Donald Trump racist initiative to abolish the famous “Green card lottery, is definitely good while at the same time a bad move. A good move, as it will help reduce brain drain from developing and underdeveloped countries and further bring to an end the voluntary modern day slavery that was brought back through the back door.
It is a bad move to only those living in poor countries with no alternatives and have to sustain their families by taking any available job anywhere in the world as modern slaves so long as they get paid.
Many may condemn him not knowing that he could as well be heeding “Gods message” to end “human trafficking” and “brain drain” from underdeveloped and developing countries that the lottery would target.
The move may make African countries to wake up and develop their continent instead of giving away their experts and cheap human unskilled labor to develop America where some end up being killed, abused, taken to jail or later deported.
When the lottery was introduced, many families left their countries for America in style while using modern aircraft unlike the legendary “Kunta Kinte” of the famous Alex Haley film documentary “roots” who was captured and bundled into an unsafe boat, and later to be sold as a slave.
They became victims of a Diversity Visa lottery that can be equated to a two edged sword for it has brought misery to many, while at the same time, it elevated some that had no other alternatives back in their country.
Greencard all the same, is not a Cinderella kind of “they lived happily thereafter” story, as it has brought misery to some, and still happiness to others. Misery when one recalls the many marriages that have broken down as a result of couples being exposed to sudden culture shock when the father figurehead role is reversed.
Misery and disturbing, when one recalls terrorist acts by naturalized immigrants, prostitution, drugs abuse, suicide and depression to those weak ones that get excited while exposed to a new environment, then relax and later despair too soon when life becomes unbearable.
Many deaths and suicide due to pressure of work, infidelity and quarrels mostly brought about due to money related issues.
Happiness to those that were at the lowest in Africa and elsewhere, but after arriving in America, they could eventually afford to own a home, raise a family and afford to drive a car which in most cases is something they could not have achieved in their lifetime.
All the same, children raised up in America, some without guidance due to limited time spent as a result of working many odd jobs, are entirely left on their own and many get lost while trying to assimilate and adjust themselves to strange cultures.
Family values compromised as religion is not taught in school and the clergymen, may not fully achieve that during the mostly two hour sermon at a segregated Sunday morning service.
Strange cultures, because in the first place, the system is racist and abusive, going to the extent of defining skilled and non skilled immigrant workers as “Aliens” …. a true or closer oxford English dictionary definition is a “creature from outer space”.
A white man arriving in Africa for example, is termed as “an expatriate” “a tourists”, or “a visitor” and hence it beats logic and common sense as to why educated and known cultured people from a continent not so far away, are regarded as “Aliens”.
Many people come to America not knowing exactly what to expect and get immediate shock after realizing that the degree or education one acquired in Africa, has to be evaluated or even rejected.
In most cases, degrees especially from Africa, end up falling short of the required minimum hours set by American education standards and after they reject it, you are at the lowest of the totem pole as you have to repeat the degree.
Degrees like Engineering, Architecture, Medicine, Commerce and Law will not outright make one to qualify to sit for board examinations in America, as they fall short of minimum education hours required.
The lottery should have clearly defined ones expectation and more so, lay guidelines that would aim at assisting the winners on how to settle down.
If it clearly stipulated the expectations, majority that relied on those before them and who in most cases, would hide the truth, could not have dared resign their well paying jobs or good business enterprises in Africa and elsewhere, to immigrate.
It should be done the same way they do to expatriates programs but this time, in a more elaborate manner, by giving immigrants temporary free houses, assist them through a program to get jobs or even give them some allowances to sustain them during the first few months.
Relatives should not be given the responsibility to assist people that will eventually be of benefit to the Government as in most cases, they finally part as foes.
The accrediting body for instance, should have offices located in countries where the lottery takes place so that, people can have enough time to evaluate their education. They could also have established an online program to do the same, so that people can prepare adequately before immigrating.
I will also echo Trumps definition of the program as worse of the worst as immigrants are selected by a computer without any basis or classification and thereafter, “ you are on your own” in a strange land. The same can not effectively filter bad people that can come to america with other ulterior motives.
Many Kenyans and others in Africa at large, dream of going to America, but they have little or no expectation on how life is in America. They simply do it after admiring returnees wearing designer T-shirts not knowing that it’s just for show only but little else.
The immigration policy is not for a special class of people but rather a program to boost the unskilled labor market and you only realize after arriving for there are not many skilled job waiting for you.
The American Government, used immigration laws that were similar to those back in the days of slavery (aiming at getting unskilled workers) but this time, made it official without spending a cent on the worker they need most unlike the old days, when they would pay the slave traders.
This time around, the immigrant worker will arrive in America not exactly like a slave, but in deeper sense something similar, as many will finally end up working under bureaus, lumpers and brokers who in reality and by precise definition, are modern day “slave masters”.
“America with time, will open your eyes to start seeing the grave realities of the great nation you thought or imagined it was. Its simply a life of struggle as a beginner.
You will with time start observing, inglorious ignorance of racial stalemate stigma in a static society enhancing ideologies of a hateful, hypocritical or sanctimonious approach towards solving the monstrous racism.
Racism that began with the opening sentence of the famous speech towards a perfect union “We the People” which meant the white people considering that black people then, were regarded as only three fifth of a man, hence the same, could not have fitted into their hidden meaning in those words. The same has not been erased in the minds of some till this day, and they still consider a black man as being different from a white man.
As a foreigner, you are therefore no different from those that are discriminated and described above and in essence not something to envy as its a continuation of struggle from wherever you originated from. There are no special privileges and in the course of your stay, you will encounter good and bad cops and still good and bad people. A life of being tense and careful all the time not to be on the wrong side of the law because the outcome could be disastrous and not anywhere near to what you were used to.
I will, with those few remarks therefore support Trump and add that, Green card lottery is high level modern slave trade movement brought back through the back door to unsuspecting immigrants, referred to as Aliens and the same should be refined and if not, discontinued.
It was a purely 21st century voluntary modern day slavery movement that was done hurriedly, to cope with the ever expanding huge American Economy.
It has however achieved it’s purpose as intended and today they now have more unskilled labor than they needed, and due to the declining economy mostly accelerated by Covid-19 pandemic, it’s the right time to end the same.
Green card was a good hidden slave labor movement but this time, no one would force you to do manual labor but after arriving in America and failing to get a “suitable job”, (mentioned in the invitation letter), you are led by circumstances to do any job available in order to sustain your family.
If you are a foreigner of over 30 years and successful wherever you are and have been hearing of the “American dream” through lottery, don’t even think you missed anything for it could as well turn out to be the “American nightmare.”
In any case it’s a dream as they put it but not a reality and you won’t blame anybody in the long run since dreams never come true in the first place.
Qualified foreign Doctors, registered Engineers, Lawyers, or registered Architects, that immigrated not knowing what to expect, easily found themselves doing meager degrading jobs just for survival sake. It’s not an exaggeration as that is what many went through but Africans, are somehow enterprising for they later adjust, and do amazing things that paid off their much selfless determination. Yes while the majority have failed, a few through perseverance have been able to shape their future and done great achievement in America and in Africa. All the same not much different if they had stayed back in Africa and in some instances, their counterparts are way much ahead.
If you ended doing a truck driving career which is the most available in America, the experiences in bad weathers and always away from families most of the times, can lead to unforgettable, hateful and painful memories that cannot be shared to others.
Many will justify their situations by saying money is money, but is it a good life if one left a banking career, a prestigious teaching career or any other well paying job in Africa, and eventually ended up as a casual worker, or a house keeper in a foreign country?
The answer is NO and therefore, if the lottery had defined the expectations, then many would have made up their mind while submitting.
Bankers, University Professors, and Accountants, from other countries suddenly changing careers after arriving in America to be nurses, baby sitters, dishwashers, not on their own will, but rather led by circumstances to sustain their family, is not a sweet “Disney world” tale to narrate.
Many came to America with “boss mentality” and after facing the reality, they were eventually left with no simple dignity, no personality, no foolproof in life, and no nothing . Some regretted why they thought about it in the first place and the experience left them with haunting, daunting memories and at times started envying a life of herding goats and cows in Africa.
A life of working day in, day out, without allowing oneself enough time for pleasure except for a few hours on Sunday is not exciting.
The experience will eventually leave you confused to an extent of imagining that you could easily swim across the Atlantic and arrive in Africa within no time as the end result, is a zero sum game and only paying endless bills while counting loses.
The majority of educated immigrants are unable to overcome the odds and eventually return to Africa or elsewhere, being too scared to write or imagine their own destiny due to their tragic immediate past. The unlucky ones are returned in coffins and with nothing of monetary value to leave to their family.
Many realize too late that they wasted their precious glorious years that time cannot compensate and those with weak souls, do unimaginable things that tragically end in death.
Others are consumed by memories of their good past, which eventually take control of their life, and enslave their mind even further, thus minimizing chances of ever advancing in life and in short, suffering from ADS “advancement deficiency syndrome” disease.
After getting that incurable disease, they may never be able to embrace the present and future wholeheartedly without becoming victims of their past.
Their conversation whenever they meet after failing in life will always be the same such as “do you know when I was in Africa I was a senior Doctor or Engineer’’?
Or “Do you know I had a lot of money when I was in Africa? Eventually “The do you know generation is born”, a generation that can in essence really retard development.
That in itself’ is an insinuation of regret and total defeat and a person is forever tied by bondage of irreversible class change or better still, ill placed classification and eventually, a total strange character slowly evolves with time.
Characters that long forgot that happiness cannot be achieved by looking back into ones past and with time, will despair completely with no hope of ever catching up with the fast transient world.
The grave adversities, and atrocious deeds, experienced in America, are too much to reveal, and finally many recede in silence, thus making others to join the same tricky mystery path in hope of finding an everlasting joy which those before them, never found.
The few, who think that they have found it, are tied up with strings like puppets or Muppets by players called financial institution, who swing them like a pendulum object any way they want till death. They will own homes, clubs, and other businesses but the same, could be taken from them at a blink of the eye due to some small compliance mistake as the masters, only deal with the good ones just like back in the dark days of slavery.
They will later despair and pass on their much accumulated timber house together with other job related debts to their poor children.
Yet those who make it without debts, are eventually hooked by the system but the gains if any, are not something worthwhile compared to their counterparts back in Africa.
Blind optimism has taken control of many that are struggling to make the American dream a reality and success not near in sight.
Yes we are always relying on our positive outlook and ignoring and shutting out the negatives and by so doing, we fabricate and dwell on the good things only, while shunning criticism, truths and reality …a dangerous falsehood trend that can eat us alive.
The experiences to some is too agonizing and the same, leaves many completely helpless, while unable to face the future in America due to its unpredictable nature and eventually returns home.
Those are not lucky either…. for the returnee will face the ridicule covetous relatives that watch with aversion, their once glorified hero who by then becomes a dependent, then eventually a bother as he waste away.
The victims may never know the monster or the vampire that consumed their business initiatives and eventually forced them to return to mother Africa, (alive if lucky) ….broke and completely desperate and having lost reality.
It would be extremely hard to adjust to the prevailing social change occurring then and many will be out of touch with reality and give up in life only waiting for handouts if lucky.
They will finally be isolated and then calamity will befell them after trying to find happiness in bars, only to end up as victims of an addiction that will lead them to an early death.
A life that simply lost the sense of meaningful existence or in other words, wasted by a simple invitation letter, or by marrying a deranged or handicapped US citizen just for the sake of the magic working “green card”.
A real traumatizing experience, but all the same, immutable and one lives with shame and frustration only recounting loses and time wasted. …Time which, could have being avoided if one looked ahead of time and refused to be a victim of the “green card movement”.
Talking, and talking, ponder and ask yourself while taking Kenya as an example. Since Mboya airlift more than 60 years ago, can we as Kenyans really write a real success story of Kenyans that came to America and have achieved great things free of debts? here am not talking of owning mortgage houses but something more substantial. Not owning hotels or clubs that run for a while and then closed down. Not owning a fleet of trucks that run for a while and closed down. Not tax business that have landed many in jail while others on the run. Not owning nursing homes that land many in jail but a real success story of owning properties using hard earned dollars not stolen ones from foreign lands, but from line of work. The same would be like tracing Solomon palace OR Nebuchadnezzar palace for there are very few that have made it and the rest are in a puzzle of just paying bills but little else.
Many will ask why have we not copied the Jews example of living as a community for that is where we all go wrong. We simply have no unity to achieve great things as we all choose to suffer and advance individually forgetting that unity, is what opens those doors to great real successes and without it, we shall have nothing to write about back home.
Are you among the many that would sum it as a personal choice to struggle while being far away from home?
Are you among the many that will curse and blast the writer, just because they have a few properties they can boast of and are blind to imagine the end zero sum game that can result due to a slight mistake?
Are you among the many that are in style with the lifestyle mentioned above but too proud to remain maintaining the status quo?
Are you among the many that see America as their destination in life though not completely comfortable, and have nothing to show possession of except a car, and a 30 year mortgage house?
Are you among the many that live an efficient life of a 911 call, but the same can also lead to misery if it’s reversed to you?
Are you among the many that are tense all the time after being stopped by a white cop that could find a simple mistake and press their knees to your neck leading to an early death?
Are you among the baby sitters being paid meager wages and accepting to be underpaid out of fear of the master reporting you to authorities, after the expiration of the green card?
Are you working in a shameful stripping job that you go only at night expecting no one in your family will find out?
Are you in that blind indescribable optimism puzzle enjoying the good and ignoring the darker side of life?
And elsewhere, are you one of those that are always desperately trying to come to America not knowing what to expect?
May be one should not shed tears after hearing that the green card lottery is slowly being faced out for you can use those tears later on in your life to cry for something more deserving.
Greencard lottery in my opinion was simply for those without alternatives and for the “where eagles dare” adventurers that want to start from scratch ready for any eventualities good or bad.
I may be ambiguous or confuse you even further when I state that coming to America was an advantage to the young ones that came and adapted fast to the culture and studied without much stress as education is free. Those who never experienced any other kind of life and only know America as home and have no attachment to where they originated from.
I hope now you are in the picture to see that it was a two edged sword for many that were not doing well in Kenya, saw it as an avenue to something else, for they are now comfortable to provide for their families.
I am hereby all the same not writing my success story or for others in America, as ones status can suddenly change like unexpected lightning on a dry day to even those that think they finally landed to and into the “promised land”.
I am also not hereby writing about my failures either, for am not sure if I made a good or bad choice as I am just like the many in the suspense luck puzzle that can be broken any time due to a slight mistake.
If others elsewhere in this vast continent are writing their success stories, always remember that you have two worlds and invest more where no landlord or Government agent will knock at your door.
To those that had a better life back home, and the light at the other end of the tunnel seems too far, make a daring decision for direct flights are already here.
Let us all say that everything has it’s time and those still back in Africa and elsewhere will still somehow survive. If Trump finally declare, it’s time for Greencard to cease to exist and if the same will help him make America great again, so be it.
Therefore, we should not question or petition against his move when it’s finally revealed for the same, as earlier said could be God’s message.
It can somehow sound confusing and hence may what you read don’t go beyond your conscience.
In conclusion do not shed tears if you did not win the lottery, for there are many that immigrated while full of smiles and later ended up in grief. Therefore wherever you are, make the best out of a bad situation, as heaven is not a place on earth and America is not the promised land either. They are not even the custodian of democracy as many assume.
Just like Plato, would say write or comment if you have something to say or comment ….but not just to comment or to say something. Its just an honest opinion from many cases good, or bad, I have witnessed while in America.
All the same, we fail because we do not try!
Arch Dr. Isaac Kinungi
Global President
Diaspora National Assembly For 254
