a US citizen. Last time I entered the country, officers faked that a dog had alerted "on my anus", forcibly strip searched me, and fabricated a story that plastic baggies that they suspected 'could be drugs' were coming out of my ass. I was shackled and cuffed and dragged around the state of Arizona for 16 hours while publicly paraded in Hospitals, including the waiting rooms. Officers attempted repeatedly, across two different cities one hour apart, to get medical staff to perform unwarranted and consentless x-rays and/or probing of my body, which I repeatedly refused. Doctors, despite having zero medical evidence I had did anything wrong, wrote on their paperwork I was 'suspicious' because I denied the allegations. After 16 hours of this harassments I was release, uncharged, with no apologies. On yet another occasion, I was told by border officials they would not let me in my own country, despite providing full proof of citizenship (immaculate condition passport, plus identifying myself fully). After 4 hours of probing questions including going practically line by line on what's on the IRS 1040, most of which I didn't answer, I was released. Now imagine this same happening, legally entering the country at the proper port of entry with full authorization -- except as not a citizen or looking like a boring middle-class corn-fed white guy like me. These sick fucks would treat you even worse. A woman (actually a citizen) who went through a few years before me brutally had her orifices probed in a 'search' for 'contraband.'[0] [0] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6451513/cervantes-v-uni https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6451513/cervantes-v-uni...
- lmarcos 4y ago
  And that's another reason I will never visit the USA.
  - mistertester 4y ago
    No one cares
  - daniel-cussen 4y ago
    I know an intellectual, talking about Harvard inviting him to go talk there, and he was like nah, traveling to the States is too hard. Too much security, too painful, flying hurts. It's not the same America it was back then, either, the Rolling Stones in New York type of thing. A lot of anymosity.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    Me either. That's why I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia where I enjoy strong mental health patients' rights. Of course, this also means living without 4th or 5th Amendment protections.
  - refurb 4y ago
    Exactly. I'll only visit safe countries like China.
    - ngc248 4y ago
      dunno whether your comment is sarcastic or not... But it is definitely not safe to visit china. After the case of the two canadians, it is always a risk and there were some incidents before that also.
      - DocTomoe 4y ago
        In all fairness, I have no doubt the very same thing - getting detained and/or imprisoned under dubious pretences - can happen to you in the US. In fact, given US policing culture, I expect hundreds of such cases happening in the US right now and no-one caring because 'that's just what the yankees do'.
refurb 4y ago
I'm not sure how being a "model minority" is relevant beyond you just internalizing one potential viewpoint that floats around certain US political discussions. I'm not a minority in the US, have worked in other countries, and I'm still at the same whim of a country's immigration system as you are. In fact, a white colleague I work with will be returning home from Asia because the government has decided "we don't need so many foreigners" and has declined to renew their work permit. This is someone making a top 5% salary, with a special skill set that the company needs, that can't be filled with locals. The government could care less that she has kids in school, that they just signed a lease on a place or that their spouse still has a job they want to keep. It has zero to do with being am minority, it's just the consequence of not being a citizen. If you decided to move to another country as a temporary worker, that's the risk you take - that the rules change, often unfairly so. You might think driving an EV or making a lot of means you should get some special pass, but I'd argue that's not a reasonable assumption at all.
- itissid 4y ago
  It's a political viewpoint yes but a relevant one to explain what the attempted creation of model minority does to actual people and their minds, my mind, due to odd ball immigration policies. I don't think we are "model/special" in any way, skilled immigrants aren't superior to any other racial group iMO. The same dichotomy I talk about might be created in other countries as well but what is different weird is that in the US they intentionally chose[1] to make this community to show to the world, in part, how they liberal and progressive America can be (which has its own contradictions). The intention was and is very clear and the policy really screws with the mind. To me(and maybe others) being in the reference is very relevant because we, I, in many ways live a privileged, sheltered life and I wanted to highlight how odd that is for my mind to comprehend that that privilege is at the whims of people and circumstances barely in my control and in ways that if I were in my country of citizenship such privilege would be be interpreted by me as laissez faire. The other thing is that being a part of choosing the reference is that I have done nothing special to get here. I am lucky. And then there are other people that some apparatchik did not choose who were exactly as good as me but are living in tough circumstances back in my home country. This makes the dichotomy of living here even more crazy for me [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority#Selective_immigration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority#Selective_immig...

notch656a 4y ago

>a border guard who is having a bad day. This is not to be understated. I was born a US citizen. Last time I entered the country, officers faked that a dog had alerted "on my anus", forcibly strip searched me, and fabricated a story that plastic baggies that they suspected 'could be drugs' were coming out of my ass. I was shackled and cuffed and dragged around the state of Arizona for 16 hours while publicly paraded in Hospitals, including the waiting rooms. Officers attempted repeatedly, across two different cities one hour apart, to get medical staff to perform unwarranted and consentless x-rays and/or probing of my body, which I repeatedly refused. Doctors, despite having zero medical evidence I had did anything wrong, wrote on their paperwork I was 'suspicious' because I denied the allegations. After 16 hours of this harassments I was release, uncharged, with no apologies. On yet another occasion, I was told by border officials they would not let me in my own country, despite providing full proof of citizenship (immaculate condition passport, plus identifying myself fully). After 4 hours of probing questions including going practically line by line on what's on the IRS 1040, most of which I didn't answer, I was released. Now imagine this same happening, legally entering the country at the proper port of entry with full authorization -- except as not a citizen or looking like a boring middle-class corn-fed white guy like me. These sick fucks would treat you even worse. A woman (actually a citizen) who went through a few years before me brutally had her orifices probed in a 'search' for 'contraband.'[0] [0] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6451513/cervantes-v-uni https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6451513/cervantes-v-uni...

lmarcos 4y ago
And that's another reason I will never visit the USA.
- mistertester 4y ago
  No one cares
- daniel-cussen 4y ago
  I know an intellectual, talking about Harvard inviting him to go talk there, and he was like nah, traveling to the States is too hard. Too much security, too painful, flying hurts. It's not the same America it was back then, either, the Rolling Stones in New York type of thing. A lot of anymosity.
- Maursault 4y ago
  Me either. That's why I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia where I enjoy strong mental health patients' rights. Of course, this also means living without 4th or 5th Amendment protections.
- refurb 4y ago
  Exactly. I'll only visit safe countries like China.
  - ngc248 4y ago
    dunno whether your comment is sarcastic or not... But it is definitely not safe to visit china. After the case of the two canadians, it is always a risk and there were some incidents before that also.
    - DocTomoe 4y ago
      In all fairness, I have no doubt the very same thing - getting detained and/or imprisoned under dubious pretences - can happen to you in the US. In fact, given US policing culture, I expect hundreds of such cases happening in the US right now and no-one caring because 'that's just what the yankees do'.

refurb 4y ago

I'm not sure how being a "model minority" is relevant beyond you just internalizing one potential viewpoint that floats around certain US political discussions. I'm not a minority in the US, have worked in other countries, and I'm still at the same whim of a country's immigration system as you are. In fact, a white colleague I work with will be returning home from Asia because the government has decided "we don't need so many foreigners" and has declined to renew their work permit. This is someone making a top 5% salary, with a special skill set that the company needs, that can't be filled with locals. The government could care less that she has kids in school, that they just signed a lease on a place or that their spouse still has a job they want to keep. It has zero to do with being am minority, it's just the consequence of not being a citizen. If you decided to move to another country as a temporary worker, that's the risk you take - that the rules change, often unfairly so. You might think driving an EV or making a lot of means you should get some special pass, but I'd argue that's not a reasonable assumption at all.

itissid 4y ago
It's a political viewpoint yes but a relevant one to explain what the attempted creation of model minority does to actual people and their minds, my mind, due to odd ball immigration policies. I don't think we are "model/special" in any way, skilled immigrants aren't superior to any other racial group iMO. The same dichotomy I talk about might be created in other countries as well but what is different weird is that in the US they intentionally chose[1] to make this community to show to the world, in part, how they liberal and progressive America can be (which has its own contradictions). The intention was and is very clear and the policy really screws with the mind. To me(and maybe others) being in the reference is very relevant because we, I, in many ways live a privileged, sheltered life and I wanted to highlight how odd that is for my mind to comprehend that that privilege is at the whims of people and circumstances barely in my control and in ways that if I were in my country of citizenship such privilege would be be interpreted by me as laissez faire. The other thing is that being a part of choosing the reference is that I have done nothing special to get here. I am lucky. And then there are other people that some apparatchik did not choose who were exactly as good as me but are living in tough circumstances back in my home country. This makes the dichotomy of living here even more crazy for me [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority#Selective_immigration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority#Selective_immig...