Skip to content
LPBN-Icon-v1
ImmigrationProf Blog
A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network

Book Event: We Thought It Would Be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America by Blair Sackett & Annette Lareau

By immigrationprof

We Thought It Would Be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America by Blair Sackett - Picture 1 of 1

 

MIGRATION SPEAKER SERIES

Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI) in partnership with UCSD’s Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, UCLA’s Center for the Study of International Migration, presents the next talk of Migration
Speaker Series.

BOOK TALK
WITH AUTHOR BLAIR SACKETT
FRIDAY, OCT 25, 2024
12:00 PM PST

COMMENTATOR:
HELEN MARROW, PROFESSOR, SOCIOLOGY, TUFTS
UNIVERSITY

Through the lived experiences of families resettled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Blair Sackett and Annette Lareau reveal how a daunting obstacle course of agencies and services can drastically alter refugees’ experiences of a new life in America. 

Please mark your calendars for this upcoming book event (via zoom) on 10/25/24.  This event may be recorded.  Please note that the time listed is Pacific Time.  Registration links here and here.

The event will discuss We Thought It Would Be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America (paperback – August 2023) by Blair Sackett & Annette Lareau.  One of the authors, Blair Sackett, will participate in the discussion.

The publisher describes the book as follows:

“Resettled refugees in America face a land of daunting obstacles where small things—one person, one encounter—can make all the difference in getting ahead or falling behind.

 Fleeing war and violence, many refugees dream that moving to the United States will be like going to Heaven. Instead, they enter a deeply unequal American society, often at the bottom. Through the lived experiences of families resettled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Blair Sackett and Annette Lareau reveal how a daunting obstacle course of agencies and services can drastically alter refugees’ experiences building a new life in America.
 
In these stories of struggle and hope, as one volunteer said, “you see the American story.” For some families, minor mistakes create catastrophes—food stamps cut off, educational opportunities missed, benefits lost. Other families, with the help of volunteers and social supports, escape these traps and take steps toward reaching their dreams. Engaging and eye-opening, We Thought It Would Be Heaven brings readers into the daily lives of Congolese refugees and offers guidance for how activists, workers, and policymakers can help refugee families thrive.”

KJ

Posted in:
Books and Current Affairs