Prime Time 8. Coursebook plus Semester Self-checks, Schulbuch

4 United States: An immigrant’s long journey Before you read Make a list of the aspects which a person who is moving to another country has to consider. Put what comes to your mind under the following six headings. • • travel documents • • legal requirements • • money transfer • • health • • children • • personal belongings Reading and listening: Interview – Part 1 Work in pairs. Before listening to the first part of the interview, read the text passages and write appropriate questions into the spaces provided. Perform the dialogue together. Then listen to the interview and check. Armando Perez entered the US with his family when he was very young. Here he tells the story of how he worked his way up and started a family of his own. 1. It wasn’t me … it was my mom’s decision. I was still young. My mom wanted more opportunities for a more successful life for her kids – all seven of us plus some of her nieces and nephews who counted more on her for support than on their own mother. 2. I was only 13 when I arrived in the US, but I did work in the fields with my mom during the summer and after school. I worked in the raspberry fields where my mom worked. She earned about $2 per can (about the size of a large coffee can) of firm raspberries and $1 per can of softer raspberries, used for jams and juices. On good days, we would pick about 40 cans full of raspberries per day, three people (my mom, sister and I) working for 14 hours on my mom’s ticket. Each worker has a ticket that keeps track of how many cans they’ve collected. That’s basically what they use to calculate your pay check for the week. The raspberry season is only about half the year and the good days are only about half of that time. Needless to say, the pay was minimal and sporadic. There was no future planning with agricultural jobs. The only non-agricultural job I was able to get without papers was at a fast food restaurant that paid me $4.50 per hour. 3. Actually, all of my brothers and sisters now have their papers, thanks to the people they married. My route was faster because I married a US citizen, whereas they all married permanent residents. I was able to earn my permanent residency within one year of getting married, whereas they have had to wait at least five years for their green card. The only way I know of people getting their green cards is through marriage. What I’ve noticed about people who come to this country is that the relationship with their families is easily broken. It wasn’t that way back home. In Mexico, there’s more respect passed on to children. Children are looked after by all the 1 2 3 1.6 Fact file Green card (officially Permanent Resident Card ) is an ID document handed out by the “Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services” that gives the holder the right to search employment and take up residence in the US. F 5 10 15 20 25 48 Migration Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv