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Coming to America

June 10, 2008 6:35 PM

A little bit of Ted Kennedy came to roost in the ABC Baghdad bureau this past week. The bureau chief, Mike Gudgell, assembled all our Iraqi staff -- reporters, drivers, cooks, translators, electricians, cleaners, guards -- to explain to them they are now all eligible to apply for a visa to resettle in the United States -- along with their families -- courtesy of Ted Kennedy (whom few of them had even heard of).

Last year Sen. Kennedy was the driving force behind new legislation that expands the number of visas -- with resettlement support from the federal government -- on offer for Iraqis to move to the United States. Now any Iraqi who has worked for a U.S. company -- including U.S. news organizations -- can apply to emigrate, provided he or she can prove a fear of persecution. As he campaigned for the law, Kennedy said Iraqis who worked for U.S. companies or the U.S. government in Iraq have “a bull’s eye on their back.”

It was a moving event -- not only to see many members of our staff suddenly envisaging life in the mythical United States, but also to reflect on the large number of Iraqis -- including an ABC camera crew last year -- who have indeed been killed while working for U.S. employers. The U.S. has been slow to accept Iraqis during this war. Now the government finally appears to be doing the honorable thing.

It won’t be easy for many of the Iraqis who apply. Life in the United States is very different from life in Iraq, where the government is one of the biggest employers and also provides about 70 percent of basic foodstuffs in the form of rations. One of our bureau members asked, “Will the government give me a job?” and another asked “Do they give you your food in the U.S.?” He had to be told gently not to expect the regular consignments of oil, rice, sugar and flour that are distributed by the Iraqi government here.

At a more subtle level, one colleague was wrestling with the idea that his daughters -- now young -- would grow up as American teenagers, wanting to date and lead lifestyles that would be unimaginable in the more conservative social scene in Iraq.

Some, but not all, of our staff speak English. For the others, all they will get from the U.S. government is six months of language training. Then they will be on their own.

But no matter. America is primarily a glittering dream for most Iraqis -- and indeed for most Arabs across the Middle East, despite the minority of anti-U.S. militants who rail against the Great Satan. The reality of life in the United States will come later, with all the economic, social, linguistic and cultural challenges that will present themselves. Some will thrive, others will have difficulties, and some may well end up coming back to Iraq. Sen. Kennedy is not guaranteeing Iraqi emigrants a good life -- just the chance at a good life. That, as the Iraqis will discover, is what America is all about.

June 10, 2008 in Current Affairs | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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