Fresh off the Boat: A Look at the Immigration Experience

Immigration has been an issue of the United States that has been receiveing a great deal of media coverage recently. There have have been government talks about reforming the current system to make it harder for people to get into (and stay in) the country. Both political parties in the United States have very mixed feelings about how to handle not only those who are attempting to gain access into the country, but also what to do about the people who haver already established themselves within our borders. As a native born American citizen, I personally do not know how the immigration process worked or even paid attention to the reforms being made to it until I met Riku Watanabe.

Riku is a mechanical engineering classmate of mine at Ohio Northern University. We met during our sophomore year of college, and have been roommates through our junior and now senior years in the program. podcast on the subject.

Me (far right), Duggan (front center) and Riku (orange shirt)

Over this course of time, Riku has really opened my eyes to the ways in which immigration works in the United States. He has in fact opened my eyes to the topic so much that I now avidly watch for any talks involving immigration or the visa programs that my friend relies on. It is due to his vast knowledge of the immigration process and  life as a young child immigrating to the U.S. that my colleague Duggan Trenary and I sat him down and interviewed him for a

The interview hyperlinked and referenced above started at the beginning of Riku’s story in the U.S. He talks of how it was for a ten year old to be uprooted from the only country he knew, and taken to the United States. During this segment of the interview, Riku shared the difficulties that he experienced when it came to assimilating to American culture. He states that the main barrier that he had coming into the country was the language barrier. He states that he came to this country knowing almost no English, and still being enrolled in the public school system here in the U.S. He later states that he did not feel comfortable speaking out until he was about 18 years old because of the vast amount of information he essentially had to relearn. The interview then continued to cover topics that were associated with his life as a college student and future employee in the United States.

 Riku’s college life is where he states that he believes he finally felt comfortable being amongst others his age and interacting with them. It was this newly found confidence that inspired him to take positions at Ohio Northern University such as the president of the Asian American Student Union as well as a staff member for the International Student Services. This period of time has also led Riku to the realization that soon he will need to find work if he wishes to stay in the country. Riku mentions the programs that are currently put in place for students here on visas to stay in the country after graduation. He briefly covers a program for STEM majors which extends the amount of time a person is allowed to stay in the country without company sponsorship to three years instead of the normal year. He also mentions how being bilingual has made an impact on his search for work in order to stay in the country. However, the most powerful thing that Riku communicates is his fear and uncertainty of the future. The current political climate is making Riku and other people in his position uneasy as to whether or not they will be able to stay in the country after they graduate. The cutting of programs that are meant to help people in their situations has got them all edge, and Riku is trying to get all of his ducks in a row so that he can obtain a position within the United States before any such programs are put on the chopping block. The experience that Riku has had as an immigrant moving to this country is truly and interesting and moving one. Please feel free to listen to our full interview with him on the podcast hyperlinked in this post.