The text 1,360 ft3 by Wayde Compton suggests that only certain kinds of immigrants are welcome in Vancouver. The “Mystery Migrant” that arrives in Vancouver in a container from Hong Kong, is shown to be completely unwelcome. The public reacts to her presence negatively, sending in letters “depict[ing] her as some sort of terrorist or spy” (18). One letter suggests “she should be stuffed back in the container they found her in, locked up, and sent to Hong Kong with ‘return to sender’ painted on the side” (18). These examples indicate that the first problem Vancouver has with this migrant is her foreignness, which is depicted in several ways.
A difference of race is suggested to be one of the first reasons Vancouver rejects the migrant. As the migrant arrives without a passport or ID, and immigration officers are unable to identify
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With the soring real estate prices, any immigrant needs money to purchase a home. An immigrant can still survive in Vancouver without large capital, but the city becomes a hostile place for them to live. Immigrants like the “Mystery Migrant” would struggle to meet their daily living expenses. Likewise gaining money is also hard in Vancouver because any immigrant would also need to meet certain requirements to get a job, such as education, references and/or background in some occupation. Therefore only immigrants that are wealthy or have good jobs are welcome in Vancouver. Otherwise it is difficult to afford to live in Vancouver.
The “Mystery Migrant” is revealed to be a performance, and a Canadian citizen. Her performance highlights the criterion that is needed to be welcome in Vancouver. In order to be truly welcome an immigrant needs to fulfill the requirements of language, legalities, race and wealth. If an immigrant does not meet these requirements Vancouver becomes a more hostile place for them to live, as the city does not support