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In this blog, we have covered so much material. We saw the stories of the three children and their families in the book Refugee. We hit immigration laws and how immigration has changed the demographics of the United States. Through these changes, we saw how many ethical and political issues have arisen. I analyzed the events through the lens of the Bible, but it is vital for all of us to form our own opinions about immigration and our role in supporting and allowing immigrants. I will close the blog with today’s topic. This relates back to my major and vocation—education. I will be looking at refugee and immigrant children and education, both in the world and in the United States.

The situation of refugees in the world today is not very encouraging, as we have seen. Currently, there are about 25.4 million refugees and 40 million more internally displaced people. And, these numbers are only increasing. Every two seconds, another person is forcibly displaced. Sadly, over half of the world’s 25.4 million refugees are children. These children grow up without stability and face psychological challenges when they do finally settle, the result of facing danger, fear, and insecurity every day. Even worse, many of these children have no access to schooling. Of the total number of school age refugees, about half are receiving no education. Currently, this means around four million children are out of school. This statistic is also only growing. From last year to the present, this number increased by about 500,000.

In total, only about forty-one percent of refugee children attend primary school. Compared to the world as a whole, this number is incredibly small as ninety-two percent of the world’s children attend primary school. As the refugee children get older, their opportunities get even slimmer. About eighty-four percent of the world’s children are able to attend secondary school, whereas only about twenty-three percent of refugees can attend. And higher education is almost hopeless. Only a singular one percent of refugee children are able to attend any higher education institution, much less pursue a master’s or doctorate degrees. Why does this matter? As the UN says, “Education is a way to help young people heal, but it is also the way to revive entire countries. Allowed to learn, grow and flourish, children will grow up to contribute both to the societies that host them and to their homelands when peace allows them to return. That is why education is one of the most important ways to solve the world’s crises.” Education equals opportunity and healing, both for the children and for their nations.

The UNHCR, the United Nation’s Refugee Agency, is at work in this area. They have pledged to “ensure an ‘inclusive and equitable quality education’ and to promote ‘lifelong learning opportunities for all’.” They work with governments to help include refugee children into their national education systems. They also work with partners who form schools in refugee camps and underdeveloped areas. However, this is not enough. They are calling for humanitarian organization, governments, and private sectors to come together to find a more sustainable solution as the numbers of unschooled children are only increasing. The UNHCR and its partners were able to provide schooling for 500,000 new refugees last year, but 500,000 more were unable to be enrolled. So, there is work to do, but there is hope.

In the United States, the education system deals primarily with immigrants, not refugees. And, these children are a huge part of the education system. In 2014, the total enrolled number of Latino, African-American, and Asian students was greater than the number of white students. This new majority is suspected to grow as well, as the overall population of the United States will grow to reflect these percentages that have already been hit by the children. More than just serving many children of minority groups, the public school system holds large numbers of immigrant children. About one in every four children in the United States is either an immigrant or a child of at least one immigrant parent. Over one million of these children are undocumented, and 4.5 million more have an undocumented parent.

Based on the high quantity of immigrant children, you may assume that the public-school system is serving them well. This is unfortunately not the case. Most of these children face the added challenge of learning English while also trying to learn the class instruction. Because of the emphasis on standardized testing in public-schools, this added challenge reflects badly on the children. Many children are behind in reaching the standards and the teachers are unable to spend time on catching them up or cultivating their learning because of the high-stakes of the standardized tests. This often results in the students being pushed ahead without trying to fill their performance gap, leading to a widening of this gap and the student struggling more and more. Also, the school system is slowly emphasizing a more multicultural curriculum—a curriculum that teaches from beyond the European American cultural and historical tradition. But, the going is slow, and many immigrant children face racialized difficulties and stereotype threat.

Stereotype threat is a fascinating, confusing, and very real issue. And, it effects every single person, as each person falls into at least one category where they are stereotyped. The definition is: “Stereotype threat refers to being at risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s social group”. For example, a girl will feel stereotype threat before a math test, a white male will feel it when competing in athletics against African Americans, and African Americans will feel it in many intellectual settings. Many experiments have been performed confirming this effect. If a marginalized group is reminded about their stereotype they will perform significantly worse than if their stereotype is not mentioned or emphasized.

This effects immigrant children on many levels. Many fall into marginalized racial groups, as well as struggle with low socioeconomic status and learning English, further stereotyped groups. More than psychological pressure, this threat leads to compounding issues. Stereotype threat produces underachievement in “classroom exams, standardized tests, and tasks that have previously been suggested to be “culture free” and relatively “pure” measures of cognitive ability”. It leads to use of self-defeating strategies like reduced practice time for tasks or discounting the task’s importance. It also leads to disengagement and disidentification in school, which further decreases achievement and the desire to learn. All of these issues stack up to cause many challenges for immigrant children.

In addition to discrimination and ignorance about how to serve these kids, immigrant children face the additional challenge of learning English. They are attempting to learn a new culture, a new language, and trying to learn the class instruction at the same time. Known as English Language Learners (ELLs), the public-school system is becoming more and more saturated with these children. In 2015, ELLs made up about 9.5% of the students enrolled in public schools, about 4.8 million children. In states like Texas or California, the rates are much higher—16.8% and 21.0% respectively. To add to the complexity, there are around 440 different languages spoken by these diverse children. The public-school system has programs to assist these students, ranging from full immersion for students with some English proficiency to transitional ESL programs where students learn in their native language first. However, many schools do not have the funding for these programs, do not have teachers with training in the children’s native language, or do not see these students as a priority.

Finally, immigrant children face issues of poverty. They enter the United States often without many connections or stability. As their families get settled, they face plentiful problems and insecurities. Specifically, poverty has physical effects on the children, leading to poor physical health, reduced motor skills, smaller capacity to concentrate and remember, and lowered attentiveness, curiosity, and motivation. Young children often enter school with a readiness gap that only increases as they get older. All ages feel alienated from society, insecure because of their low socioeconomic status, and feel powerless. Finally, they are more likely to drop out of school than students from wealthier families, and so are less likely to attend college or attain well-paying jobs. In total, about five percent of all students born in the United States dropout of school before completing high school. However, of the students born out of the country, almost ten percent drop out—almost twice the number of nonimmigrant children. While this is troubling in itself, it leads to more issues down the road. In one study, high school dropouts made an average of about ten dollars an hour, ten to fifteen years later, compared to an average of thirteen dollars an hour for just those who finish high school. As level of education increases, wages and benefits increase as well.

So, immigrant children are some of the most under-served students in the public-school system. They face poverty, the challenges of learning English, stereotypes, and racism. All of these issues compound and make school daunting. As a teacher, I hope to be a safe place for these students, helping them learn and grow. As citizens, however, we all should fight for this disadvantaged group, the children and adults. I hope this blog was informative and intriguing. More so, I hope it made you think and pushed you to consider what you believe and why. And, I hope you will join me in helping and fighting for immigrants and their rights here in this beautiful country.

I closed my last blog with a lot of unanswered questions. All of them are deeply important, but they all also do not have easy solutions. Therefore, it is up to us as individuals to find a foundation upon which to build our advocacy or opinion. My instinct is to turn to my beliefs. As a Christian, and to integrate my Biblical Heritage and Ethics course, I will focus on Christianity and the Bible’s word on immigration and foreigners.

In the Old Testament, the Pentateuch is based on a certain care for immigrants and foreigners. Exodus 22:20 is clear: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19:10 says, “You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.” Strangers are in need of protection and the Israelites were to look out for them just like the poor of their own nationality. Numbers 15:14–16 says, “And when, throughout the ages, a stranger who has taken up residence with you, or one who lives among you, would present an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD—as you do, so shall it be done by the rest of the congregation. There shall be one law for you and for the resident stranger; it shall be a law for all time throughout the ages.” And along with this, Exodus 12:49 says, “There shall be one law for the citizen and for the stranger who dwells among you.” This passage from Exodus comes from the regulations about Passover, one of the most important and culturally relevant festivals for Israel. It is based on the memory of the Lord’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. But, despite this deeply personal and specific Israelite context, God commands that strangers be welcome to believe, worship, and honor the Lord as well. Also, Deuteronomy 24:14, 17 say, “You shall not abuse a needy or destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities of your land…You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless.” The stranger and the Israelite are to be protected equally. And Deuteronomy 26:11 says, “You shall enjoy, together with the Levite and the stranger in your midst, all the bounty that the Lord your God has bestowed upon you and your household.” God’s inclusion of the stranger under His laws and protection extends to all areas of Israelite society—in need, festival, or bounty.

These rules and regulations about the treatment of foreigners come directly from the Israelites’ own story. And, God points this out many times. The Israelites themselves were immigrants to the Promised Land. All three law codes in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy give exactly this justification and the same command that the Israelites treat strangers as equals. The Leviticus text specifically says, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,” (Leviticus 19:33-34). The command reminds its Israelite hearers that they were all strangers too. Plus, this brings to mind the New Testament command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This context shows us that “neighbor” extends to the foreigner and stranger as well, making this a broad and far-reaching command.

Just as Israelites were once foreigners in Egypt and immigrants to Canaan, God characterizes them as continually strangers. He says in Leviticus 25:23 that “The land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with me.” In addition, God incorporates foreigners into His story. The entire book of Ruth is about an immigrant woman. The incredible element is that she is accepted not only as an Israelite but as a mother in the line of David, and therefore Jesus Himself. Rahab, too, shares this adoption into the Israelite and Davidic line. God cares for the immigrants in the history of the Bible, and consistently reminds the Israelites that they are still guests in the land.

Short interjection, just in case you see no application for any of this to today’s America. Like I mentioned in the last blog, the ethnic make-up of America is extremely diverse. A large portion of the population is made up of recent immigrants. Plus, even if you or your family did not immigrate here since 1965, your family was almost certainly an immigrant at some point. Americans are a nationality from everywhere. Except for those with pure native American blood, your ancestors were immigrants, whether one of the first colonists in the 1600s or a recent migrant in the past few years. So, God’s reminder to the Israelites that they were once immigrants applies to us as Americans too. Where would we be if we were not given the chance to enter the United States?

Back to the point, Israel’s direction to care for foreigners is traced throughout the Old Testament, not just the Pentateuch. Isaiah writes, “Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice. Aid the wronged,” (Isaiah 1:17). He calls the Israelites to help those who are disadvantaged—refugees and the poor. He directs the Israelites specifically about Moabite refugees saying, “Give advice, offer counsel. At high noon make your shadow like night: conceal the outcasts, betray not the fugitives. Let Moab’s outcasts find asylum in you; be a shelter for them against the despoiler,” (Isaiah 16:3-4). Jeremiah 22:3 echoes Isaiah and the law codes, saying, “Do what is just and right; rescue from the defrauder him who is robbed; do not wrong the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; commit no lawless act, and do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place.” And, a Psalmist writes, “The Lord watches over the stranger and sustains the fatherless and the widow,” (Psalm 146:9). The direction to care for the foreigner is echoed throughout the prophets and wisdom literature.

Also, Israel’s right to the Promised Land was contingent on their maintenance of social justice. Jeremiah 7:6–7 says, “If you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place; if you do not follow other gods, to your own hurt— then only will I let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers for all time.” Later, after Israel had failed to uphold these standards, Ezekiel writes, “The people of the land have practiced fraud and committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and the needy, have defrauded the stranger without redress. And I sought a man among them to repair the wall or to stand in the breach before me in behalf of this land, that I might not destroy it, but I found none,” (Ezekiel 22:29-30). The book of Amos discusses Israel’s judgment as well, concluding that their destruction is found because of their disruption of justice. Amos 2:6-7 says, “They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.” The Lord gave the Israelites the land of Canaan with explicit instructions. They consistently disobeyed His laws, but the defining characteristic that the prophets harp on is their subjugation and injustice to the poor and needy within their society. They abused their status and did not treat the poor or stranger as God intended. Because of this, Israel become immigrants once again, exiled and scattered throughout the world.

The New Testament tells a similar story. Jesus Himself was an immigrant and refugee, fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod’s mass murder of baby boys (Matthew 2:13-14). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that the vulnerable and weak will be blessed. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth…Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,” (Matthew 5:3-5,9). Jesus also continues the narrative of who our neighbors are in relation to the command “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan as someone who embodies this characteristic, taking care of an Israelite man despite their racial and moral differences (Luke 10:30-37). This shows that our neighbors are not defined by race or belief system. In conversation with the Leviticus, I would say that neighbor applies to all people. Jesus embodies this as well by healing, preaching to, and ministering to all people: poor, Gentiles, sinners, and Jews.

Again, the rest of the New Testament supports this love and care for the needy and disadvantaged. Romans 12:13 says, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers,” defining the need to care for both the saints and strangers. Hebrews mirrors this idea of showing hospitality to strangers, as it is an act of love (13:1-2). Ephesians discusses the divide between Jew and Gentile, recording that Jesus has broken down this divide. Even more so, hostile treatment of others is against Jesus’ ministry. It reads, “For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. . . . So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.” (2:14,19). The New Testament shows how the gospel permeates our treatment of strangers, welcoming and making peace with them.

Finally, the end times and judgment are defined by treatment of strangers. Revelation 21:25–26 describes Heaven, “Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.” The end times are for all people, with all nationalities gathered together. Matthew 25:31-46 is perhaps one of the most relevant texts for this topic. It discusses Jesus’ judgment of all people and how he separates those who receive eternal life from those who receive punishment. The text says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him…‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’…‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” The righteous are those that care for the needy and the stranger. The Bible definitively takes a stance of love and care toward all people and especially that of caring for the needy.

Today, in light of Refugee, all of the wars, and all of these new policies, who is needier than the immigrant? The refugee? The asylee?

I understand that these texts are not as convicting if you are not a Christian. But, all of Western culture and much of the United States of America itself was founded on these ideals. Society has changed and Christianity is not the basis of the state anymore, but it still has a great effect. In addition, Pew Research cites that 70.6 percent of Americans identify as Christians. So, Christianity is still highly influential and widespread. Therefore, we should read these texts with an eye to learn. Perhaps they can answer some of our questions about immigration and the crises we face today. And further, they may teach us how to act.

Last blog covered about seventy years of immigration law, which was quite a bit to wade through. This blog will be slightly less about the legal side. I will finish tracing the evolution of US immigration law, bringing our review up to the present day. I will also touch on some differing perspectives about recent changes as well as how these changes in immigration law have shaped modern day America.

When I left off, I introduced the 1990 emendation of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. This enacted new prioritized categories for workers, opening a bracket for skilled workers or those with a bachelor’s degree. It introduced the diversity visa as well to allow immigrants of underrepresented nationalities to enter. It established new family reunification categories as well.

This is important for our analysis as Isabel’s story was set in 1994. Cuban immigrants had been immigrating to the United States in phases since the beginning of the Cold War. But, immigration had declined for about ten years from 1980 to the fall of the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union fell, the Cuban economy plummeted. After Castro announced that restrictions on leaving the country were lifted in 1994, as we learned about from Isabel’s story, an estimated 35,000 Cubans floated to Florida in the next month. This mass exodus of refugees caused the United States to make a special policy for Cubans. They allocated twenty thousand visas a year through a lottery system for Cubans to live and work in the United States. However, they also established the wet foot, dry foot policy that Isabel mentioned. Any Cubans found by the Coast Guard in the water were deported, but any who made it to land were allowed to stay and pursue legal residency. Interestingly, a policy change in 2005 has enabled Cubans to enter the United States through the Mexican border legally and without detention. They are labeled as political asylees and can usually pass through the border the same day they arrive.

This allowance for Cubans at the Mexican border is not normal, as we will see in a bit. First, I want to touch on the overall effects of the changing immigration laws. As I mentioned, lawmakers did not expect a huge effect when immigration laws were initially changed in 1965. But, these laws did actually change the make-up of the United States. By 2015, fifty years later, about 59 million immigrants had entered the US and 45 million of the population in 2015 was made up of foreign-born. Immigrants and their descendants accounted for 55% of the population growth of the United States from 1965 to 2015. By 2065, the Pew Research Center predicts that immigrants and their families will add 103 million people to the population and foreign-born will make up 18% of it. As of 2015, immigrants and their children account for 26% of the population but this is estimated to rise to 36% by 2065. The US Census Bureau predicts that immigration will increase by 85% by 2060 and equal 19% of the total population.

That was a lot of numbers and estimates, but it is important because it shows how the composition of the United States has changed. In 1965, non-Hispanic whites made up a startling 84% of the population. By 2015, that had been reduced to 62%. The Hispanic population in the US has risen from 4% in 1965 to 18% in 2015. And, Hispanics make up about 47% of all immigrants residing in the United States. Also, the Asian population had risen from less than 1% to 6%. By 2065, Pew predicts that non-Hispanic whites will make up only 46% of the population, meaning no racial or ethnic group will be in the majority. Hispanics will make up 24% of the population and Asians, 14%. As the United States becomes more and more diverse, our culture will continue to change and we must learn to embrace differences.

In the recent past, the laws have remained largely the same. But, President Trump has signed several national orders restricting immigration due to national security. In 2017, the President signed Executive Order 13780 and has since updated certain restrictions. This order laid out new requirements for people traveling to the United States and restrictions on immigration. The President also prohibited travel between the United States and several specific countries because they either refuse to share needed information or identify security risks. These countries are: Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia, and Yemen. In 2017, the United States gave out 1,127,167 visas, down from the 1,183,505 visas given in 2016. Some fluctuation in numbers is expected from year to year, but based on Trump’s executive orders and foreign policy it will be interesting to evaluate further numbers as his presidency continues.

Mahmoud’s story is directly related to these issues. President Trump has expressly banned Syrians from entering the country unless they can provide an extraordinary amount of proof that they are not terrorists and have all the qualifications to apply for asylum. In 2015, 5,459 Syrian immigrants were given visas, but in 2017 only 3,010 obtained visas. Granted, national security and protection from terrorism is vitally important in light of 9/11. However, these trends do raise questions as thousands of people in Syria and its surrounding countries are being displaced and abused by the ongoing war, and are being shut out of potential countries of refuge.

Alternatively, President Trump has also dealt with immigration from the Mexican border. In September of 2017, Trump announced the end of the DACA program. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was a program that protected and gave work permits to children who had immigrated illegally. However, as these children had no choice in the legality of their immigration and had grown up in the United States, they were deemed worthy of protection. When Trump announced this change, the 700,000 DACA enrollees faced the threat of deportation. Trump gave Congress six months to pass legislations to protect DACA enrollees through the DREAM act, which would grant citizenship. However, Congress did not pass any laws. Instead, lawsuits were made against Trump and the cancellation of the DACA program was halted. As of now, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are still accepting renewals for DACA applicants, but no new applicants can apply.

In very recent days, Trump has declared a national emergency concerning the Southern border. After the thirty-five day government shutdown over the budget, Trump declared a national emergency to obtain funds for building the wall. The eight billion called for would come from various other sources, such as 3.6 billion from the money allocated to military construction. At this point, about two months later, I have not found anything relating to further changes.

Wherever you stand on this issue, clearly there is a problem with immigration through the Mexican border. As I mentioned above, the US gave out 1,127,167 visas in 2017, but there are an estimated 10,700,000 undocumented and illegal immigrants living in the US. And, of course, this number is only an estimation.

Many immigrants are able to stay in the United States because of sanctuary cities. These sanctuary cities’ local or state governments do not notify the federal government about illegal aliens living in the area, refusing to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. The sanctuary cities can create either formal or informal agreements. These agreements can also blur the distinctions between legal resident aliens and illegal aliens. This gives illegals access to taxpayer funded programs and benefits meant for legal residents. The cities justify protecting illegals for reasons like protecting immigrant rights or public safety. Concerning the faulty argument of defending public safety, Steve Salvi writes, “However, illegal aliens cannot possibly be victims of crime in the U.S. (or be witnesses to crimes) if they if are not in the U.S.  Nor can illegal aliens continue to victimize thousands of U.S. citizens each year if they are removed from the U.S. and kept out by an aggressive border and interior enforcement policy.  Logically, public safety is improved by enforcing immigration laws, including the prosecution of those individuals whom have aided and abetted illegal aliens by adopting illegal sanctuary policies.” He holds that the sanctuary cities’ arguments are faulty and immigrants/illegals and citizens would be better off with the maintenance of the rules.

However, most of these ten million undocumented aliens entered illegally because the legal process is insanely difficult. It is not just as simple as “getting in line.” The lines open for immigration are restricted to certain family ties, refugee, employment, or diversity visas. Most immigrants looking to enter the United States do not have the required family. Economic refugees, like those from Mexico and South America, do not qualify for the refugee visas. These only go to political refugees. As I mentioned in the last blog, the diversity visas only go to immigrants from countries with less than 5,000 applicants in the last five years, ruling out Mexico. Finally, the employment visas are incredibly restrictive. Only five thousand visas a year are given to unskilled workers or laborers. As you can tell, this is an insanely small number for the entire United States. And much too few for the many Hispanic immigrants attempting to find work and hope in the States.

In conclusion, current immigration law raises many questions. Despite increased diversity in the United States, we still have stigmas against certain areas and nationalities. Trump has enacted a clear restrictive foreign policy. This raises many questions of ethics and acceptance. Is protecting national security best obtained by restricting all entrance from the Middle East? Are there better ways to assist Syrians and those effected by the Syrian War? Is the wall really going to solve our problems? Even thought the wall was not Trump’s idea, both Bill Clinton and Barak Obama toyed with the idea, why has he become so set on it? Are there better ways to deal with this problem? And finally, why is our immigration policy so restrictive? These questions are too broad for me to address here, but they are questions we need to address for ourselves as they help determine our perceptions and convictions.

When we left off last time, I promised to walk through some ethical issues that effect our book, Refugee. As this is a story of three separate immigrant children and their families, I will be focusing mainly on immigration laws and their effect on the United States. I will also look into immigration through the lens of the Bible and the education of immigrant children, both inside the United States and out.

Looking back in history, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924. This law replaced the 1917 law, the first restrictive immigration bill in the United States, which originated out of fear for national security during World War 1. The 1917 law required a literacy test for all visa applicants over the age of sixteen. And, it barred all entry for anyone born in the “Asiatic Barred Zone”

However, the government found that the literacy test was not restrictive enough to prevent most immigrants from obtaining a visa. So, they settled on the restrictions in the Immigration Act of 1921, which originated country-based quotas. These quotas were set by calculating three percent of the foreign-born in each nationality currently residing in the United States as shown by the 1910 census. In other words, caps were placed on the number of applicants allowed in from each country according to the number in the United States already. But, no restrictions were placed on countries in the Western Hemisphere. In all, the number totaled to 350,000 visas available each year.

In 1924, the law was altered once again. Congress changed the calculation from three percent to only two. But, they based the new law on racial hierarchies and preferences. They made it extremely difficult from immigrants from Eastern Europe to enter the United States and allowed almost none in from Africa or Asia. They did this in two ways. First, Congress changed the calculation point for the quotas from the more current census of 1910 to the census of 1890. This eliminated a large wave of immigrants who arrived in the United States before the first World War from the calculation. Second, they changed the people counted from the foreign-born of each nationality to the whole U.S. population, adding in natural born citizens. So, the large numbers of Americans of British descent increased the availability of visas to the British Isles and Western Europe. But, it vastly decreased the visas available to Southern or Eastern Europe and Asia, especially Japan. The total number of visas decreased to 154,000 with almost 84,000 of these going to the British and Irish. The quotas for Northern and Western Europe did decrease by 29 percent, but for Southern and Eastern Europe the quotas went down by 87 percent.

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“There were quotas. There were always quotas…They guaranteed that I would not be a burden to the government, and yet I had to wait three long years before I was allowed to come to the United States.”— Charlene Schiff, a Holocaust survivor speaking about her experience immigrating to the United States (scroll down to the bottom of the page to watch a clip from an interview with her).

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This leads directly into World War 2 and experiences for people like Josef in our story. Between 1933 and 1945 more than 340,000 Jews emigrated from Germany and Austria. By 1939, over 300,000 Jewish refugees had applied for visas to enter the United States! Only around 90,000 received visas. The total number of visas available to German applicants each year was 25,957, but little of this was actually used. The United States government limited the immigrants accepted to only those who did not need to work to support themselves. They justified this through a clause that restricted immigration for those who would become public charges, interpreting it to mean all lower-class workers because of the poor economic availability in the United States already. This clause was reinterpreted in 1936 to become more lenient and immigration doubled by 1937. Roosevelt suggested opening the quotas even more in 1938, leading to the only year that the quota was filled for Germany. But by 1941, it was virtually impossible to obtain a visa. The Bloom-Van Nuys bill passed, allowing consuls to withhold any visa if the applicant might endanger public safety. Another regulation restricted any applicant that had a relative living in Axis occupied territory. As you can imagine, that restricted almost all applicants, especially escaping German or Austrian Jews.

As you remember, Josef’s story was based in 1939. This was supposedly the “easiest” time for incoming refugees in the 1930s and 40s. However, the United States still turned away the desperate refugees on the St. Louis. This illustrates just how restrictive the process was, no matter what exact year.

Unfortunately, the immigration process has not improved much since then. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which is what we follow, for the most part, today. This law was enacted in the heat of the civil rights movement during a push for equality. Western European, African, and Asian countries complained about the discrimination established against them in the United States’ immigration policy. So, the government set to work, changing the immigration policies but not expecting drastic change. President Lyndon B. Johnson even stated that the act “is not a revolutionary bill. It does not affect the lives of millions….It will not reshape the structure of our daily lives or add importantly to either our wealth or our power.” Now, we can see that he and the rest of the government at the time were quite wrong. This act shaped the demographics of modern-day America.

On the facts side, the 1965 bill abolished the racist per-nation quotas and replaced them with a category system focused primarily on family reunification. There were seven categories with a certain number of visas allotted for each category. Most of the categories covered the degrees of relatedness to a current American citizen or permanent resident. The law established no quotas for the top two categories—children under 21, spouses, or parents of American citizens/residents—allowing as many applicants in under these two categories as the consuls deemed necessary. The other categories went to highly skilled and educated workers such as doctors or other professionals, who received the majority of the visas; workers in occupations with labor shortages; and political refugees, who were given the smallest number of visas. Finally, the law did retain a per-country cap, so one country did not receive all the visas, and kept the overall number of visas given to only 170,000 (excepting the two family categories with no caps).

In 1990, this law was amended, increasing the restricted number of visas given to 700,000. It increased the labor categories from two to five, lessening the required training for individuals trying to enter the United States. It restricted the definition of family to include only immediate family, but increased the number of visas given to these categories. Also, it introduced the diversity visa. Applicants from countries that have sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants over the past five years and have a high school education or a job that requires two years of training can apply. This opens the door to immigrants of underrepresented nationalities, but it takes away from the visas given to large countries like Mexico, China, or India.

Overall, the immigration process has come a long way. Racial hierarchies have been abolished, for the most part…stay tuned for comments on that in the next blog. Families are the primary focus, with workers who would most benefit the United States economy in a close second. Many laws have elicited these changes, but is it enough?

Refugee is a unique story. As you can see from the past three posts, it contains three complete and separate biographies. The accounts are unique in time period and setting. But, they are told simultaneously, one chapter from each (Josef’s then Isabel’s then Mahmoud’s) over and over until the stories are complete. However, the three accounts are not just integrated in this way. They mirror each other in structure, share common themes, and are even integrated through their characters.

Each main character has their own individual character development issue that they must resolve and the story centers on this development. Josef looks ahead to manhood at the beginning of the story. Throughout, he learns that growing up is more than just turning a certain age. By the end of his story, he discovers the real purpose of manhood and fulfills it, sacrificing himself to protect his family. Isabel’s goal is to learn to count clave. Although this is an obscure concept for most of us, it is a formation of identity for her. She is not a true Cuban musician if she cannot count clave, but she grows into this heritage by making it her own. At the end of the story, she combines her newfound American identity with her Cuban heritage, discovering her own identity. Mahmoud struggles with the balance between the safety of remaining invisibile and the power of self-assertion. By the end, he learns that invisibility protects him from harm, but it cannot cause change or find help. He learns when to become visible, stepping out and making change happen. All three children undergo character development and each one resolves their story by acting out this development. They each make a decision and act in a way that shows their growth and the attainment of their goal.

Secondly, each main character has to take charge at some point when the adults are not there for them. At first, they exercise their independence in a faulty manner. In Josef’s story, he threatens his mentally unstable father to keep him quiet, which ends in his father attempting to commit suicide. Later, instead of just conversing with the captain civilly, he leads a group of men to take over the ship, which caused unnecessary violence. But, at the end, he chooses to sacrifice himself when the Nazis are forcing his mother to choose between her children. His decision sets his sister free. Isabel asserts her independence multiple times. She allies the two families—hers and the Castillo’s—together at the beginning so that they can all escape, acts quickly to save Mr. Castillo from drowning, and kicks the motor off the boat to stop it from sinking. All of these things end up working out, but she does them thoughtlessly. Her hasty actions bring angry responses from her parents and cause contention in the group. In the end, she learns to trust those around her by working together with the Castillo’s to swim her mother and newborn brother to shore. Later in the story, she acts maturely by thoughtfully choosing her band audition song. She finds her independence and identity by mixing the Star-Spangled Banner with a traditional Cuban melody, counting clave in the process. Mahmoud asserts his independence when the boat taking the refugees to Greece pops. He catches on to the passing lifeboat and hands his baby sister to the refugees on board, taking her from his mother’s arms. This saves Hana from the freezing water, but also breaks his mother’s heart. However, in the end, he again takes the initiative and walks out of the compound in Hungary. He leads all of the Syrian refugees across the border into Germany. Each character learns how to take charge maturely, learning through their suffering and ultimately taking ownership of a difficult decision.

A central theme to all three stories is the importance of family. Each character strives to save their family. But, each family deals with their struggles differently. Josef’s father deals with paranoia and mental insanity after being released from a concentration camp. However, this struggle is too much for him and he eventually attempts suicide, causing more grief. His mother works through her grief slowly and quietly, and Josef fights guilt. Isabel’s family argues often and they are loud and expressive. But, they are ultimately more resilient than Josef’s family. They deal with the death of Ivan, mourn the loss of Lito, and fight through Isabel’s mother’s labor and the birth of baby Mariano. Mahmoud’s brother Waleed is numb to emotion and events from the very beginning of the book, the horrors around him are too much for the young boy to bear. Once they lose Hana, Mahmoud’s mother goes numb as well. Conversely, Mahmoud’s father deals with the struggles by making jokes and trying to keep the mood light. As I have mentioned, Mahmoud himself deals with the war and chaos by hiding from it and becoming invisible, but eventually learns to outgrow this. Through the horrific difficulties these families face, they each deal with their grief and fear. Therefore, the book provides a case study of different coping strategies, but the families’ struggles ultimately grow them closer together.

Another theme is the search for home. Each characters’ native home has been ravaged by corrupt governments and is no longer safe. Each group leaves in a fairly last-minute escape. They do not have plans or much forewarning. And so, each group is looking for shelter and is forced into finding a new life. Because they are thrown into this new life, they are also on a search for identity. The chapter headings show the most concrete representation of this upheaval and searching. Each chapter signifies the location and year in which the chapter occurs, helping to differentiate between the three stories. Below this, it records how many days away from home the family is. The resolution of this search is shown in the last chapter for each character; the tally of the days is gone and the heading reads “Home”. The ultimate discovery of each family’s new home and the culmination of their daring escapes are shown in the content of the chapter as well as the chapter’s title.

Finally, the stories are actually connected through their characters. The author wove each separate story together and they affect one another. Josef and his family encounter Isabel’s Lito as a young man when the St. Louis arrives in Cuba. Lito is Officer Padron, the policeman who saved Aaron Landau and was kind to the family. When Mahmoud and his family reach Germany, Ruthie Landau, now a very old woman, and her husband take them in. Through her story to Mahmoud, Josef’s fate is revealed, and she resolves her own story. She tells how a French women took her in and protected her from the Nazis after they took Josef and her mother away. She reveals that she returned to Germany after the war and has lived there since. Her experiences led her to open her home to the Syrian refugees. Though subtle, each story interacts with one another. And the migrating characters’ acts of sacrifice have a vast impact on the other stories.

In conclusion, this book is a fascinating and well-written account of three refugee children and their families. It deals with common issues and themes for refugees, such as family, loss, and the search for identity. It is certainly hard to read at times, but it is a compelling story; I will admit that the first time I read it I stayed up until 2 o’clock in the morning to finish it and then cried bitterly at the end. But, it does deal with this weighty and difficult topic well, making it accessible to children. Although written in a style and vocabulary understandable to younger grades, I would recommend this book to upper middle school aged children and older. Finally, the book is hugely important. It helps us see the world from the perspective of the tortured and marginalized in society. It allows us to sympathize and start to understand their worlds. And, at least in me, it creates the desire to act and do something about this need in the world. I am inspired to assist in refugee camps and learn how I can help. Plus, I want to understand and I will continue to research more about how the United States is helping refugees. So, stay tuned as I begin to study the topics in this book in relation to ethics, education, and our world.

Bombings and death were a normal part of Mahmoud’s life. Mahmoud Bishara and his family live in war-torn Aleppo, Syria in 2015, four years after the Arab Spring had reached their country (the Arab Spring was a group of pro-democracy protests that occurred in several Middle Eastern countries in 2010-2011). When Syria rioted, their leader Bashar al-Assad turned against his own people and has warred against them ever since. (Al-Assad took military action against the rebel Syrians and the war continues to this day, although now in a much more confusing form. Russia, Iran, and Sunni Muslims are allied to Al-Assad and they are fighting the rebels who are backed by Turkey, the Gulf Arab States, Jordan, and partially the USA. Both sides oppose ISIL, the combination of ISIS and al-Quaeda, and the Kurds, supported predominantly by the USA, are fighting ISIL as well but support neither Al-Assad or the rebels.) In order to survive, Mahmoud learned to stay invisible. He uses this skill daily, finding a new route home from school each day to keep himself and his little brother Waleed safe. However, Waleed, unable to cope, has just turned into a robot, numb to the pain around him.

One day, the bombings and war hit home, literally. Mahmoud is doing homework, stopping briefly at prayer time, when a bomb hits their building. It demolishes an entire outside wall. Mahmoud and his family—Waleed, his mother Fatima, and baby sister Hana—escape the building just in time and it collapses behind them. Mahmoud’s father, Youssef, meets them outside in the car and tells them they are escaping the country right away. (This displacement has been decided upon or forced for 55% of Syrians since the start of the war in 2011. 5.6 million refugees have left their home and 6.6 million more have been internally displaced within Syria.) He says the family has stayed for too long and it is time to escape to Germany. The family drives away, but soon run into some rebel soldiers. The soldiers direct them to a route that avoids the battles in return for a ride. However, they end up driving straight into some enemy soldiers who attack the car. The soldiers in the Bishara’s car begin shooting back and Mahmoud’s family runs away to avoid being caught in the cross fire and killed. They continue on with only the clothes on their backs and their smartphones, without a car or supplies.

After walking for days, the family finally crosses the border into Turkey, in step with hundreds of other fleeing refugees (3.5 million and counting refugees now live in Turkey). The family takes a bus to reach a port city, but the promised boat that will transport them to Greece is not there. They endure false alarms like this for a week straight, returning dejectedly each time to an abandoned mall that offers shelter. After the week, they return to the mall but two men threaten them and demand an exorbitant amount of money in order to stay. The family leaves, again wandering around to find shelter. Desperate, Mahmoud jumps out in front of a car to get the driver’s attention, choosing to become visible in order to make something happen. The old man in the car slows and takes pity on them, offering them a place to stay. Just then, Mahmoud’s father receives a text about a boat arriving. The family decides to trust it once again and the old man drives them to the dock. Finally, the boat is actually there!

But, the difficulties persist as the “boat” is just a rubber dingy. Left with no other choice, the family embarks and rides through the pouring rain headed for Greece. Unfortunately, the boat runs aground onto rocks and pops, dumping all the passengers in the freezing water. They try to float, but their life vests are useless. Mahmoud and his parents soon become exhausted, trying desperately to hold the two young children above the water. As another life boat passes by, Mahmoud and his mother grab ahold. The people on board try to push them off, afraid they will capsize the fragile boat. However, Mahmoud pulls Hana out of his mother’s arms and someone takes her on board, saving her from drowning and the freezing water (many such travelers are unable to save themselves or their children. A recent tally has placed the reported death toll for this journey across the Mediterranean at above 15,000 since only 2014, and the actual number is likely much higher). As Mahmoud and his mother let go, Fatima realizes that she has given her baby away and becomes inconsolable. As another boat passes by and doesn’t acknowledge them, Mahmoud begins to realize that being invisible is not always the best solution, as no one can help him.

Finally, the Greek Coast Guard finds Mahmoud and his mother. Once they board, they find his father and brother as well. Soon after landing in Greece, Mahmoud’s father gets them onto a ferry that will take them to Athens. At prayer time, Mahmoud, his family, and many of the other refugees stop to pray, disturbing the tourists that are traveling with them. Mahmoud puts together that he and the other refugees are invisible only until they do something the natives don’t want them to do, and he continues to question the value of staying invisible.

The family hikes across the border to Macedonia. Then, they sneak into Serbia in a taxi, as they don’t have official papers. Each time they stop, Mahmoud’s mother searches frantically among the other refugees, looking for baby Hana. The family takes another taxi to try to reach Hungary. But, the driver stops the car and points a gun at them, demanding almost all of the rest of their money. Mahmoud’s father gives the man what he asked for and hurries the family away. They walk to a bus stop and reach the Hungarian border. But when they arrive, they find the Hungarian soldiers building a fence to keep them out. Angry and desperate, hundreds of refugees begin to riot and try to push through the fence. The soldiers throw tear gas and take the refugees into custody, loading the subdued refugees up in trucks and driving them to a detention facility almost all the way to Austria.

However, Mahmoud decides to stand up for himself and his family. The refugees are transferred from prison cells to a detention camp, reuniting Mahmoud’s family. But, Mahmoud’s father has stopped joking, numb and broken from the beating he had recieved after standing up to a soldier. Mahmoud realizes it is up to him to do something. He decides that it is better to be visible because even though bad people can hurt you, good people can finally help you. When he sees a few United Nations representatives passing by the compound, he shouts and gets their attention. The guards stand down, unable to stop Mahmoud without causing a fight. Mahmoud grabs Waleed’s hand and begins walking out of the compound. All of the refugees follow and Mahmoud’s parents catch up as well. The guards and officials threaten the refugees, but no one listens. They all continue to walk for twelve hours, all the way to Austria and freedom.

When the refugees reach Austria, people greet them with cheers and throw them food, water, and supplies. A social worker approaches Mahmoud’s family and asks if they are seeking asylum in Germany (Germany accepted 124,845 Syrian refugees in 2017 and the EU as a whole accepted 538,000 total refugees). Overjoyed, Mahmoud’s father agrees and the man makes arrangements for them. They are taken to the home of an elderly German couple who agree to take them in until they get settled. The couple is very kind, welcoming them and sharing their own stories. Mahmoud realizes he is finally home.

Mahmoud’s story gives a horrifying glimpse of the lives of 22 million people right now. Syria is still engaged in this brutal and confusing war and the civilians are affected irreparably. Mahmoud himself deals with the contrast between being visible but liable to get hurt and invisible but unable to receive assistance. On top of this, he deals with coping, loss, and hardship. But, eventually he and his family find a new home and get a chance at a new start.

Home had become poisonous and unlivable for Isabel Fernandez and her family. They live in Castro’s Cuba in 1994, but the economy had crashed after the Soviet Union crumbled (the Soviet Union supported communist Cuba and bought the sugar they grew at well above market value, but the Soviet Union’s crash devastated Cuba). Now, there is not enough food to survive. Isabel’s family wants to go to “el norte”, America, but under Castro, this is illegal. Isabel’s father, Geraldo, ignored this and tried to escape twice, landing himself in jail after the second time. However, Isabel’s friend Ivan and his father Rudi Castillo build a boat despite the risk.

One day, while Isabel is playing trumpet in the Havana square and trying desperately to hear the clave (the rhythm inside Cuban music which is understood to be the key to the music), a riot begins over the food shortage. To her dismay, her father joins in, throwing a bottle at a line of policemen. He is caught and beaten. The policeman threatens that he will track Geraldo down and throw him in jail. Terrified, Isabel and her grandfather Lito witness this and realize they have to get her father out of the country immediately. Unfortunately, they do not have any options to do this since the USA is no longer accepting refugees, deporting those caught trying to enter. The only way to earn amnesty is to make it to land before being caught (this became known as the wet feet, dry feet policy and was only recently ended in 2017).

However, prospects improve and the Fernandez family is given the chance to escape. That night, Castro announces that anyone who wants to leave Cuba may do so legally (Castro does this to try to lessen the bad press from other countries who had heard about the riot. Also, Castro blamed US interference for starting the riot and the announcement was a strategic play to dissuade further interference as a large surge of refugees would cause problems for the US). But, this announcement sets off a huge argument between Isabel’s father and Lito when her father decides to leave immediately, alone. Lito accuses him of immaturity and foolishness for abandoning his family and Isabel’s extremely pregnant mother. Isabel takes matters into her own hands and suggests that the whole family leave together. She runs to the Castillo’s house and gets them to agree to take her family in their boat. She sells her prized trumpet to buy gas for the boat, so the Castillos will agree to take them all and she can keep her family together. She and her family help finish the boat and the two families sneak out to the water, terrified that Castro will change his mind. But, when they reach the coast, they find hundreds of other people there as well. They are able to escape safely, nine people–The Fernandez’s: Isabel, her father Geraldo, mother Teresa, and Lito, and the Castillo’s: Rudi, mother Juaneta, brother Luis and his girlfriend Amara, and Ivan—all crammed into the small boat.

Hopeful for the chance at a new life, the two families talk about their dreams for America. But soon, the motor on the little boat stops working. While the men try to fix it, Lito talks with Isabel about his life as a policeman when he was a young man. Embittered by the memories, he insults her father, calling him foolish and a trouble maker, and mourns that Isabel will never learn to count clave now that the family is leaving Cuba behind. He believes that her identity has been compromised. Isabel is hurt, but the situation soon worsens. A huge tanker almost runs them over, but Luis—Ivan’s older brother—gets the motor to start just in time. Caught in the big waves, the boat is swamped and Ivan’s father is dragged overboard. Isabel jumps to the rescue and dives in after him, saving him from the overpowering waves. Everyone is safe, but the motor on the little boat is broken again and now the boat is filled with water. As she helps her family bail out the standing water, Isabel imagines their journey as a song, full of hope and fear.

Disappointment and hopelessness persist, however. They finally get the motor started the next morning and soon reach land, but the boat had drifted far off course during the night and the families find that they reached the Bahamas, not Florida. Unable to land or face deportation (the Bahamas had “detention” centers where the refugees would be held for a period of time, but they would not allow the refugees to stay), the two families continue on with only some food thrown to them by the tourists and some aspirin for Isabel’s feverish mother. The arguing begins again when the boat starts cracking. The adults decide that dragging one or two people behind the boat might help relieve the strain. Isabel and Ivan jump in, relieved to be out of the hot sun. But, out of nowhere, everything falls apart. Isabel’s mother goes into labor and simultaneously a shark bumps the boat. Before the adults can pull Isabel and Ivan to safety, the shark attacks and bites off Ivan’s legs. The adults haul the children into the boat and attempt to stop Ivan’s bleeding, using a belt as a tourniquet, but it is too late. Ivan quickly loses too much blood and dies on the bottom of the boat. The families are in shock, and are forced to leave Ivan’s body in the sea. Overwhelmed by the continued trauma and loss, the families begin to lose hope.

As they finish their miserable funeral, the families turn back to the horizon. Shocked, they finally see the lights of Miami. The boat cracks again, splitting almost all the way through. They all begin to paddle and Isabel and Amara—Luis’ girlfriend—kick the heavy engine off the back of the boat. As they finally begin to make progress, they hear the siren of the US Coast Guard. Fortunately, the Coast Guard spots another refugee boat first, giving the two families a small head start. As the Coast Guard picks up the other boat, Isabel’s mother’s labor progresses and her cries alert the Coast Guard of their presence. As the Guard approaches, about to take them into custody, Lito takes charge. He realizes that he has spent his whole life waiting for change to come without doing anything to make it happen. Sacrificing his freedom, he jumps in the water and pretends to drown, forcing the Coast Guard to go to him first. The others row frantically, using the few minutes that Lito’s sacrifice has given them. Just as Isabel’s mother gives birth, the others begin to swim, dragging the boat behind them. Isabel holds her baby brother and carries him safely into America.

Over the next few weeks, the two families begin to settle into their new lives. They are forced to deal with their losses, mourning for Ivan and Lito. And, they begin to form their new identities as Americans. Lito’s brother Guillermo takes the families in and helps them get started. Each of the adults finds a job and begin pursuing a goal. Isabel’s mother begins a daycare and her father becomes a taxi driver. Senora Castillo plans on going back to school to become an American lawyer and Amara wants to be a policewoman as soon as she gets her citizenship. Amara and Luis plan to be married in the winter. Isabel also settles in, doing well in her new school. For her band audition on her new trumpet, she decides to play the Star-Spangled Banner. But she adds a twist by playing it with a Cuban melody. For the first time, she counts clave and Isabel knows she’s finally home.

Isabel’s story is a search for identity. At the end, she finds herself in both cultures, embracing her Cuban heritage and her American prospects. She experiences loss and tragedy, but she never gives up on her family or on hope.

The first story I want to introduce is Josef Landau’s. He is a young German Jew and his story begins in 1939.

Their home had turned against them. Josef Landau and his family are no longer wanted. On Kristallnacht, Nazi gestapo raid the family’s home and the Landau’s experience the full force of the Nazi’s hatred for Jews. The gestapo arrest Aaron, Josef’s father, on false charges and take him to a concentration camp. Josef pleads with the Nazis to let his father go, revealing proudly that he is almost a man. The Nazis mock him and threaten to come back for him soon, once he becomes a man, in order to get rid of more “Jewish scum”. Though in danger, Josef’s mother refuses to escape the country with the children and leave their father behind; their family was all they had left.

Six months after the raid, the family’s chance to escape finally arrives. Josef’s mother, Rachel, receives a telegram from her husband revealing that he had been released from Dachau (a concentration camp that operated from 1933-1945, acted as the model for all other German concentration camps, and held about 200,000 prisoners over the years) on the condition that he leave the country immediately. She hurries to buy visas and tickets on a ship bound for Cuba. As soon as they receive these papers, Josef, his mother, and little sister Ruthie travel to meet Aaron by train. They wear yellow Stars of David, prominently marking them as Jewish, and their fellow travelers constantly mistreat them. As the journey and injustices continue,  the Nazi’s hatred of them and all Jews immerse the family and remind them of the urgency of their escape.

When they finally reach the docks, Josef finds his father and begins to hope. But, Aaron is barely recognizable: gaunt, dirty, and—as they quickly learn—not mentally stable. After hurriedly greeting his family, Aaron skips the line and runs onto the ship, the S.S. St. Louis (a real ship, whose tragic story has been made into movies, books, and even an opera. The failure of the Western countries to accept the 900 Jewish passengers on the St. Louis is arguably one of the reasons the Germans chose to enact the “final solution”, the formation of death camps and mass murder chambers). Josef and his family follow, afraid they will be turned away. But, the concerned crew treats them like real people and helps them with their luggage. Josef’s hope is renewed, excited to escape the hatred and fear that constantly surrounded him in Germany. He dreams of a new life in Cuba for him and his family.

Once on the St. Louis, Josef finds that his hopes are shared with all the other passengers, who are also Jews seeking refuge in Cuba. He and Ruth meet two young girls and they all play pranks on the other passengers, laughing for the first time in years. On Saturday, the ship holds a bar-mitzvah for Josef to celebrate his thirteenth birthday. He had awaited this day for months and he completes his bar-mitzvah without a hitch, officially becoming a man. However, this fulfilled dream is soured because his father is too paranoid to leave the room and share the day with his son. Later, when the girls ask him to play more jokes, Josef refuses. In order to truly be a man, he knows he must act responsibly. But, after being harassed by a Nazi crewman, Schiendick, Josef realizes that everything has not changed; he is still hated and his hopes for a new, changed life begin to crumble.

These expectations are soon crushed completely and his family—the one source of strength he had left—begins to disintegrate as well. Upon reaching Cuba, a medical examiner forces the passengers to line up for examination. Reminded of the horrors he experienced in Dachau, Josef’s father begins to lose control. Josef watches his family slowly crumble as his mother gives up, sobbing before his shaking shell of a father. Just before the medical examiner reaches them, Josef takes control. He slaps his father and scares him into submission, saying that if Aaron can’t control himself the Nazis will catch him and send him back to the camps. The threat works and the examiner passes by without suspecting anything. But, when he still will not allow the passengers into Cuba, Josef realizes that he has made everything worse. Fear now fully engrosses his father and Josef’s hope of finding refuge in Cuba grows slimmer and slimmer.

Josef’s fear threatens to overtake him as the situation worsens and drastic events occur one after the other. Schiendick, the Nazi crewman, ransacks the Landau’s cabin, beating Josef’s father in the process. The attack renders his father completely broken, shattering his last bit of sanity. Josef feels to blame because of how he threatened his father during the examination, but now there is nothing he can do. Josef’s mother runs to the doctor to get a sleeping draught to try to calm Aaron down, but, as she claims it is for herself, the doctor makes her take it immediately. She collapses once she reaches to the cabin and Josef is left alone as the only adult. He leaves the room to find Ruthie, but when they return their father is gone. Josef runs to the deck just in time to see his father jump overboard, attempting suicide. A policeman, Officer Padron, jumps after him, swimming him to safety. A few days later, Josef learns that his father is in the hospital sedated but alive (Josef’s father’s story is based on a real man named Max Leowe who sailed on the St. Louis). But then the news worsens, Cuba refuses to allow the refugees in the country (what the refugees did not know was that Cuba’s president had changed its immigration policy and retroactively canceled their visas). The country forces the ship to leave the harbor. Josef’s father is not well enough to reboard and they have to leave him behind, breaking Rachel’s heart. Josef’s desire to grow up is fulfilled as he becomes the man of the family.

Driven from his only hope of home and forced to abandon part of his family, Josef gives in to panic. When a man asks him to lead a group of angry men to the bridge of the ship, Josef agrees. The group storms the bridge and takes control of the ship. The captain is furious over their violence, but he understands their fear. He promises that he will not allow them to be taken back to Germany and thrown in concentration camps. When the St. Louis finally reaches Europe, four countries agree to split the refugees.

Finally given a chance for a new life, Josef and his broken family settle down in France. But within eight months, Germany invades France and they are on the run again (in total, about a quarter of the passengers on the St. Louis ended up being killed by the Nazis). While trying to flee to Switzerland, Josef’s family is caught by German storm troopers. Josef’s mother attempts to buy their freedom by giving the Nazis jewels and money. Taunting her, they tell her that her bribe will only buy one child’s freedom. They force her to choose one child to be free and commit the other to death in a concentration camp. Unable to choose, Rachel breaks down in tears. Josef steps up and chooses for her. He consigns himself to the concentration camp, where both he and his mother ultimately die. But, he sacrifices himself so that Ruthie can live and have a full life. He takes responsibility for his sister and becomes a man.

Though fiction, Josef’s story is profoundly real. He represents the six million Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust. And his family mirrors the 937 passengers that attempted to escape on the real St. Louis. Also, Josef stands as a small representation of the huge challenge many child refugees face as they brave the horrors of their world—the obligation to grow up much too soon.

“My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others.”- C. S. Lewis

Hello everyone!

I’m so excited to begin this journey with all of you. My name is Cole and I am a college student, studying to be an elementary teacher. To me, being a teacher means being a learner first. I love research and investigating new things. In order to be the best instructor I can be, I am always learning about new issues and concepts so that I can engage my students. I want to inspire the children I teach and guide them to love learning as much as I do.

I started this blog to record my research on a new topic. While I am writing this for course credit, I chose this topic because it matters. To me and to the world. And increasingly more so, to children. The topic? Immigration. While it is something both controversial and confusing, it is something I want to learn more about. And, it is something that greatly affects our nation and our students, even down to elementary school. Also, it affects both the students immigrating here and the American children learning to accept them.

To pursue this project, I will be reading Refugee by Alan Gratz. This book gives an account of three young refugees. The children each have their own setting and regime that they are fleeing. Josef lives in Nazi Germany in 1939. Isabel lives in Castro’s Cuba in 1994. And Mahmoud lives in rioting Syria in 2015. Each post is a summary of one of these children’s stories. Integrated within the summaries, I have placed hyperlinks to informational articles about the historical context in which the stories take place. This book will allow me to investigate immigration through the years and develop a perspective that will be applicable for today. 

I’m excited for you to join me on this journey. I hope you will learn as much as I will! Mostly, I hope you will be inspired to find a new perspective on this difficult topic and take a look through someone else’s eyes.