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Franz Strasser explores U.S. immigration

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German-born Franz Strasser, a BBC digital journalist, has been travelling across the United States for BBC World News America talking to immigrants to find out their stories. Arizona’s new immigration has thrust immigrants into the national spotlight. Strasser, who came to the United States two years ago, brings to his reporting a unique perspective. The World’s Anchor Marco Werman interviews Strasser.Download MP3

Watch Strasser’s report “Into America: First Glimpse of America”

• Franz Strasser’s On the road series
• See images from Strasser’s journey on Flickr
• Follow Strasser’s trip on Twitter
• Arizona’s immigration law

Read the Transcript
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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. A federal judge in Arizona today began hearing arguments challenging that state’s new immigration law. The Obama Administration is asking the judge to stop the law from going into effect next week. The measure would require officers to check a person’s immigration status if the officers suspect the person is in the country illegally. The law has considerable support in Arizona and in other parts of the country. That’s left many immigrants, legal or illegal, feeling under scrutiny. We’re going to hear now from one immigrant who’s got a unique perspective on all this.

FRANZ STRASSER:  I immigrated to America two years ago with the hope of becoming a journalist. Starting in Washington DC, I’m setting out to travel this country and speak to as many immigrants as I can.

WERMAN:  That’s Franz Strasser. He did become a journalist for the BBC and he’s already met lots of immigrants in his travels across the US. Here are some excerpts from his video blog which we have linked to from our website, TheWorld.org.

FEMALE SPEAKER: I’ve always wanted to visit the United States since I was six years old.

FEMALE SPEAKER: It’s the little pieces of culture and history that make you who you are as a human being.

FEMALE SPEAKER: I love America.

WERNER: Franz Strasser is literally in the middle of Kansas at the moment as he crisscrosses the country. He joins us now. Franz, you’re a recent immigrant yourself from Germany to the US. How does your perspective help to tell the stories of people you’ve interviewed along the way?

STRASSER: I think it added a little bit in terms of my observations and especially in the way that I asked questions. And so I feel like we were sort of on the same page with all these people no matter if they were refugees from Burma or Somalia or if they were PhD’s from China or bankers from Germany. I think we were sort of on the same page with the immigration issue.

WERMAN:  So tell me the kinds of questions you’re asking of these recent emigres?

STRASSER: The most simple question you can ask is, why the United States? And you will hear amazing answers because this hasn’t changed in the last 150 years. People still come here to have a better life, especially for their children. I think what has changed though is that in their home countries, especially if you’re coming from a developing countries, things have changed a lot. So the United States is not this final destination for some of them anymore, but it’s still very much a stepping stone for a better life that might lead them to actually return to their country.

WERMAN:  I can’t help but imagine this project has altered your own perspective, Franz, about life here in the US and how you’re processing it.

STRASSER: This place, especially if you want to do journalism and if you like asking questions to people and if you like to see a variety of cultures, then this is definitely the place to be. I mean I really did, I expected this to be the case on the east coast and in New York City and in San Francisco. I didn’t expect to find it in Garden City, Kansas, four hours away from Wichita and five hours away from Denver, Colorado.

WERMAN: Now, you’re going to wind up this trip next Monday in Mayo, Florida. Now that’s significant because you were an exchange student in 2001 in Mayo, Florida. What was your first impression of Mayo, of the United States, and are you looking forward to returning?

STRASSER: I look so much forward to seeing my family again. I’ve been in touch with them ever since. I basically come back once a year. This is how much I like this place. And people even there laugh about it. They cannot imagine that this German who has lived in New York and in Berlin really likes Mayo, Florida, in the middle of nowhere between Tallahassee and Gainesville. People here are just so nice.

WERMAN: The BBC’s Franz Strasser, a digital journalist based in Washington, DC. His Insight America blog for BBC World News America can be found at BBC.com/news. Franz, very good to speak with you. Thank you.

STRASSER: Thank you for having me.

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