Author: MUHAMMAD MOEED AFZAL

According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, international students contributed $44.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018.
According to Institute of International Education (IIE) make up 5.5 percent of the total U.S. higher education population.

For, most of these student’s life in America is not as easy as for an American citizen, which makes sense. Their whole life is changed. Most of them struggle emotionally and financially. They don’t have family, relative or friends they grew up with. So, in starting, life is much harder for these students. But as said in the video “you get used to this life-style with time”.

Fee for one semester for an international student is almost double because it is considered “out of state tuition”. And the money they get from back home is not enough because of the currency difference. First of all, it is very hard for them to get Social Security, even when they get, they can only work for 20 hours legally. So, many of them work off the books to meet their needs.

“The culture shock is one of the biggest thing you have to deal with, when you first come to America” said Moaz.
As someone who also grew up in Pakistan, I can relate to this. And Specially, students who come from South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, or any other Muslim countries. They are not used to American culture, but with time, they adapt to this culture.

But hardships apart, all the international students I have met or know, they all are very ambitious and see a bright future in America and still consider it as a land of opportunities which will pay them in the end for their hard work.

https://mafzal1.exposure.co/veil-in-america?source=share-mafzal1

Group:

Ricardo Vargas, Muhammad Afzal, Favion Stennett

Marriage fraud in united states has been happening for decades. A non us citizen marries a us citizen to get green card in exchange for money. And the amount for this fraud varies from $50,000 to $70,000.
Recently 100 people have been charged in Texas marriage fraud scheme to get Green Cards.

Muhammad Afzal spoke to a young woman in Long Island with the similar story.

Right Now, I am in Hicksville, a city of Long Island with huge south Asian community. The stores, restaurants, and the markets represent beautiful culture of south Asian countries. I’m on my way to meet a girl, who is 19 and only arrived in America six months ago from India.

I had to change her name at her request. So, Sash came to America with big ambitions, she wanted to start her college right away, and has been a bright student in India. Her certificates and awards from high school in her room shows her achievements.

“It was great at the start, I loved it. I met my parents after 5 years. I also came with the mindset of helping them financially. So, we could be a little happy family again”

But her parents are still not American citizen. So, they had different plans for her.

“They applied for an asylum, but the problem is, it still hasn’t been approved and doesn’t seem like, it will be any time soon”

So, they found an easy and the fastest way to get the green card, which was marrying their daughter with an American Citizen.

“It started about a month ago, they were like, O No, it’s time for you to get married. And I was like, but I am still too young, I haven’t even started my college yet. At first, they were trying to make me understand nicely. But then things got rough, they started forcing me too much, it was emotionally draining”.

Sash has still not agreed to marry yet, she is still trying to convince her parents. But this is not the story of just one girl. I met a woman who has been married for 5 years for the same reason. But most marriages in South Asian communities are not for the money, there is not money exchange. If a girl or a boy marries someone, they do it for the life, even if the purpose is to get the green card.

“I was married 5 years ago, have 2 kids now. I wasn’t married specifically for green card, or we didn’t give any money to my husband, but the goal was to come to united states”.

She was doing her bachelors back home, when her parents to decided to marry her abroad hoping for her better life.

“I was a bit reluctant at first, because I didn’t know the guy much, we talked for few months over the phone, I liked him, so I said yes, i am very happy with him”.

Marriages like these cannot be proven wrong, because there is no money exchange. But, is it morally right or wrong is the question to ask?

Thanks for watching. This is CNN Morning News.
I am Muhammad Afzal. Have a Great Day!

Seven years in America and i have never been to Dumbo. Main reason for that is because i live in Long Island, so the commute is very time consuming to go there (Also, because i don’t know how to get there in Subway :D).

It was my firs time and i did like the Experience. Well, I chose photos featuring Lynsey Addario OF LOVE AND WAR. I chose these specific photos because of the emotions and message it represents. As Americans, we will look at it and show how much we “care” about our soldiers by saying “Thank you for your Service”.

But, we should also think, that  why are we putting our soldiers in these wars. Are we in it, because of the so called freedom, or we don’t know how to get out of Afghanistan now. The war which has been costing us billions/trillions along with the human cost. Do, we really need to be in it anymore? Folks, who make war decisions, needs to be questioned that our Military Budget is $700 Billion, still our veterans suicide. WHY?. Suicide of even one soldier related to economic or health issues exposes government’s hypocrisy. The pain in these photos should be felt, not just said in words.

Are soldiers just props to be used on political rally’s?