NOAH HOLT Staff writer

The Roar sat down with Samra Malim, an immigrant form Mumbai, India, to discuss what being an immigrant truly meant to her.

Q: How old were you when you came to the United States?

A: I was four when I came here

Q: Why did you have to leave your country of origin to come to the U.S?

A: My dad wanted more opportunities for my sisters and I in regards to education and our future.

Q: What do you want other people to know about being an immigrant?

A: It’s already difficult enough having to settle into an environment completely different from where you’re born and having to leave everything behind. People make it more difficult by showing discrimination against immigrants.

Q: Do you feel like people treat you differently because you are an immigrant?

A: There’s many times I’ve felt that even looking different has caused a difference in treatment, so additionally being seen as an immigrant is worse.

Q: What is the hardest part about being a Muslim immigrant in the United States today?

A: The hardest part about being a Muslim immigrant is that you’re in constant fear. You come to a country looking for freedom, but it’s not that much different than where one may have come from. The only difference is that there’s a false “veil of freedom.”

Q: What does it feel like to you to be an immigrant in the United States?

A: I feel like I have to work ten times harder than a normal teenager or student to get anywhere that I want, because that’s how much more difficult it has been made for me.

Q: What is the best part or thing about being an immigrant?

A: The best part about being an immigrant is that I have become so appreciative. I know even with my struggles, there are so many people who still don’t get the opportunities I do. I never take anything for granted because I know how difficult it is to obtain anything, especially being an immigrant.