The perils of immigration
Some poor immigrants take big risks when they come to this country. They cut corners, live on the margins. It’s a deliberate gamble, really. They’re betting that the risk of something really bad happening as a result is worth the higher standard of living and greater opportunities that will be available to their children.
Sometimes, they lose that gamble:
Eight children and an adult were killed, and several other people were injured, in a raging fire that erupted late Wednesday night and engulfed a four-story Bronx home that two immigrant families shared, the Fire Department said.
…
In a news conference in Manhattan this morning, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the fire appeared to have been caused by a space heater or an overloaded power strip. He said it started in the basement and traveled up the wooden stairs, trapping people on the upper floors. There had been 22 people living in the house, the mayor said.
…
Mamadou Soumare, a taxi driver whose wife and three children died in the fire, stood across the street from the home, staring up at the house.
A father of four, only his daughter, Hassimi, 7, had survived and had been taken to Lincoln Hospital. Of his dead children, two were twins and the other was 4 years old.
“I loved my wife,” he said, opening his cell phone and going through photographs of his family that were stored on the phone.
“There was no fire escape,” he said.
D. Greene wrote:
The landlord should be held liable for not installing a fire escape. What a tragedy.
Posted on 08-Mar-07 at 12:50 pm | Permalink
TheAmber wrote:
A terrible tragedy and very sad but is it really a peril of immigration or simply a peril of poverty? It isn’t as though the fire sought them out because they are immigrants. They were living in housing w/o proper safety measures because they are poor, not because they are foreign. Natural born American citizens live in housing like that too and immigrants live housing that is up to code. It is also impossible to say that such tragedy would not have struck them had they not immigrated. Death by house fire due to fire code violations is not a risk specific to living in the United States.
Everyone risks something really bad happening everyday they wake up, the perils of life are not restricted to immigrants.
Posted on 08-Mar-07 at 1:31 pm | Permalink
pjk wrote:
I didn’t say they were. but immigrants are particularly vulnerable because, in some respects, they live outside the system. 22 people living in one house is an example of that. I’ll also bet you that these people didn’t have a lease because their asshole landlord was banking on their desperation, and I bet he charged them rent per head, in cash. I’ll also bet you that at least a few of those 22 people living there were in the states illegally, meaning they weren’t likely to call authorities and complain about their asshole landlord.
really, when’s the last time you heard of twelve poor American citizens living in squalor in a two bedroom apartment so they can save money whilst working 60-hr a week jobs? immigrants are much more daring than typical americans. it’s a gamble, and I respect them for it, and it’s sad when it goes wrong.
Posted on 08-Mar-07 at 1:44 pm | Permalink
TheAmber wrote:
With the exception of being in the country illegally all of that sounds like college to me.
Posted on 08-Mar-07 at 3:42 pm | Permalink
pjk wrote:
please… don’t be riduclous…
Posted on 08-Mar-07 at 3:44 pm | Permalink
136930 Blog Verification wrote:
136930 Blog Verification…
136930…
Posted on 09-Mar-07 at 7:38 am | Permalink
Jason Barr wrote:
Yeah, what a fucked up scenario.
Posted on 10-Mar-07 at 11:37 pm | Permalink