People With No Names - The Undocumented #41

This is Chandra. He is a busboy server in a Mexican restaurant. I assumed he was Mexican. But he said he was from Bhutan. (I was wracking my brain trying to think of where that place was in Mexico? Oh, he meant over by the Himalayas!!) Well, he explained that he had spent most of his childhood in Nepal after being driven out of Bhutan by a tribal people hostile to his particular tribe. Alas, in Nepal, his family was discriminated against during his whole childhood as well. They sought U.N. asylum and were offered their choice of Canada, the U.S., etc. They chose the U.S. and are very happy with simple jobs as they learn more English. (His wife is a custodian in a hospital.) Indigenous people are forceably shoved out of their own countries all the time. It is a world wide phenomena.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #40

This man came from Mexico and is a Native American. He owns a Mexican restaurant and introduced me to " an immigrant who really had a hard time ". He came from Bhutan by way of refugee life in Nepal. If I had not been introduced, and talked to him, I would have assumed that he was from countries south of the U.S. We can never assume.