Question

The Dust Bowl was a severe dust storm that ravaged the Southern Plains in the 1930s, causing many residents of this region to lose their
livelihoods and homes, and ultimately migrate to California. Even though the Dust Bowl survivors fled their homes out of desperation in
search of a new place to live, many Californians did not want the survivors immigrating to their state. Some of the Californians believed
they were intruders, competing for land and jobs. Write an essay that argues your viewpoint on this topic. Were the survivors of the Dust
Bowl intruders or refugees? Support your claim with reasons and evidence.

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

The Dust Bowl survivors were much closer to being refugees than to being intruders. By definition, an intruder is someone who enters a place  without permission with the purpose of committing a crime.

The current definition of refugee, as given by the United Nations, is of a person who needs to leave their country due to violence, war, or persecution. The survivors of the Dust Bowl did not leave their country, but had to move inside it, which makes them internally displaced people, or IDP. IDP is a person who leaves their home seeking safety, be it due to violence or natural disasters, but this person does not cross the border to another country. Still, the premise is the same as of a refugee: the search for security, for basic living conditions.

The survivors may have been seen as intruders back then, but they were doing what anyone in the same circumstance would do. They were fighting to stay alive. They were seeking protection, and safety, just like refugees.