The Expat and the Immigrant

A more interesting critique of the immigrant/expat divide examines their respective social realities—namely, the colonial legacies that elevate the expat but inflict violence on the immigrant.

by Navid Zarrinnal

As a middle-class Iranian citizen, I imagined the United States to be a desirable destination for new beginnings, despite many years of revolutionary propaganda against the imperial power. But after spending some years in the United States, I returned to my hometown of Tehran, in search of work.

In this act of ‘reverse immigration,’ I s…