Leticia Miranda

Home in Name Only

Julianne Hing, editorial assistant for ColorLines magazine, investigates the effects of US immigration laws on families and deported immigrants who have lived here in the US for most of their lives.

The article, a part of a ColorLines series entitled Torn Apart by Deportation, tells the story of one Jamaican immigrant who was forced to survive in a home that was no longer his.

Hing writes:

Even though he was born in Jamaica, James considered himself a foreigner. He had not been back since leaving for the U.S. when he was 12. He had grown up considering New York his home. After all, it was where his 6-year-old son, Josh, and his long-time partner, Kathy McArdle, were. He spoke very American English, having lost much of his Jamaican patois. Now here he was, 45 years old and exiled to Kingston.

Luckily, James had befriended another man who was on the same charter flight; he ended up staying with his friend for a week after confessing to him he had nowhere to go.

“When I first arrived in Jamaica, I could think about nothing else but, basically, survival,” James said. And yet, every day he missed his family in the U.S.

Read the rest of the article here at ColorLines.com.

Posted at 1:45 PM, Oct 28, 2009 in ColorLines Features | Permalink | View Comments