Interview with Ajaz Siddiqi
Ajaz Siddiqi is a Pakistani American who immigrated to this country in 1984. He is the father of one of my roommates here at James Madison University, and that is how I was able to reach out to him for this interview. I have other friends whose parents are first generation immigrants, but I wanted to interview Mr. Siddiqi because I wanted to speak with someone who immigrated from a country we did not learn about in class. Over the course of this semester we learned a lot about Latin American immigrants, and Chinese immigrants. I did not know much about my roommates family, just that she is a second generation immigrant and that the majority of her family lives here in the United States so I was very excited about this interview. I wanted to hear what the immigration process was like for someone from a south Asian country, and if the Trump presidency has changed anything for them.
To start off the interview I wanted to know what his life was like. Before immigrating Mr. Siddiqi spoke a little about what he remembers his life was like when he lived in Karachi, Pakistan. He told me that he did not remember many specific details since a majority of his life has been spent here in America, but he does remember laughing and playing with his friends in his childhood town. Mr. Siddiqi was born and raised in Pakistan and immigrated to the United States at 16 years old. He flew solo from Pakistan to New York, and flew from New York to Washington DC where he met up with his father who had already been here for 2 years. He says the reason he came alone to live with his father in the United States had to do with the fact he was the oldest out of all his siblings and his cultural values. In Pakistani culture the eldest child, especially a son is expected to help provide for the family, he had to come and establish himself so he could help bring income to his home. This would ultimately better not only his life but the life of his family. He and his father lived in the United States just the two of them for 3 years before the rest of his immediate family came over and joined them. Mr. Siddiqi received a lot of his formal education here in America, so after receiving a bachelor’s degree he was able to land a good job. He began working at a local bank as a cashier, and today has moved all the way up to Vice President at the bank he currently works at. He wanted to come to America to live the American dream, and he got to be what I would consider living proof of that. When I asked Mr. Siddiqi why he and his family chose to immigrate to the United States over another country like the United Kingdom or Canada, he explained how there were two main reasons as to why they desired no other country. The first reason is the fact that he already had family living here in the United States. We learned in our class that by having some sort of guidance, it makes the whole immigration process a lot less risky. They can advise you on the reality of life in a foreign country for an immigrant that books and movies cannot give a person. Speaking of movies this is where the second reason comes in. The second big reason as to why his family wanted to come to America, is because they dreamed of living the American dream. Before Mr. Siddiqi immigrated to the United States, he informed me that this country was seen as the land of opportunity for many people from his home country. From all the movies and tv shows he has watched in his childhood helped fuel his desire. Once arriving in the United States Mr. Siddiqi moved in with his father who lived in Alexandria Virginia. He attended the local public high school, and after graduation he completed two years at Nova community college in Annandale Virginia. After gaining his associates degree he commuted to George Mason University 
where he received a bachelor’s degree, and began working at a bank in Arlington as a cashier. This was one of the biggest pull factors for his family, and most immigrants when deciding to journey to America. It is the fact that there are more opportunities to succeed in America. Mr. Siddiqi is a very well educated individual with degrees, and thankfully here in America with them he was able to get a well paying job and make a profitable living. A big pull factor for many immigrants is the fact they can make good money from receiving a good education and having a desire to work hard. Speaking of pull factors, another big pull factor has to do with social ties. Social ties are another important factor that play a role in making immigrants journey a lot more easy and successful. It decreases the overall risk. He spoke about the importance of having someone to talk to who is very immersed in the culture you plan on immigrating to. This person can be a mentor, or a family member. Having his father and uncle already in America helped make his experience feel less isolating and tough. When Mr. Siddiqi first arrived in the United States he spoke very little english, he did not even know enough English to, in his words, “speak in a full sentence.” This was one of the first hurdles he had to overcome in order to successfully integrate into the society. In order to learn english he began to watch cartoons and began to pick up a lot of english words. Additionally his schools played a big role in helping him speak english fluently. He was enrolled in what was called ESL classes, and also noted his english teacher as someone who personally helped him everyday to grasp the english language fluently. Mr. Siddiqi also describes this language barrier as the biggest culture shock has had since being in this country. Learning english and grasping our very complicated language as the biggest challenge he had to overcome. After gaining citizenship from his green card, which granted his citizenship after being in the United States for over 5 years he feels like he is a mix of both. He considers himself an immigrant, a Pakistani American, and a United States citizen. He sees himself as having a mix of both cultures in him, and that is what he uses to raise his own children. He wants his kids to be fully immersed in the American way of life, but he still holds a lot of traditional values that are popular back in his home country that he grew up in. He has taken his children back to visit Pakistan with him in 2006 and 2007. He wanted his children to see where he grew up, and he wanted his children to have a real life experience with their heritage, not just imagine it from stories. They got to see some of the customs in Pakistan first hand, and see how the culture differs from American culture. Mr. Siddiqi talked a little about how in the last four years two things have changed for immigrants. The first being how people view immigrants and the immigration as a whole has evolved into a more negative opinion. Under Trump’s presidency the immigration process has become much harder than it has been in previous years. The amount of green cards being issued each year has significantly decreased, travel bans have been placed on several countries for the first time, fees for visas and the application have skyrocketed, along with several other “roadblocks” potential immigrants have to now overcome. He spoke of how so many people in our society do not realize just how crucial immigrants are to our way of life. In his words immigrants, “So, these people who are coming as an immigrant, they will be working, and they are going to be the part of the society, they will be paying the taxes, they will be embedded in the society, basically, so Americans need to understand immigration has always been good to the to the USA.” They work essential low paying jobs most native born citizens do not want, and they pay taxes just like citizens do. He did point out that since immigrating to America at a young age he was able to be educated here and that contributed to his overall success. By being college educated and working hard he was able to get a better paying jobs. However, for many immigrants today who come to the United States at a much older age than he did, they do not have the same chances or opportunities he did. But regardless of this immigrants work hard to provide for their family, because ultimately they just want their children to have a better life and opportunities than they did. Throughout listening to Mr. Siddiqi discuss his life and journey as an immigrant, I noticed there were a lot of similarities and connections to some topics we have discussed over the course of the semester in this class. In the beginning of the interview Mr. Siddiqi spoke of how he was able to get a green card so he could come to the United States. As of right now the majority of his family lives here in the United States and are American citizens. However, none of this would have been possible if it were not for his uncle taking the first steps, his uncle was the pioneer. His uncle came over from England in 1955 on the ship the Queen Mary, along with his wife and three kids. After his uncle had been here for 5 years he gained citizenship and was able to sponsor the rest of his family. His father was the first since his uncle to come to the United States in 1982, his father was being sponsored by the uncle. In 1984 he himself followed his father and also lived here in a green card being sponsored by his uncle. After he and his father had been here for 3 years the rest of his immediate family, his mother and sibling, followed suit. After 5 years in the United States he gained citizenship, and this allowed the rest of his family to gain a green card and come over. His grandparents, cousins, and just about most of his family came over. Now he has more family here in the United States than back in his home country of Pakistan. When discussing the timeline of when each of his family members immigrated to the United States it reminded me of when we learned about the type of system immigrants have with one another. When making the decision as a family to decide to immigrate to a country, families decide who will be the pioneer jolted with the task of establishing a life so the rest of their family can follow suit. It is a type of migrant network, not only do you know someone but that someone can sponsor you and help you gain citizenship faster. Additionally, this made me think about how this process could become even harder for future immigrants because so many republican senators have been pushing to reduce the number of green cards the United States issues each year. 
Ever since Trump took office he has tried to change the rules and process for immigrants who want to become United States citizens. Even though Donald Trump lost his re-election many republican senators have been trying to get bills passed in congress that will change qualifications for different types of visas. For the policy presentation project assigned a few weeks back I did it on the RAISE Act. This was a prospective bill drafted by Tom Cotton and David Perdue which would limit the amount of green cards the United States government issues each year. This reduction would cut the number of green cards issued by half, from 1 million to a mere 500,000. Additionally the type of green card applications accepted would be based on a point system, meaning a candidate would have to have a certain amount of points in order to even apply for the application. Even though this is just one bill, many more bills and attempts to alter the visas process will come in the future. Mr. Siddiqi went on to talk about how people do not realize that immigrants are crucial to not just the function of our society but the economy. In class we learned about how attitudes about immigrants have decreased over time. Many people believe immigrants are burdens on our economy, because they are not contributing to it. Mr. Siddiqi spoke about this issue. He explained how people do not realize that just about all immigrants actually do pay taxes, and do to them not being legal citizens they pay more in taxes than most people. The average Indian American makes 125k, and the average Pakistan American makes 75k. Over the course of this semester we have learned about the crucial role immigrants play in our culture and society. They work hard, they pay taxes, and they significantly enrich our culture on a daily basis. He spoke of how immigrants when they come to this country take just about any job they can get, when he first got here he worked at McDonald’s for 3 years. These are jobs that the average native born American will not take, due in part to thinking they deserve better and due in part to them not needing income to the point they will take any job because they need to provide for their family. When discussing this with Mr. Siddiqi, it reminded me of the video we watched in class titled, “the worst jobs in New York.” in this video a reporter went to a dairy production farm in upstate New York and spoke with immigrants who work there. They discussed how they work long hours, how the labor is hard, and how their compensation is very little. All of these things played into why this particular job was only filled with immigrants, it’s not ideal. Most native born citizens do not want to work in such harsh conditions we believe we can obtain better. To prove this point the reporter went to an unemployment office and asked people entering and leaving the building if they would want to take these jobs. Mind you these individuals have no job and are currently looking. One after the other when the job description was described each person stated how they were not interested in the job. It just proved the point many educated people already know, immigrants are crucial to the American way of life because they are willing to take jobs native born citizens do not want. After the interview ended I gained a lot of insight and knowledge from this interview. It was interesting to see the difference in experience for an immigrant from a south Asian country, than some of the immigrant stories we have heard over the course of the semester who come from Latin American countries. All the questions I had prepared for the interview were answered in the interview. I had left it gaining a lot of new knowledge and insight on what the life of an immigrant in America looked and still looks like. However after a few days had passed since the interview was conducted a new question came to mind that I wish I had the chance to answer. The question is, “do you believe after Donald Trump’s presidency it will be harder for future immigrants from your home country of Pakistan to be able to immigrate to this country?” Right now Donald Trump has stated he plans on placing more travel bans on Muslim dominated countries in the few months he has left. While Pakistan is not currently on that list it is a Muslim dominated country which means it could be in the future. I wanted to know if he believes a travel ban would one day be put in place. While Mr. Siddiqi’s immigrant story might not have had the drama that is found in most stories of immigrants. I believe that kind of made this interview feel like a breath of fresh air. It was nice to hear that he has not faced any racism personally, and that he has been well received by the community he first moved into and the ones following. I think his positive experience as a brown immigrant in America can help put courage into future immigrants, and wash away the fear they have that may be hindering their own decision to immigrate to America.
Ajaz 0:29
Can you hear me? But I cannot hear you. Interesting. Let me
Ajaz 0:41
alrighty
Ajaz 0:42
maybe I think is probably mute on your end. See the bottom screen and go on the bottom screen on the left hand side you will see it.
Jessica Snowden 0:58
Can you hear me now?
Ajaz 1:01
Yes, there you go. All right. I can’t hear you fine.
Jessica Snowden 1:06
um, okay, so I’m sorry. Did you hear? Did you hear the first question I asked or? Was the computer audio off?
Ajaz 1:14
uh no it was off. So I did not hear it at all.
Jessica Snowden 1:18
Okay, I can say it again. um first i just wanted to thank you for agreeing to do this interview with me talking about your history of immigrating to America. And then to start off the interview. The first thing I wanted to ask is you state your full legal name, your age, and then which country and city you were born and raised in?
Ajaz 1:43
All right. My first name is Ajaz Siddiqi last name Siddiqi. I am 54 years of age. I was born in Karachi, Pakistan.
Jessica Snowden 1:57
Okay, thank you. Um, so the first question is, could you talk a little bit about what your life was like growing up in Pakistan?
Ajaz 2:09
Well, you know, when I was there, when I came to us, I was 16 and a half years of age. So you know, I was a teenager. And like any teenager, in any country, you have fun, you go to school, you play and hang around with your kids at that time, we used to play outside. And we used to bike, you know, all sorts of stuff. So that’s how I was when I was a kid.
Jessica Snowden 2:39
Before you came to the US, did you know English? Or did you have to learn it?
Ajaz 2:47
No, English was a, it wasn’t very strong. Be honest with you. It was it was very, I mean, I knew few words, but I was not able to speak in a full sentence. You know, so that’s where when I came to this country was a culture shock, obviously, because I spoke very little English and had trouble understanding if somebody would say the whole sentence.
Jessica Snowden 3:15
Hmm. Did you learn English then through school? Or like some from some other way?
Ajaz 3:23
Absolutely. I did. When I came to this country, of course, the first few months, I stayed home, and I started watching cartoons, believe it or not, and that really helped me a lot. Yes. And I would, I would tell anybody, you know, please, if you can, so that’s why I started to pick up the words, the pronunciation, how to say, certain words. Even though in the USA, you have, you know, north and south people say differently. So you have to pick and choose exactly where you are or where you’re living. So that’s how I’ve learned and of course, after when I went to high school, that’s when I, I got into a program, which is now it’s Esau. It was ESL at that time, English as a second language. And that’s where I learned my English.
Jessica Snowden 4:24
So the biggest culture shock, you would say, was probably like the language barrier?
Ajaz 4:31
Yes, of course, because, you know, when you are unable to speak, it’s very hard for you to have your point across. So, you know, that makes you shy, that makes you vulnerable. And so, you know, it’s it’s and there’s not a lot of support from from so many people, school will do whatever they can, or they have in the past of course, but but you know, I think Now, whenever anybody, anyone comes new, they have a lot more support now. Which is wonderful.
Jessica Snowden 5:11
Um, ah, I was gonna move into when you got here, but I want to know a little bit more about like expectation you had of America before actually coming here like, what did you think you would expect? Did you think it was gonna be like hard or anything like that?
Ajaz 5:29
Okay, well, as you know, when you are living abroad in the USA was the country and you know, you know, apart from last four years, but I’m sorry. But you know, before that the America, you know, land of dreams and the place where you go, do all the wonderful stuff, anybody who comes here will make it and what when, of course, you know, we watched in the movies, we watch, you know, the cereal, the comedy shows and all that. So, you know, we had that, of course, there. But the so that was all like a taboo to us. So you know, when you come in, so when I landed in New York, and one of my friend, his older brother was living here, and he’s the one who received me. And then we he took me around to New York and showed me so I remember all the expectation, I had to see the tall buildings, big, huge roads, you know, people are walking and you know, having fun. So that’s exactly what I’ve witnessed. So that’s what I had in my mind. I pictured and that’s exactly what I found on the very first day.
Jessica Snowden 6:54
oh wow. so when you came, here was New York, the first place you lived?
Ajaz 7:01
No, I always lived here in Northern Virginia. But the flight was from Karachi to New York, a direct flight through Europe, I believe we stopped at Germany. And then from there, we came to, I mean, I came to USA in New York. And in New York, because of the delay. Coming in, I have, I couldn’t make it to my connection. My connection was supposed to be around 11 o’clock. And the by the time I got out it was on was 12 o’clock, and do not have any flights going out Is it the next slide will be in the morning. So then I call my father because he was already here. And he made the arrangement and then it happens to be the same, you know, people he called, it turned out to be my, my brother’s my friend’s older brother. And then they came to pick me up. And that’s how I stayed one night in New York. And then next day, I flew to DC.
Jessica Snowden 8:08
Okay, how long was your father here before you came over?
Ajaz 8:14
About two years?
Jessica Snowden 8:16
oh Okay.
Ajaz 8:17
So he came in 1982. I came in 1984.
Jessica Snowden 8:22
Were you the only other person from your family that came or did other people come with you?
Ajaz 8:28
No, I was the only one who came because I was the I am the eldest in the family of siblings. So in our culture, it is the responsibility of me to go in and help everyone. So my father was already here, then I came in and then everybody else followed.
Jessica Snowden 8:50
oh Okay,
Jessica Snowden 8:51
how soon after, did the rest of your family come over?
Ajaz 8:58
After three years, actually. Because as you know, my siblings, we have a total of six, including me, and my mother. So there were six people left behind. And because my father came here, and let me give you the background, so you can understand, in the context of that, my uncle came to the US in 1955. And he was he came on from, from London, to New York. And he traveled in Queen Mary, if you know the ship, the famous ship of Queen Mary. That Queen Mary retired in 1957. So he took in 1955. him and his wife and three kids. They came to US because he was working in the embassy here in the Washington DC area, and he’s the one who applied and then we are number came. Because, you know, it takes about good seven, eight years at that time. Now it takes even longer. So we were we were already approved to come in early in the late 60s. But, you know, but my father did not make that leap. And he waited for it in, in the 80s. And then, you know, then he came, and then everybody else followed after that.
Jessica Snowden 10:30
Okay. Oh, what type of… or would that be considered, I guess a visa that you came over on? or we were able to come?
Ajaz 10:39
Yes. Is called is called the No, no, no. It’s called the immigrant visa. No, I came on the legal visa. That means my uncle is the one who had the sponsored us. So he upload for us names and everything and submitted. Okay, so that’s where, and then he provided the letter of support for all of us. And that’s how, you know, we came on what we call the Green Card actually is called a green card. But they call it now the alien card actually. funny word, but you know, it’s it’s they call it green card. But it was not even a green It was a blue card. You know, you can even see, you know, whoever make these rules and call certain things and you know, don’t correspond with one. So that’s how, you know, we came on, on the
Jessica Snowden 11:38
so Are you…. Oh, sorry. Oh, no, I was gonna ask are you a citizen now?
Ajaz 11:45
Yes. Yeah. Boy, almost 28.
Jessica Snowden 11:54
What was the process to become a citizen? Like, did you have to take another type of visa or green card to citizenship?
Ajaz 12:02
Yeah, well, what you do is after you know, five years, you are eligible to apply for a citizenship. And the citizenship there is a bunch of forms you need to fill out. And these forms are about you about your background, the people, you know, have your parents name, their parents name, maternal side, paternal side, so all of it, then you have to provide that information. And then you submit that information to it was not online at that time, everything was either mailed in or do you just go in and drop it off at the location. So that’s where that’s what what I have done on that. And after, I think four months process, I was called to have an interview. And, you know, unless you have more questions, then I can answer you. There.
Jessica Snowden 13:02
oh Okay. Um, so after coming to the US and became a citizen, did you ever think about wanting to go back to Pakistan? Or maybe going to another country like Canada? Or was it always just USA?
Ajaz 13:18
No um because, you know, USA has given me pretty much everything. Like I said, When I came, you know, I was a teenager. So, I grew up here, and I’ve lived more than what I’ve lived in my, my country where I was born. But, you know, this is the country I found and to be where I am successful today. You know, by the grace of God, and you know, the, because of the parents, their second vacation and everything, and that’s the reason I just never thought of going back anywhere. You know, so yeah, no, I think I think this is still the one of the best countries in the world. No question about it.
Jessica Snowden 14:14
Um, have? Well, I guess, uh, yeah. Sorry. Um, so you said you came here when you were 16. And you went to high school here. Um, did you go to grad school, any technical schools after high school here?
Ajaz 14:31
No, no, after that, I went, I went to a community college for two years. Then I went to two years of at the George Mason University, and I have the bachelor’s from there. And then after I started working in the banking industry, in 1987, and that’s where I have taken a lot of courses over the years. That’s where I, you know, to help me grow in the banking field, especially the commercial side. So that’s what I’ve done.
Jessica Snowden 15:09
Okay. Um, so I know like, the Nova area in general is like pretty diverse. But at all in your time in Nova, have you ever experienced, I guess, maybe like pushback from people or felt like you, like had the community always been like, I guess welcoming and supportive?
Ajaz 15:30
Absolutely, I never had never had the issue I’m having, you know, I think the reason is because we live in such a diverse community. Northern Virginia is such a diverse area. And if you’re aware of it, you know that there’s no issue in this area. But I do travel a whole lot. But except for you know, since the pandemic, not trying at all before that, because I go do loans pretty much all across the USA, so I would go visit the clients, and the locations and do site inspections and everything. So I go meet people I never encountered anything from anybody. Never had any pushback. Or somebody making snoody comments or anything to do with with the current situation. Black, brown versus white, latino. You know, whatever. But it was, it’s never that never happened.
Jessica Snowden 16:34
That’s really good to hear.
Jessica Snowden 16:38
Yeah,
Jessica Snowden 16:39
that
Jessica Snowden 16:40
takes away cuz I was gonna ask, like, have you ever experienced like any, like, I guess, like racial incidents, but doesn’t seem so which is really good. Um, oh, have you ever taken any? Have you ever taken any of your own children to visit Pakistan?
Ajaz 17:00
Yes, matter of fact, in 2005 and 2006. I took the kids 2005. And then of course, 2006. So twice, okay. I’ve taken them.
Jessica Snowden 17:18
Do you have a lot of families still back in Pakistan are all here in America?
Ajaz 17:25
Very few, very few majority of the, the families here from my mom’s side, and from my dad’s side, as well. And they’ve been living here, you know, in early 70s. And some of them are in 1660. So, you know, they’ve been here for a long time now.
Jessica Snowden 17:47
oh Okay. Um, so when, I guess deciding to raise a family in America, did you want I guess, the way they were raised to be more of kind of, like, in the culture you were raised in, or did you want them to be more immersed in like the American culture?
Ajaz 18:07
Okay, that’s something is, it’s very dear to my heart. Because America is such a melting pot, and it gives you an opportunity to interact with everybody. And, of course, you know, the American culture consider into versus the other culture in the, you know, the Pakistani culture is where I would like to see my kids be in. And it has to do with because, if you, if you look around, you know, all of your, all of the immigrants who came to the US in 18oo and 1900 and before that, you know, they are keeping that culture in there. And, and keeping the balance, actually, you know, you know, that’s the right word. So I want them to keep the balance of that, I do not want them to cross one from this side to the other, and we keep it very balanced. So they can just simply, if if somebody comes from the, you know, the Pakistani side, they can, they can be with them and don’t feel left out and they feel comfortable. And at the same time, because they got to go to school, they got to work here, they got to live here. So they have to do it on on the American side of it also. So they will not feel left out and also be comfortable. So they have to it’s a nice balancing act. They have to do.
Jessica Snowden 19:44
Um,
Jessica Snowden 19:47
I guess. Well, that kind of answered my other question, because I was gonna say, Do you still feel strongly connected to your original culture that you were raised in but it seems like definitely yes, to have that like balance of both.
Ajaz 20:02
Oh, absolutely, yes, you need to have that. Without culture, you know, you would lose. Because, you know, I speak Urdu, which is, you know, the mother tongue. I like to keep that and like to have my kids be so they can speak and when they were, they speak I would like them to, to respond or, you know, when I asked them question I at least so they, they, they need to have that embedded in them. And it because there’s a lot of history of that, and I do not want to lose that history, at least with my family history.
Jessica Snowden 20:43
So what ways Did you like make sure that they always had that, like, I guess balance? Like what ways did you make sure that they had a strong connection to their heritage?
Ajaz 20:56
Absolutely, we because, you know, we are blessed to have a huge family. And when when when you have a huge family, you have a lot of functions, and the family get togethers. So we just make sure that you know, they are never left behind, they always go with us. And they will stay with us, we go in one car to make sure that we stay in the and with the family or wherever the gathering is. And, you know, so that’s the aspect of the one side of it. Now, as you know, living in the USA, you have to you have to be with the society, for example, you go to school, you go to work, we go out eating, vacation, all of that. So you know, you gotta you have to act in the society on American side of it, so having fun going out with friends. So that is all allowed, of course, you know, to certain limit, and as you as you young person know, every parents make sure, hey, make sure you know, don’t cross this line, don’t do this in our culture, you know, we have one thing we don’t drink. And that is something you know, I would would like to see my kids that they do not drink also. Because you know, when you drink, you started to make certain decisions, which is not in your favor, you will always regret. So you know, that’s one thing I would always ask my my kids is to make sure you don’t do that if you do it, and you will make second decision, which you will regret later on. And I want to make sure you don’t do that. I hope I answered your question.
Jessica Snowden 22:46
No, no, you definitely did. Okay. Um, let’s see, cuz there, so I’m just going through, that’s okay. Um, the main, um, this is Touching, I guess more so on since you’ve been here for quite a while, but, um, since being here, is there anything that? Or is there a part of American culture that you, I guess, I guess, is like, what you like the most about American culture? And then what you I guess don’t like.
Ajaz 23:19
No, you know, every culture has their, you know, pros and cons. So, you cannot bad mouth, any culture? That is? Absolutely, that’s not what I would like to do. I like to embrace all of the good part of that. And, you know, openness. Hmm, that’s, you know, in the culture is, you know, you speak your mind, if you feel like saying something, you would you would say it, but you say it in such a tone that the other person will understand you, and they will not be offended by it. So, you know, that’s, you just want to make sure, because the way you ask the questions, it’s where it you can achieve a lot, okay. But if you if you, my father, you know, used to say that, hey, give respect, to earn respect. So that says, you know, the one thing I, I would say is, there’s so many good things in, you know, for example, an opportunity if, if you are, if you work hard, and if you do your work on time, do all the checkboxes where it needs to be checked. That is the opportunities, you know, those opportunities are not available in May in, you know, Pakistan at this point, but it is available here. So, that is something is excellent, you know, you don’t need to worry about that. You being a brown person, you will be discriminated against. I never had that issue. So, you know, I guess I’m the lucky one. You know, there’s a lot of stories out there on that. So, you know, there’s all those good things I would like to have, which I have embraced, you know, going, going out and going out at night, you don’t feel threatened, you know, in some countries, or Well, here in some state in some towns or the places you can even go outside after, after sometime in the dark, because, you know, there are some shady characters out there probably, you know, may want to hurt you, or if they, you know, so. So those are the things here is you don’t need to worry about it, you can get into your car and drive and you don’t need to worry about it. Because that’s something is, we take that for granted. Believe me, in other countries, that is a luxury if you can do that. So you can just imagine, there’s so many things like I can talk about, it’s, it’s all we have, you know, so be grateful for that. And other countries, you can’t do that. You know, for example, if you’re talking to a policeman, you know, if you if you have a certain tone, you can tell them the way it is okay. I do not like the way you’re talking to me, sir. The way you have approached me why you stopped me, you know, what is the reason? But in other countries, you cant even do that. Because, but if you can’t even say without, you know, agreeing with them before because in other countries, what they do is before they even come to you, they would just slap you first and then ask.
Jessica Snowden 26:35
Oh, my gosh.
Ajaz 26:36
Yes. So you can imagine that.
Jessica Snowden 26:38
Jeez, yeah, I honestly didn’t even realize that’s something we take for granted here. Geez.
Ajaz 26:43
Yeah, I’m it’s a small thing. Water, for example, you know, we have a clean water. Thank God, people don’t even have water to drink. Okay, I mean, just the basic necessity
Jessica Snowden 27:00
I guess it really makes you think about how lucky you are to be in this country. Honestly, like its things youre taking for granted.
Ajaz 27:10
Like I said, You know, I am very, very grateful and thankful to my uncle, who is the one who sponsored us. And of course, my father, you know, he came in and of course, we all followed on that. So yes, I am. Absolutely embraces USA. Because USA has embraced me. So, you know, I would. I am I am so happy.
Jessica Snowden 27:39
Yeah, most definitely. Um, the next is more about like, I guess. Kind of like, I’m trying to figure out the best way to phrase this, but it’s more like, I guess some of the things. Well, I guess we’ll start off with this one. But what are some of the things that your favorite memory when you first got to America?
Ajaz 28:05
Oh, yeah, of course. Um, like, I remember I just said, you know, when I came to us, My first memory was walking around New York City, you know, Fifth Avenue. And also, they all have the famous streets, where you just walk in and you see all these neon sign billboards, clean. Well, the New York wasn’t that clean at that time. But, but, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s to, to walk around and riding the subway, because, you know, that’s something it’s even as of today, you know, they in some cities in Pakistan, they don’t have it. So it’s so you get, hold on.
Ajaz 29:23
Okay, can you hear me?
Jessica Snowden 29:25
Yes. Can you hear me? Okay?
Ajaz 29:26
Yeah, I’m sorry.
Ajaz 29:28
I had another.
Jessica Snowden 29:30
No, it’s all good.
Ajaz 29:31
And you know, because of that, okay. All right. I don’t know what they’re talking about. Oh,
Jessica Snowden 29:37
your first memory walking around in New York.
Ajaz 29:40
Oh, yeah. Yeah. walking around in New York City, you know, and having that is just just a memory embedded in, in the in the December having an ice cream. I think that’s probably is embedded in my edged in memory.
Jessica Snowden 30:02
So going off of the ice cream, what were your thoughts of the food?
Ajaz 30:09
I, you know, be honest with you food wise. I was not because, you know, I was not used to the food. And so we took me a little time to adjust that actually. But, you know, having the hamburgers, chicken, pizza, you know, subs and all that. So it makes it makes it makes it very interesting. But it took me a little time to adjust that.
Jessica Snowden 30:40
Was it just like the taste or the fact that it’s like really processed?
Ajaz 30:46
Yes. Because of the processed food. Excuse me, I think that was one reason. And having a soda all the time. I think when I was a kid, I was drinking soda, Mountain Dew all the time. And I would be nuts. So you know, are they? Yes, absolutely. I have done I have done my part on that as well. Being me, you know, drinking soda. So yes, I think that’s that has to do a little bit of that. But once I got into high school and with my you know, circle of friends, then of course, it is gotten better after that.
Jessica Snowden 31:29
Well, that’s good to hear that you got used to it after a while. I couldn’t even imagine going from I guess natural to processed.
Ajaz 31:38
Yeah, I know. It’s not easy.
Jessica Snowden 31:43
Um,
Jessica Snowden 31:43
so when going back to more, I guess the more tougher side of things, but what were some, aside from like, the language barrier, what were some, I guess, the biggest challenges you had? Being here? I guess at any point Really?
Ajaz 32:03
Well, the reason you know, for anybody who comes from another country now is it’s very different before you know, speaking English, right? In because the way you know, the way you speak, the way you write is it could be two different things. So I think I had I had to adjust that part. So when I write something, it’s not the same way as I the way I spoke. So it took me a little time to adjust that. And that’s where I believe one of my one of my English teacher in high school she she she really helped me out on that to understand and you know, I still tell my and my kids I think English is a stupid language Believe it or you may not agree with that, but when you when you when you speak another language and you have when you speak English that you can really really can say that that you know, it does not make sense the way the way you translate the way you say it. Because there are so multiple words there are some words they are written in certain ways, but they are but their pronunciation is different. So like how could that be you know, why would that be live? Live? Yeah, just a basic example of that. You know, when just daughter you know, you would say Do da you know, so those are the things you have to you never realize it and even kids here you know they will have the same issue with that so I had that trouble as well.
Jessica Snowden 33:57
Yeah, I’ve heard I think they said English is like one of the most complicated languages to learn because there’s like one word is three different meanings depending on how you pronounce it and things like that.
Jessica Snowden 34:09
Um, what are some I guess your I guess, proudest or best moments while actually wait I think I want to ask first, um, where in Nova did you live when you first came here?
Ajaz 34:25
I lived in Alexandria and I went to Arlington campus Arlington campus is the the know why went to No Actually no, I went to Alexandria first and then I got transferred because I took the courses. And I went to the the Arlington Oh no. I’m sorry. annadale. not Arlington,
Jessica Snowden 34:56
um, cuz I just wanna know is is that Like, I guess being a nova and going to school here is that the main reason why you like stayed here and decided to raise a family in Nova, like, Did you ever think about moving to another part of the country at all?
Ajaz 35:12
Because my whole family lived here, and I had no reason to move. Because you know, when you have a family, you basically have a network system, which is already built. So why you want to just, you know, detach yourself and go somewhere else, and start out a new network. So that’s why, you know, it was easier. It was a, it was a clear choice to just stay, stay put in the same Northern Virginia.
Jessica Snowden 35:42
Make sense. Plus, there’s like, also, like, so much stuff to do here with DC, and everything.
Ajaz 35:49
Um, no, absolutely. Yeah. What a beautiful, beautiful.
Jessica Snowden 35:54
Um, what, are some of your proudest moments being here in America?
Ajaz 36:01
Well, obviously, you know, going through college, you know, raising a family but having a job. I always wanted to be in the bank. In business, the reason was a couple of my cousin’s back home in Pakistan. They were bankers. And they were, you know, in a good office, nice. VP, Executive Vice President. So I always had that fascination of that. So I always had in my mind, I want to I want to work in the banking business. But I never knew what part of banking so I started out as just the cashier, and that’s how I got in. But that was that’s all it took me to get in. And that’s where I am today. So this is my proudest moment that I joined the banking industry in the USA, and I’ve learned a whole lot.
Jessica Snowden 37:02
You worked on the way up? Wow.
Ajaz 37:07
Oh, absolutely. Yes. It’s been 32 years.
Jessica Snowden 37:12
Oh, my gosh.
Jessica Snowden 37:14
Is it with the same like company or a different one than the one you started at?
Ajaz 37:19
No, no, a different different banks. so far. I mean, I started, I started in Alexandria, that’s where I started. And then I worked in McLean for a while and, and then from there, you know, different places, but I always lived here in the same area, what did the same area?
Jessica Snowden 37:39
Um,
Jessica Snowden 37:40
is there anything else that you’re hoping to accomplish here?
Ajaz 37:48
not, you know, recently, I’ve, we have started a nonprofit organization. So we want to help people, especially in the pandemic, you know, time and so we have, we are working towards that, and this is, this is my goal is to help anybody, anyone who needs help and help them out, if they need to be, they need to be fed, they need some food wise, they need help with the, with the utilities, bills, or whatever. So, so I started with, with my, one of my good friends, we started this nonprofit organization, and we’re working on that to get going Actually,
Jessica Snowden 38:38
that’s really amazing. What’s the name of the nonprofit?
Ajaz 38:44
is called hope 786 dot org.
Jessica Snowden 38:49
Oh, sorry.
Jessica Snowden 38:52
I was asked, was it people in this area? or is it Like, nationally?
Ajaz 39:00
Yeah, it is. Well, mainly around in this area, but we would, you know, we do it nationally. Yes.
Jessica Snowden 39:07
That’s really amazing.
Ajaz 39:11
Thank you.
Jessica Snowden 39:13
Um, so you’ve been in this country for a long time, and you’d love it here and you’ve worked up and done amazing things. Um, so if you knew someone else that was planning on immigrating from, I guess any, any country to America, what is like something you’d tell them to expect?
Ajaz 39:35
Well,
Ajaz 39:37
if they are coming now, I would, I would tell them, hey, not to worry. Because we have some good level headed people in the government. And they have a good support system here. They just need to because now, it’s so easy to hold any information. You know, you, you just have a Google in your hand. And you can just simply find out anything you want, you want to know, you really, you just need the guidance of this, the people, you know, like a support system I was talking about, they need to find somebody who can, um, you know, be a mentor, because that’s very important in anyone’s life. So I would tell, you know, my kids also, you guys, you need to have a mentor in your life. So you can be on the right track. So whoever comes in, I would ask them to do exactly same, if you have somebody there, he or she can help you.
Jessica Snowden 0:47
Social media definitely probably makes it a lot easier to not even not just probably what to expect, but it definitely connects you to like different people to talk to.
Ajaz 0:58
Oh, yeah, absolutely. And you have to be careful when you when you talk to somebody who is invisible, because you don’t know who he or she is and what their intentions are. So you have to be careful, obviously there as well.
Jessica Snowden 1:18
Um, so the next thing I wanted to ask is,
Jessica Snowden 1:24
what do you or what’s something that you wish more, I guess more like, native born American citizens would understand or know about immigrants?
Ajaz 1:38
Absolutely. The data, you know, shows on that is the immigrants who are living in the United States and been living here for a while. They are the people who make the most amount of money and they pay most amount of taxes. So, right now, the Indian Americans are making over 120,000 average.
Jessica Snowden 2:08
Oh, wow.
Ajaz 2:09
Okay. The Pakistani Americans are making about $75,000.
Ajaz 2:19
You know, yes. So I mean, you know, those are the only two but there’s, you know, I mean, the Iranians there, they are Filipinos, they are Chinese, so, so there’s all sorts of people who are contributing to the society and all of the, and the taxes, the amount of money they’re paying, it’s just unbelievable, because they need to look at them is
Ajaz 2:45
not everybody who is willing to work in McDonald’s at this point. Because when I came to this country, I worked in McDonald’s, you know, that’s how I started my career.
Ajaz 2:57
I, I wasn’t always worked in the banking business, in 84, through 87, I worked in McDonald’s, I worked at the gas station, I worked at the retail shop. So you know, I have done all of that. So all the new immigrants who comes in,
Ajaz 3:15
if they are not highly educated, they have to take those jobs, and not your average
Ajaz 3:23
person would would would take would work. Unless you are a college student. They are the only one who will work. And once they’re the degrees finished, they will move on to for their, you know, the job or the career they chose. So, these people who are coming as an immigrant, they will be working, and they are going to be the part of the society, they will be paying the taxes, they will be
Ajaz 3:51
embedded in the society, basically, so Americans need to understand immigration has always been good to the to the USA. There’s big part.
Ajaz 4:07
I don’t want to go off topic, but I want to give you a little
Jessica Snowden 4:09
no your good
Ajaz 4:10
bit of that. There’s a Okay, there’s an EB two visa is its investment purpose. The people who have money abroad. If you’re living in Europe, if you’re living in South America or Central America, or in Asian countries, or Middle East, you can bring a certain amount of money and you can open up a business can be anywhere between 150 to half a million dollars and you will earn a green card that way.
Jessica Snowden 4:41
Oh, wow.
Ajaz 4:42
Nobody talks about that. Yes. about that. It
Ajaz 4:47
it’s a huge there’s there’s a huge influx of those people who came to USA and brought in billions of dollars to the USA. So immigration is
Ajaz 5:00
is always good.
Ajaz 5:02
And you know, they should not be afraid to work hard. That’s the only requirement is for you to work hard. That’s it?
Jessica Snowden 5:11
Definitely. i feel like a lot of people
Jessica Snowden 5:16
espeically american because they definitely don’t know, they’re actually contributing to this. We’re in.
Ajaz 5:27
Yes, absolutely. So, you know, it’s just the information it needs to be more, you know, available on in the media maybe, should be talked about more, but, you know, those things are available.
Jessica Snowden 5:43
Um, so the last thing that I, I guess the last thing left is just anything else that you would like to add that has not been asked for?
Ajaz 5:58
Hmm.
Ajaz 6:00
Actually, not? Not really, I think you covered pretty much everything.
Ajaz 6:07
I don’t, I don’t see anything that you know, I can add more. I guess. That’s the one we talked about it is plenty.
Jessica Snowden 6:18
Well thats good to know, I covered all the bases. Um, so again, I just want to thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview today and for sharing your story and just helping people understand more about immigrants.
Ajaz 6:32
Appreciate it, and appreciate you are, you know, you asked me to, to do this. And I am I am absolutely excited that it. Whatever you do with the information, hopefully it will help. Yeah, and you will get A on your paper.
Jessica Snowden 6:56
Thank you. Yeah, the story is basically like this gets posted on a website where people can like go and like research and learn about immigrants from different countries.
Ajaz 7:06
Okay, excellent. Excellent.
Jessica Snowden 7:09
Thank you so much. You have a good rest of your day and rest of 2020
Ajaz 7:12
You’re welcome.
Ajaz 7:15
All righty. Appreciate it. You take care bye bye
Jessica Snowden 7:18
bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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