[b]America has long been scrutinized for its policies and legislation surrounding immigration, and it seems like African immigrants from sub-Saharan countries are carrying some of the heaviest burdens.

When making the journey across the Atlantic, many African immigrants have no idea that they are leaving behind more than just a familiar land.

Those who have reputations as successful doctors and engineers, those who have worked tirelessly to earn some of the highest accolades universities have to offer and those who have spent years climbing their respective career ladders are often leaving those accomplishments behind as well.

Once they cross the boarder into America, many are forced to navigate a disheartening transition from economic success to a financial downfall that leaves them in the unforgiving grasps of poverty.

Highly educated and successful immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are generally underemployed in America, despite a few states initiating new practices and policies to help curve this troubling trend.

This is a story that Nasser Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, West Africa, is all too familiar with.

Diallo fled his home after the military sprayed protesters with a wave of bullets. The former political journalist was covering the demonstration when the tragedy struck, according to The Root.

When word got out that the military government was looking for him, he knew he had to leave his home behind. With no transcripts or other documentation to serve as proof of his extensive professional background in journalism, his career failed to take off in America.

“I had to make a very, very tough choice to go back to school and restart from scratch,” Diallo, who also held a law degree back in Guinea, told The Root. “I didn’t have a choice. I was going nowhere. By the time I’m going to graduate, I’ll be maybe 50.”

Unfortunately, Diallo’s story is only becoming more and more common as a part of a system that some experts say has resulted in widespread “brain waste.”

“We’ve all heart about brain drain,” Jeanne Batalova, a senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, told The Root. “This is brain waste.”

MPI reports that 1 in every 5 college-educated immigrants from another country is actually unemployed or underemployed in America. This means doctors, lawyers, psychologists, journalists, educators, esteemed authors, nurses and other professionals who have a lot to offer their communities and the economy at large, are instead being forced into unemployment lines or being asked to fulfill duties that don’t even utilize their degrees or years of experience in a particular field.

In addition to the cultural barriers and obstacles of racial discrimination, experts also point to the varying federal and state requirements for different professions in the U.S. as a culprit behind the underemployment of these immigrants.

“If you’re a nurse or a doctor, there are so many federal and state requirements that you have to fill,” Jeff Gross, the director of the New Americans Integration Institute at the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, told The Root. “It’s very, very complicated and time-consuming.”

In professions of all types, however, there has always been a greater value placed on American degrees when compared to other countries across the globe; thus presenting yet another major hurdle in the way of highly educated immigrants.

Despite the severity of such a problem, little has been done to address the issue on a federal level, although states like Michigan have been slightly more proactive by teaming up with Upwardly Global.

Upwardly Global is described by The Root as an “employment advocacy agency for immigrants, to craft clear-cut licensing guides for 20 professions, so immigrants know exactly how to proceed.”

The state has also passed a bill that helps experienced barbers from other countries launch their businesses in America sooner without having to fulfill the same amount of instruction hours as someone without professional experience under their belt.

Another bill, passed in February, was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly to prohibit anyone from denying someone a professional license because of their immigration status.[/b]
http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/05/20/highly-educated-african-migrants-find-themselves-trapped-in-cycle-of-poverty-in-america/

na dem wan wallow in poverty.
get to Yankee young, prepare your mind to retrain and move up food chain, stop white collar mentality

plan b
make money
take home as capital and invest
turn brain drain Un brain gain instead of lamenting

shows that they aren't really highly educated
Just.highly schooled same difference

mikolo80:
na dem wan wallow in poverty.
get to Yankee young, prepare your mind to retrain and move up food chain, stop white collar mentality

plan b
make money
take home as capital and invest
turn brain drain Un brain gain instead of lamenting

lmao
its funny what you said but you are right that's the reality of this world today, your spot on in plan a and b

mikolo80:
shows that they aren't really highly educated
Just.highly schooled same difference

yea you have some points and another question that needs to be asked is highly educated in what? are they highly educated as a surgeon or highly educated as a lawyer cause those two will give different results in jobs

anonymous6:


yea you have some points and another question that needs to be asked is highly educated in what? are they highly educated as a surgeon or highly educated as a lawyer cause those two will give different results in jobs

exactly, imagine NY surprising finding out that many blacks are doing minimum wage jobs when maximum wage jobs are literally begging for workers. all due to ignorance

anonymous6:


lmao
its funny what you said but you are right that's the reality of this world today, your spot on in plan a and b

thanks. I think it's good to have an educated plan. but theory Is easy. May God help us to implement our proposal

besides if they were truly educated they would not need to travel out as their education should have solved the problem that made their country unlivable in the first place

mikolo80:
exactly, imagine NY surprising finding out that many blacks are doing minimum wage jobs when maximum wage jobs are literally begging for workers. all due to ignorance

so true, its sad

mikolo80:
thanks. I think it's good to have an educated plan. but theory Is easy. May God help us to implement our proposal

besides if they were truly educated they would not need to travel out as their education should have solved the problem that made their country unlivable in the first place

you have a point but the problem with African countries is corruption and instability has inhibited some educated Africans to prosper in African countries unless they have connections, that's why many run to the western world. The western world is not perfect but there is stability and assurance for tomorrow and some Africans would rather chose that then fight with a system in Africa where tomorrow is not guaranteed and there is no accountability for people doing wrong on top people suffering on the bottom working for them.

anonymous6:


you have a point but the problem with African countries is corruption and instability has inhibited some educated Africans to prosper in African countries unless they have connections, that's why many run to the western world. The western world is not perfect but there is stability and assurance for tomorrow and some Africans would rather chose that then fight with a system in Africa where tomorrow is not guaranteed and there is no accountability for people doing wrong on top people suffering on the bottom working for them.

that's what I used to think
our problem not corruption

our problem is no one wants to sacrifice for the greater Good
like you pointed out we prefer apparent path of least resistance thinking grass is greener on other side even though the same commitment and effort would have produced even better results at home with attendant multiplier effect
but we choose to survive on white man's crumbs (can't blame us sha)
Just saying it as it is

BTW everyone has connections and everyone can make more connections
we simply believe ourselves inferior and will remain so until that mindset changes

we are the ones that encourage lack of accountability, praise singing thieves and rogues while laughing at upright men and women
we're simply reaping bountifully what we've sown

mikolo80:
that's what I used to think
our problem not corruption

our problem is no one wants to sacrifice for the greater Good
like you pointed out we prefer apparent path of least resistance thinking grass is greener on other side even though the same commitment and effort would have produced even better results at home with attendant multiplier effect
but we choose to survive on white man's crumbs (can't blame us sha)
Just saying it as it is

BTW everyone has connections and everyone can make more connections
we simply believe ourselves inferior and will remain so until that mindset changes

we are the ones that encourage lack of accountability, praise singing thieves and rogues while laughing at upright men and women
we're simply reaping bountifully what we've sown

You are right nobody wants to sacrifice but like you said we cant blame them though they are trying to survive, its sad but the bitter reality.

True many Nigerians praise lack of accountability but many others don't praise it but accept that there complaints will not be respected, so they don't bother. Thieves get praise and upright men and women get laughed at cause of the results of their lifestyle, sad but true

anonymous6:


You are right nobody wants to sacrifice but like you said we cant blame them though they are trying to survive, its sad but the bitter reality.

True many Nigerians praise lack of accountability but many others don't praise it but accept that there complaints will not be respected, so they don't bother. Thieves get praise and upright men and women get laughed at cause of the results of their lifestyle, sad but true

Hope to join the struggle as soon ar I can escape this obodo oyinbo

mikolo80:
Hope to join the struggle as soon ar I can escape this obodo oyinbo

lol, its good what you are doing. For me I want to invest in Nigeria so may God help us