How Are We Treating Immigrant Viejitos?

The New York Times published a look at what is being referred to as “the .5 generation” - foreign-born immigrants to the U.S. who are over the age of 65 who may not speak English fluently or feel acclimated to American culture.  Over the past two decades, the number of immigrants over the age of 65 has grown from 2.7 million to 4.3 million. This means the elderly constitute about 11 percent of the country’s recently arrived immigrants.

Many of their struggles in this country, the article explains, stems from the fact that, in their countries of origin, they were raised with the expectation that their families would respect and care for them as they grew old and they would also have some semblance of independence. Instead, they find themselves reduced to furniture in the background of family photos, often home-bound in a strange town with no friends, and widely ignored by U.S. society. 

And then there’s this, the reason we’ve yet to sell our own parents to a farm:

Young couples who need to work to support families have imported grandparents in part to baby-sit. There is a misguided assumption that baby-sitting is sustenance enough for the aging, said Moina Shaiq, founder of the Muslim Support Network, which brings seniors together. “We are all social beings. How much can you talk to your grandchildren?” Mrs. Shaiq said.

The idea being, of course, that old people and young children have the same lifestyle and interests: Eating, crying, gumming and pooping.

It’s true that the U.S. has far to go when it comes to understanding old people, especially those who may not speak or understand English. There have been so many instances where people have approached our grandmother, shouting, as if by speaking louder she will suddenly understand them. Or - in a move most likely wouldn’t dare pull with anyone under 60 - strangers will tell her “You must have been so beautiful when you were young.” Step off, asswipe. She’s been gorgeous every day of her life. 

There are several factors at play for why people in this country treat the elderly with either contempt, or by ignoring them completely. Ageism and the obsession with youth are definitely issues, as are xenophobia and classism:

In 2007, according to census data, about 16 percent of immigrant seniors lived below the poverty line, compared with 12 percent of native-born elderly, said Steven P. Wallace, the associate director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. Another 24 percent of immigrant elderly are “the near-poor,” he said, “sitting on the edge of a cliff.”

What the NYT article doesn’t mention, however, is that some elderly immigrants (recently arrived or otherwise) have chosen not to participate. One interesting tendency we have noticed with elderly Latinos we’ve known is that, if they are women who come from a certain segment of society, they have come into old agehood already feeling as if they’ve expired or are ineffectual because they’ve been brought up to be pretty and catch a husband, and then to take care of his children and their children - not to have their own lives or interests. It’s a generation of Betty Drapers who are both literally and figuratively unable to speak the language. It’d be a mistake to ignore that there are many instances where alienation from American society is self-imposed, despite constant prodding from family members to please try and watch English-language programming to learn English, or to participate in activities outside the home to make friends, etc. 

Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that, overall, elderly people in this country - especially immigrants - are an ignored and often forgotten segment of our population often resigned to a life that more or less amounts to indentured servitude. 

Invisible Immigrants, Old and Left With ‘Nobody to Talk To’ [NYT]