Deception and Immigration: What to Think?

The most common deception in U.S. immigration is not sneaking across a border, but visiting lawfully, overstaying one’s visa or permit, and getting lost in the background. What should we think about these immigrants? Do they have character flaws that make them unfit for our society? Would we do the same if in their circumstances? As we struggle to answer these questions, Susan Weissman has published “Mark ‘Etienne’ Zborowski: Portrait of Deception,” in Critique.  The good Zborowski arrived in Philadelphia in late 1941, having fled the Nazis. His multi-lingual abilities were put to use by military intelligence. After WWII, he settled into a successful academic career. Zborowski authored an ethnographic study of Central and Eastern European Jewish culture, based on interviews with refugees. The resulting book, Life Is With People: The Culture of the Shtetl, is credited with influencing the writing of Fiddler on the Roof. Prof. Weissman exposes a dark past of Zborowski—life under a different name, Etienne, and his infiltration of anti-Stalinist plotters (often revealing them, which led to their deaths). One implication? When people immigrate to the U.S., they try to find a new life with success defined by the conditions they find here. For more: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/08/20/article-mark-zborowski-scholar-and-spy