Photographed is a stack of letters between my mom and my grandma during the two-year period they were apart. My grandmother was being petitioned by my great grandmother who had immigrated to America in 1980. She was advised by her older sister, who had immigrated to America in 1974, to not bring her two children in order to process her paperwork quicker. My great grandmother had fled from China during the Japanese occupation preceding World War 2. Being a Chinese immigrant in the Philippines was a push factor because it meant that her children would not be granted the same rights and privileges of Filipino citizens such as land and property ownership. So when the opportunity for my great aunt to immigrate to America presented itself they did not hesitate to begin the lengthy process of moving the whole family. At the time, there was a lot of talk about how easy it was to find work and earn enough money to buy a home in America. This coupled with the lack of opportunities in the Philippines was a pull factor for my family. Once my great aunt established herself in California it took her six years to petition my great grandmother. It took an additional six years to bring my grandmother, my two other great aunts, and my (not so) great uncle (but that’s another story) to America. There was a possibility that my mother and my uncle would not be able to see my grandma for half a decade, and for that reason, my grandmother started the practice of sending letters to her children regularly. 

– JMI

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant