Leaving America

Leaving America

Three people are sitting in chairs on stage at what appears to be an airport.

Narrator: These people are leaving their homeland in search of a better life. What is most unusual about these three are that they are leaving America. For years immigrants have flocked to America in search of the American Dream. Hopes of financial opportunities and greater freedoms and rights have drawn people to America’s shores for centuries. Let’s meet these three people to see why they are LEAVING America.

Person 1 : (In a very glum, serious tone) I’m Joe from Detroit. My life is in shambles. I have not been able to find employment for over a year and a half. My hard earned savings is running out. Now my house is about to be foreclosed. What breaks my heart even more is that my son graduated college last year with $80,000 in student loans and has been unable to find a job. What has happened to the America that I grew up in where education and hard work led to financial security? For me that America no longer exists. I must look for opportunity elsewhere.

Person 2: My name is Mohammed. I am a Muslim American living in New York. I can no longer subject my family to the prejudices and intolerance that they face every day. Islamophobia has seem too taken over this country that was once known for its tolerance of others and freedom of religion. Now wherever I go, I feel people look at me as if I am a potential terrorist. I am leaving in search of a more open-minded society. I dread going through security where no doubt I am going to be signaled out, hassled, and looked at with frightened, suspicious eyes by other passengers.

Person 3: Hello, my name is Miguel. I am a third generation Mexican American living in Phoenix. My family and I are tired of being treated as second-class citizens. When I meet people they inevitably speak to me slowly in English or attempt to speak Spanish if they can because they believe that I am an illegal immigrant that has just arrived. My breaking point came when I was stopped by the police for going six miles over the speed limit. I was detained for over an hour and questioned relentlessly about my citizenship status. I am leaving this racist, bigoted land for a place where my family and I will be accepted for who we are.

Narrator: I wonder where each of these people is going.