Naujoji emigracija iš Lietuvos į Jungtines Valstijas: gyvenimo kokybės vertinimas

LTEkonominė depresija, prasidėjusi 20-ojo amžiaus trečiajame dešimtmetyje, pakeitė oficialųjį Amerikos valdžios požiūrį į migracinių procesų įtaką ekonomikai. JAV sienų "uždarymo" procesas prasidėjo dar prieš Antrąjį pasaulinį karą. Tačiau Amerikos lietuviai surinko beveik milijoną parašų ir ženkliai prisidėjo prie to, kad būtų priimtas "išvietintųjų asmenų" ("DP") aktas, atvėręs karo pabėgėliams galimybę patekti į JAV. Po karo, daugiausia 1948-1949 metais šioje šalyje įsikūrė keliasdešimt tūkstančių antrosios bangos imigrantų, pabrėžusių ryškų politinį pasitraukimo iš Lietuvos pobūdį. 20-ojo amžiaus pabaigoje sugriuvus Sovietų imperijai, jos valdytoje erdvėje prasidėjo ūkinė ir socialinė suirutė, kurios pasekmės tebėra ryškios ir dabar. Kas rūpinasi tais, kurie atsidūrė beviltiškoje padėtyje, bankrutavus sovietiniams fabrikams, iki tol gaminusiems produkciją, tinkančią tik vidaus rinkai ir negalėjusią konkuruoti Vakarų šalyse? Naujoji, t.y. jau trečioji imigrantų banga plūstelėjo į Jungtines Valstijas, tačiau niekas jų čia nelaukė. Tautinės bendrijos (tarp jų ir JAV Lietuvių bendruomenė) daugiausia dėmesio iki šiol skiria įprastinei politinei bei kultūrinei veiklai, šventinių minėjimų ir kitų tradicinių renginių organizavimui. Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabėgėlių kartą jau pakirto senatvė. Nėra nei jėgų, nei noro rūpintis neseniai atvykusiais tautiečiais. Neretas reiškinys - subjektyvusis nesusikalbėjimas, kai į pirmą planą iškeliami ne bendri tautiečių interesai, o pasaulėžiūros, patirties ir kiti skirtumai. Šiame pranešime apibendrinami pirmieji būsimojo ilgamečio tyrimo duomenys. Jie rodo, kad siekusieji išvykti pasinaudojo pirmosiomis laisvėjimo galimybėmis, atsiradusiomis likus keleriems metams iki SSRS suirimo. [Iš Įvado]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Emigracija; Emigracijos bangos; Emigracijos veiksniai; Gyvenimo kokybė; Imigranto statusas; Imigrantų grupės; JAV; Lietuva, Jungtinės Amerikos Valstijos; Naujausi imigrantai iš Lietuvos Jungtinėse Amerikos Valstijose; Nauji emigraciją skatinantys veiksniai; Naujoji emigracijos banga; Emigration; Emigration waves; Factors of emmigration; Imigrant groups; Immigrants groups; Lithuania; New factors encouraging emigration; New wave of Lithuanian imigrants in the US; New wave of emmigration; Quality of life; Status of immigrant; USA; United States of America; Waves of emmigration.

EN1. This report, presented to the Internationa! Conference "The Transformations in Eastern and Central Europe" (will be held in Klaipeda's University, September 17-18, 2004), is analyzing the essential characteristics of the third wave of Lithuanian immigration to the United States. Members of this wave were arrivals to the USA since the 9th decade of the 20th century and until the current time. The first representatives of this wave were individuals, trying to escape from the Soviet regime's occupied Lithuania by any costs. They tried to move to the West, using the first possibilities, presented by the new reforms of political life, named as "perestroika" in USSR. A few years later this wave of immigration was essentially determined by economical and cognitive (educational) motives, but not by political circumstances. 2. This process of immigration was very different for the 1st or the 2nd wave. It was spontaneous, with no chance to use any juridical or economical factors, favourably designed in the USA to new arrivals. Only the first few newcomers were able to count on an opportunity to receive a status of political refugees, but this possibility was practically eliminated after official recognition de jure of Lithuania's independence. Newcomers now have to count only on the chance to receive a permanent resident status, in a few very limited cases, strictly determined by the common immigration law. 3. The settling of newcomers, who even have permission to live in the USA permanently, became more difficult, because no one social organization of Lithuanian immigrants was ready to provide them any help. A significant number of members of these organizations believed there was no reason for immigration after the restoration of Lithuania's independence and after it's official recognition by the world international community.They also believed there would be a real opportunity for representatives of the 2nd wave of immigrants to go back to Lithuania in the near future. They declared they were all political refugees, "displaced persons", forced to leave Lithuania by the fear of Soviet regime's repressions in the face of Lithuania's occupation and annexation. Nobody from these organizations calculated on the economical turmoil or the political instability for an uprising of essential factors of emigration in the transition period of Lithuania's state. They didn't calculate on the unemployment and uprising of criminality, with the return to power of the ex-communists etc. 4. The process of immigration of Lithuania's people was interrupted for the period of annexation of this state. The main group of the representatives of the 2nd wave of immigrants (refugees of WWII) are deceased. Their descendants had no permanent and stable connections with Lithuania. They received only fragmental and controversial information about all the processes and events of the transition period in Lithuania. There were a lot of mostly negative evaluations of the latest newcomers and a focus on real or bogus differences between the 2nd and the 3rd waves of immigrants. 5. Because of the absence of opportunities for massive immigration, (he latest Lithuanian newcomers are scatlered in a huge territory of the entire USA. These circumstances are essentially limiting the process of their integration into the existing social organizations of immigrants or creation of their own national communities. Only a few new accumulations, placed around the biggest cities, like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles are an exception to this situation and the present increasing of numbers of newcomers is stimulating their social activity.The modern devices of electronics are providing a lot of new wide possibilities for better communication and for sharing actual information. They are establishing a new media (newspapers, radio and TV), which better suits their interests. 6. This current research of newcomers allowed us to analyse the structure of this population and to determinate their main groups. The main distinctive features of these groups are the different motives of arriving to US and their juristic status here. The most numerous are these four groups of legal immigrants: 1) winners of a "green card" in a special lottery, 2) married with America's citizens; 3) arrivals for studies in US; 4) distinguished, highly qualified professionals, invited for work in US. Also, it seems likely that the large amount of newcomers belongs to a group of illegal residents. The main obstacle of making a more detailed analysis is an absence of possibilities to calculate newcomers by using any official database. 7. This research allowed us to make a conclusion about the possible correlation between the evaluations of life's quality and these three factors: 1) What is the juristic status of individuals? 2) How long they are staying in US? 3) What is their ability to find work in accordance with their professional background? These evaluations are strongly connected with the dynamics of the situation of relatives or co-workers residing in their native country and if their situation is becoming better. [From the publication]