Reflections on Immigration Challenges in America

I must admit, in America, after four years of living here,

my rose-colored glasses are starting to slip off and my mood and motivation are dropping, honestly, guys.

Don't think that I'm some kind of vatnik,

or some kind of defector, or that I'm constantly changing my mind.

Nobody is paying me for my video,

I'm just sharing my opinion. I came here, like most people, in 2022.

I never hide it, I got scared when the war started in Russia,

and that those who supported Navalny were being persecuted.

I thought I had lucked out, like many strangers who were with me at the border, who came here.

Everyone thought we were the luckiest people because we were at the beginning,

arriving here in 2022, when kind President Biden and his press secretary let everyone in.

We arrived and thought, I thought, how is this even possible,

that I, a simple poor kid from Omsk, got Los Angeles, roughly speaking, that very sleek freedom everyone dreamed of.

But after one year of adrenaline, two years of adrenaline, when you feel the journey, you can live in a room,

live in a hostel, you have savings, you can travel to Chicago, to Miami.

In Russia, there's war, shelling, sanctions, and it doesn't affect you, you're far away.

But over time, of course, you change things a bit, because I just started living a normal life,

I just wanted to live like all the other guys.

I worked two jobs because I wanted to rent an apartment, not a room, but an apartment,

but to rent an apartment,

you have to work two jobs for three years already, meaning a six-day week. Four years.

It's a shame because there's no rest, no vacations, no sick leave, no maternity leave.

Anyway, that's not the point.

To get legalized, I thought that right now, when I arrived,

I was 22 years old, in 2022, I thought that now

I'll win the court case, get a green card, and join the civil service or the US Army.

But no, everyone's court dates are being postponed, and even if you win your asylum case,

you still have to wait another three years for a green card.

So I arrived at 22, and even if I get a green card around 30 or 31,

by 32, I won't really want to join the US Army as a private, running around with Latinos for 2,000 dollars a

month. I thought, once I turn 25, due to insurance requirements, I'll be able to drive a truck,

like all the guys, they went to drive a CDL truck, because everyone I knew who did made money.

And everyone who didn't go to drive a truck didn't make anything.

So, I thought, I'll turn 25, but as soon as I turn 25, they stop renewing work permits for everyone,

and then Trump says there will be no more CDL and truck licenses for immigrants without a green card.

And lately, some of my acquaintances have been writing to me,

who didn't talk to me before, who were at the border with me, writing,

"Oh, Misha, we have a family and kids, we lived for four years off trucking, how do we survive in the city?

You live in the city, but here we are working food delivery, Uber Eats,

Lyft, side gigs, handyman, appliance repair, and everything you earn, you just give away,

they have nothing left."

I say, well, guys, this is the city, this is the land. You drove a truck there, made money,

laughed at those on the land, and now you are on the land yourselves, and they'll put you to work.

I begged for four years. I created this blog not for views,

but so that some Russian person would take pity on me and give me some work, and that's what happened.

In 2023, my friend Sanya, thanks to him, got me a job in a restaurant through connections.

Not as a cook, but in a front-of-house position with tips in a good place.

And that's how I've been working until now.

Plus, I then found a second job in security. I increased my hours.

But two stable, official jobs allowed me to survive.

And one quiet day off.

And living with my girlfriend in an apartment.

Just getting by without any loans.

I don't have a car loan. It was my girlfriend who bought a car on credit,

to work in a taxi. Because my girlfriend cannot, due to health reasons, break her back and carry heavy loads like me.

And I've been carrying heavy loads on night shifts for four years.

I begged other Russians, kind Americans.

I even joined the Mormon sect. I begged, please, give me a job so they wouldn't whip me.

So they wouldn't beat me. So my legs wouldn't burst from blood.

Because I stand in one place for eight hours and make 800 desserts in eight hours.

To the point of convulsions, of cramps.

I begged Russians, Americans. "Is there any work?"

Because I made attempts to find a job on LinkedIn, Indeed.

I tried everything. I made different resumes.

Accountant.

Homeless case manager.

Insurance claim adjuster.

Fraud investigator analyst. SQL analyst. Data analyst.

I tried everything. Americans won't hire me because there's a surplus here.

There are 300 million people here. They need to put university graduates somewhere.

That is, people don't understand what America is.

There are diasporas here in which most sectors are occupied.

In the north, it's Arabs, Africans, Somalis.

In the south, it's Mexicans.

In Chicago, it's Ukrainians,

Moldovans, Kyrgyz.

And Russians, well, they only have self-employment.

Either a Russian truck.

Or a Russian handyman, odd jobs.

Russian appliance repair, washing machines.

Or food delivery, taxi. They work for themselves, unofficially.

They work like this all their lives, then have no pension.

Because nobody hires them officially.

Yes, there is one percent of Russians who found a job as an IT specialist, a programmer.

With kind Americans. But then again, right now it's not very stable.

Finding such a job is hard, and keeping it is even harder.

They're laying people off and only hiring on contract, which they then don't renew.

That's why everything has become very difficult.

There's no point in buying an apartment here, because of HOA fees, taxes are going up, and mortgage rates will rise if you buy one.

It still won't be yours anyway.

And buying a house here is, unfortunately, impossible. So, essentially, yes, I'm grateful to America for taking me in, letting me in, but I can't escape physical drudgery.

I can't go into trucking.

The only prospect is Russian/CIS odd jobs working for myself, with no pension, because taxes are written off to zero at the end of the year, as there's no money to pay them.

Actually, I see the truth.

It's a cruel world, but I'm grateful that at least there is some work.

But I'll be realistic, most likely, considering that now most people have lost their only job, trucking, which fed everyone.

When the war ends between Russia and Ukraine, yes, I know, there is a new risk of a new mobilization there, there is a harsh dictatorship, and those relocants are being heavily pressured.

That's a fact, that's life, that's why I left. I'm not saying Russia is some good country, or that I'm kissing Putin's ass, I'm just stating the fact that I think as soon as the war ends, and there's the first sign that relocants won't be touched,

about 80 percent, especially families with children, will get out of here, because you don't understand what America is, and that here, because of the fact that—you, I hope, will understand me,

because there is very little manufacturing and resource extraction here, due to the fact that there are practically no factories or resource extraction,

this entire huge population competes for other jobs.

That is, in fact, for a restaurant job the competition is, like, thousands of people per position,

because there is simply no other work. This is an internal consumption market.

Just so you understand what America is.

Imagine you are standing, and all around is suburbia, one-story buildings.

In this suburbia, in these houses, live Americans

of the fifth generation, with

fair skin. They are doctors of several generations, electrical power engineers,

military plant workers with security clearance.

They are police officers, schoolteachers,

they are lawyers, attorneys.

This entire state gravy train, or elite American professions.

And you have to understand where I can go in this world around us.

Because if you can work with your hands, you'll either fix their cars or fix their houses.

And if you can't fix cars or houses, you'll grab a bag and deliver food to their doors, or drive them to the airport in a taxi,

for their vacation.

Well, I didn't have any opportunities.

All I could do was get a job at a restaurant for these Americans, wiping their tables and cooking their food.

Desserts, 800 desserts a night.

This is natural selection, this is Darwinism, this is the harshest natural selection. Without healthcare,

without free kindergartens.

Without maternity leave,

without a pension for most immigrants.

That's life, but I chose it myself because I had the opportunity to get here, to see this beautiful world, but I most likely won't stay here for the rest of my life.

But I'm very grateful to America for taking me in, but it has become very hard to survive here.

Many of my acquaintances are experiencing great difficulties surviving here now in 2026.

That's a fact, guys.

I will never deny the main advantages of America.

Cars are really cheap here; any dishwasher, cleaner, or mover can buy a new Camry or Tesla on credit.

But there's also another side to this: if in Russia a car is a status symbol, cool, a success, here a car is just a burden used for taxi, delivery, or side jobs.

For some, it's a main job. So, basically, the car is affordable in California, so it's not a status symbol, which is the thing in a big American city.

On the other hand, yes, cheap iPhones, yes, undoubtedly, cheap burgers.

I don't deny that food is expensive in Russia, electronics are expensive, cars are expensive.

And yes, I don't deny that in America, most people can make three grand a month, up to five grand a month, most people.

If that's after taxes, after expenses.

Most people make three to four.

But why the fuck do I need those three to four grand if I spend my whole life giving it all away for rent, for overpriced food, for overpriced health insurance,

for overpriced, I don't know, all these basic needs,

like utilities, oil changes, registrations,

all these immigration fees.

It just gets annoying because I see the example of others around me,

I say, show me an example of specifically male success.

Yes, women have it good here,

Russian women are wanted here,

they marry Americans, they have a sweet life here, no questions about women.

But guys, men, are totally fucked here, seriously,

fuck, if you're not into it, if, say, you're not a big fan of

being a car mechanic all your life, or repairing houses and air conditioners,

then here, I think, you're really fucked, like, seriously,

no one will even deny this, even my haters won't deny it.

This is a country of domestic services, many will say,

oh, you'll live so poorly there in Vietnam,

or in Thailand on those, on $600 a

month, or in the CIS on $600 a month, man, guys, I mean

I know, but I've been working myself to the bone, I've really worked myself to the bone, it's gotten really hard for me.

I just think about what kind of future I will give to my children.

I just look at my colleagues at work.

They've worked as busboys their entire lives.

They are already 50 years old.

They get their kids jobs as busboys too.

So, basically, an immigrant gives their kids the same shitty, impoverished future.

I don't want that. Anyway,

if I manage within the next year or two

to legalize, get a green card, join the US Army, become a civil servant,

become a soldier, then okay.

Then I can stay here and get a pension.

Otherwise, the only option is to live in poor countries,

like Vietnam or the CIS, and work remotely,

get into IT. Because, damn it, I didn't come to America,

to slave away as a delivery guy, a cleaner, a mover, a handyman, with no pension, no

future. No. No, no, no, no, no.

I tried to find a normal job.

I tried for four years. I begged, but it didn't work.

Well, what can you do? It didn't work, so

it wasn't meant to be, then.

We'll see, I have one more year and that's it.