For a long time deportee has been a bad word, not just in Guyana but in every country that has what the developed nations call “a migrant population.” In 1948, shortly after a plane carrying four Americans and 28 migrant farm workers who were being deported to Mexico crashed in Los Gatos Canyon in California, Woody Guthrie wrote a poem that was later set to music, which decried the fact that the people who died were referred to in media reports of the day as “just deportees.”
People who are deported are those who would have overstayed the time granted to them to remain in a country when they travelled overseas, or those who entered/sneaked into another country with the intention of remaining there permanently and without the required legal status, and were then caught and sent back home. Deportees are also those persons who would have committed criminal offences for which jail time was followed by a one-way ticket, usually back to the land of their birth. A significant number of deportees are felons – persons convicted of offences that involve narcotics, murder and the use of dangerous weapons, hence the stigma attached to being a deportee.
There have been cases where entire families migrated and then just one member is involuntarily repatriated after a number of years. That person would have no ties to the land of his/her birth. If that person was convicted on armed robbery, a narcotics-related offence or murder, and s/he has no prospects s/he might easily fall back into doing the activity that got him/her in trouble in the first place. This has actually happened in several instances, with the result being that in addition to being scorned, deportees became people to be feared.
It was this milieu that Ms Donna Snagg stepped into when she was involuntarily repatriated after spending 20 years in the United States of America, having ‘done time’ for a “narcotics violation.” By the time Ms Snagg was ready to head home penniless, word had already spread about how deportees were being treated here, so, as she said in an interview with this newspaper, which was published on Tuesday, she was expecting to face discrimination. In her case, however, there were so-called good friends and relatives here who refused to have anything to do with her adding hurt and rejection to the stigma she was already experiencing.
Homeless and hungry, with no clothes, no money, no job and no prospects, Ms Snagg could have let the weight of all that press her down into the dirt the way it seems to have depressed so many others. Instead she took the single outstretched hand offered by a brother-in-law; accepted his shelter and wore his clothes for a while. She also received some financial help through remittances sent from overseas and finally reunited with one long-lost friend who understood the true meaning of the word. What a sobering experience it must have been for someone who would have been used to giving from her largesse.
But she was also not prepared to accept handouts for the rest of her life, and despite what might have seemed to be towering obstacles, she pursued and completed a law degree as well as her new vision — helping others, who like her, might at some point find themselves back home penniless and alone after years of living overseas. This she has accomplished to some extent, having founded Juncata Juvant (things joined together are helpful) Friendly Society, which has been offering assistance to deportees for two years.
Ms Snagg’s story is far from being completely told. (She is still to attend law school and has plans to extend the services being offered by her organization to include a halfway house for deportees.) However, it is at a point where it can serve as an example to those who might have taken the wrong fork in the road at some point that it is not the end of the world and that with determination they can still make a meaningful contribution to society. But more than that, Ms Snagg’s inspiring story will also help to remove the stigma attached to deportees, who having served a prison sentence and being deported would have already paid their debt to society and need to be allowed to live without fingers being pointed at them.
America betrayed me. I lived most of my whole life there: my childhood, my boyhood but i didnt leave without my man hood. Life goes on. A brief look into my life. Deportees, stop making ones like bad and get it together. Get this money: the right way.
Arganauth, you would make a good writer. Why not write a book about your story?…Don’t mind most Guyanese are not readers…It should sell good in the diaspora and it will immortalize your odyssey.
Aragnauth,,,I always believed that what ever is for you can only be for you, things can delay it, but if it’s for you, it’s for you… Good luck and may God bless
What else is there to say? There is good in the worst of us and bad in the best of us. I have ‘deportee’ family members. Our successes depend on which one shapes our lives first. If the bad does and when given an opportunity to reconstruct we do like Ms. Snagg then our living has not been in vain. Aragnauth – I think I know your family. Do not mislabel yourself. You were just a victim of a system and a lawyer that did not have your best interest at heart. Congratulations on your successes and may you, Ms. Snagg and everyone else who got and grasped the opportunity continue to prosper! Those who haven’t – It is there for your taking.
ankoko, you’re so right about the lawyer,,,this is the norm with these lawyers, they hang out to dry thinking that they will NEVER see you again, I have seen this alot.
Very touching story by Donna and others.
My cousin is currently going through the deportation process. We are all calling him stupid. He is one of those people who cuts all ties with family back home when the migrated. He was “played” by the justice system in the US. He was convicted of entering the US with a visa that is for I think “tourist” and not a B1… or something like that, also passport fraud and other minor convictions that includes traffic violations. He was never given the chance to fight for his rights. He had a 5 years multiple visa. I don’t condone what he did and strongly believe he should have kept “his nose clean”. Deportees or “aliens” are treated like worthless animals by the Americans. My cousin’s experience proved that.
On the day of his hearing his two children were there. Ages 2 and 4. The 2 year old kept calling his name and wishing him happy birthday (yes it was on his b/day) and the 4 years old kept staring and asking questions. She mainly wanted to know why they had “those things” around his hands and why my sisters and others were crying. After the hearing was over they asked if the kids can give him a hug and it was allowed. The 4 years old held onto him and would not let go. He spent 11 years there and never bothered to get his act together. I don’t know what he will do when he returns but all I know is that he had his chance to be a father to those kids and he ruined it.
overseasguyanese,,,from your blog, i don’t think your cousin had legal representation in this matter, and I’m guessing by what you’re saying that he never bothered to get his act together, he was not married to his children’s mother, my suggestion is that his children’s mother go to Guyana and marry him, pay the fine and he has to wait five (5) years outside before applying for permission to apply for a visa to Re-enter the United States. ….Contact an Immigration Attorney, this imformation is free.. Good Luck.
Those deportees who have committed crimes abroad have disgraces Guyanese. They should be further deported in Guyana to a deportee felon colony the New River area.It is these felons who are responsible for many crimes in Guyana.