NIGERIANS now believe that the Nigerian Dream is to travel overseas. People are emigrating to Europe, Asia, the Americas, and even Australia just to start a "new life". A few African countries such as South Africa are also a migration destination for Nigerians, but the 'developed' countries in Europe and North America remain the most attractive places to relocate for Third World migrants.
While many are accepted as immigrants based on their skills as workers, teachers, or leaders, others don't have the skills these countries are looking for. Some people are even skilled, but do not have the financial capability to travel from one country to another. These persons then resort to different forms of illegal migration.
The infamous Sahara pass involved desperate Africans trying to cross the large Sahara Desert to get to a city that links them to a European country. Many die of chronic dehydration and exhaustion before they can finish the daunting exercise. Recently, there has also been an increase in the number of people trying to gain entry into European cities through the Mediterranean Sea.
Forcing their way into another country through unimaginable risks, these new immigrants without documentation are then forced to live a life of perpetual fear. Fear of being caught by the law. The challenges of living in a foreign country without papers can even pose a moral question in many instances. One of such is Jibril's unfortunate case.
Jibril was an immigrant in Valencia, Spain. He picked up an envelope containing €4,250 (over 2 million naira) on one of the streets in Valencia a few days ago.
Jibril then chose to do the right thing and decided to take the envelope containing the money to the police. The police officers and everyone who knew of this gesture were surprised.
The police officer in charge then asked Jibril, who was actually an illegal immigrant, to make a statement and it's at that moment that they asked him to present his Identification Card or personal information.
The police officer then discovered that Jibril did not have a residence card to prove that he was legally living in Spain. He was immediately detained.
Sadly, Jibril was last week deported back to his home country in Africa and banned from gaining entry to Spain for many years.
In 2017, it was reported that the United States had no less than 11 million undocumented immigrants. Many of these immigrants arrived the US as children decades ago.
The presidency of Barack Obama set up a programme called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which allowed undocumented immigrants to receive immunity from deportation, start businesses, work formally, and go to school, but did not make them eligible for other benefits such as Medicare, Social Security, welfare, food stamps, public housing, or the American Health Care Act.
DACA was meant to be a temporary measure gradually building a path to citizenship. So, almost a million undocumented immigrants applied to enjoy DACA's benefits.
The White House, under Donald Trump, however scrapped DACA and asked Congress to come up with a different legislation to address the issue.
At that time, if no legislation was passed, then DACA recipients would be deported. It would have been easier to trace and organise crackdown on those who submitted personal information to Homeland Security to receive DACA protections. Congress managed to find a temporary solution to the problem and this averted what would have been a great betrayal for DACA recipients.
How "First World" nations fail to see how undocumented immigrants can be law-abiding citizens is nothing but third rate perception. If treated fairly, many of the immigrants will eventually get their papers, raise families, pursue higher education, and support local and state economies. Immigrants are more willing and likely to hold jobs. If undocumented immigrants are not integrated and treated with respect, they will continue to live in fear of doing even the right thing.
