In her article “Catastrophes”, Cristiana Giordano discusses the sub-surface problem of addressing the migrant crisis as precisely that, a “crisis”. While the entire issue is one that needs to be paid attention to, the terminology of “crisis” makes it seem that the only problem is the direct crossing, and that there are no underlying issues that could be labeled as “every day”. Yes, a migrant physically crossing the border can be violent and dangerous, as we have seen in Morocco, but there is a heavy mental toll that is associated with the preparation/cause for migration, as well as the struggles they face once they are passed the border or even end up at their final destination. A migrant is more than their crossing and in order to eventually solve this major world issue, we as citizens need to pinpoint the various underlying issues that are associated with the mass-migration of people from country to country.

The points brought up in this piece reminded me of many topics previously discussed in class. First of all, I was reminded of the group presentation of mental health in migrants. These students talked about the high correlation of mental health issues within the migrant population. This is due to the high stress of planning a migration, often dangerous and emotional crossing, and subsequent alienation and exploitation they face after they cross. People think that a crossing is immediately a success, but it is far from that, as millions of migrants are exploited in the work force. I also think of my co-workers at a restaurant this summer and how their illegal status played a role in their everyday lives. While they were successfully able to cross into the United States from Mexico, they were unable to achieve status and therefore must live their lives “undercover” so to speak. They purely held positions in the back of the house, working as cooks and dishwashers, and if I had to guess they were not treated with the same respect as say, the servers and hostesses. It is an unfortunate reality of the situation, but in order to alleviate the issue as a whole we need to divert our attention from the “emergency” to the more everyday hardships that these people are facing.