Brown colored countries have higher amounts of outgoing migrants, while blue countries have high amounts of incoming migrants.

Every country around the world has some number of people who decide to migrate. Migratory movements include incoming and outgoing migration. For some countries, like the U.S., incoming migration is more abundant while other countries, like Dominica and the rest of the Caribbean Islands have more outgoing migration. Whether people migrate into a country or out of a country there are many reasons for this movement. The United States of America has the greatest numbers of culturally diversified migrants than any other country in the world.

Max Jeffery, the migrant interviewee, at work.

            Living in Arizona, which borders with Mexico, I have met many migrants and migrant families. At my current place of work is where I met Max. We both work in the food and beverage department at Terravita Golf Club; Max is a chef for the restaurant and I work in the snack bar. Max is the first migrant I have met that is not Mexican or Latino. I saw this interview as the perfect opportunity to understand why and how Max came to the U.S. from the island of Dominica.

            When I first approached Max about interviewing him he did not seem to think his migration was important. The more he told about himself, the more excited I was to learn about him, his family and this area of the world I knew nothing about. When he begun answering some pre-interview questions, I kept telling him how interesting his story was. He would respond to my statements by telling me, “It’s not cool or interesting, It’s real”. So after work one day, Max was willing to sit down with me to tell me the story of his life on the Island, his migration and his life today in the United States.

Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-eek-a) is part of the Caribbean.

            The following pages contain Max’s story told in his own words but written by Sarah Schalte. First under the Max Comes to the Mainland tab, Max tells the story from his point of view of how his father brought Max and his siblings to the U.S. This section also explains how Max finally ends up in Arizona, a bit about his family, where they are, and more. Then under Max Remembers Back Home, Max tells us a bit about his childhood, what he misses and explains if he will ever go back. Before reading about Max’s story there is a short background section under the About Dominica tab. Lastly, Migration Analysis will analyze how migration has affected the island of Dominica today. I will use books and other readings we used in our Migration and Culture class, as well as other sources I found through my own research to assist in my own explanation of Dominican migration.