Because of my background and personal connections, if I had to migrate to another country I think I would be in a pretty good situation compared to others. My first thought is that I would go to Spain, because I have family friends that live in Barcelona and the surrounding area. I have some money saved up from waitressing that I could use to buy a plane ticket and I know they would help me figure out a place to live, help me get a job, etc. Knowing them, they would probably also send me to university, so I could apply for a student visa. I have a US passport, so I wouldn’t need a visa to enter the country initially. I have been learning Spanish for a few years and, while it is far from perfect, having basic communication abilities would be extremely beneficial.
I know that compared to other migrants to Spain, this would put me in an extremely well-off position. I probably wouldn’t even be considered a migrant–I’d probably be categorized using words that hardly ever have negative connotations, like an expat or a “transplant”. In terms of target/agent dynamics, some of my agent identities would be that I have people who are Spanish citizens to help me navigate most of the issues I would encounter, like obtaining housing and work, I’m from the US, I’m white, and I speak some Spanish. I think my target identities would be basically the same as here in the US–being a woman, being part of the LGBTQ+ community–with the added component of being an immigrant, though because of my US citizenship I know I wouldn’t be viewed with all of the same biases as people from other countries are.
This reflection demonstrates that different privileges greatly affect peoples’ experiences moving to other countries. Where I am in a position to feel safe moving to Spain, and look forward to the possibility of doing so in the future (though hopefully not through circumstances outside of my control like in this prompt), other people might not for a variety of reasons.
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