[MUSIC PLAYING]
Yo, a recent study found that immigrants'
children do better than children of those born in the US.
MERO: Wow.
I'm not surprised.
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you.
We wanted to get to the real heart
of the immigrant experience.
So we hit the streets with a special guest, y'all.
To talk to people about what it actually
means to be first generation.
Hey, what up?
It's your boy, Desus Nice. - That's right.
And I'm The Kid Mero.
And we are here with who?
- Hasan Minhaj. - Yay.
That's right. You know what I'm saying?
What's up?
Now, what do we all three of us have in common?
We are all children of immigrants.
That's right.
So today, what we're going to do is
we're going to talk to other first generation
immigrants about what it's like growing up in this country.
What is the experience?
You know what I'm saying?
That's why we're in Queens, which is our Ellis Island.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We are here with Rosie.
Hello.
That's short for something because you're Dominican.
Rosenelli.
How many E's are in that?
A few.
A few, OK.
Well, my dad's Dominican and my mom's Ecuadorian.
Oh, so you double immigrant.
Right?
All right, people in New York, what do they think you are?
People in New York always think I'm Puerto
Rican, which I'm fine with now.
But I used to be like, nah.
We're talking about first generation struggles.
Yeah, oh, yeah.
How's the experience been for you?
Oh, wow, yeah.
That's all.
We could stop right there.
I gotta give you props.
You never did the name change.
No, no, no.
You notice how he didn't hit us with the Sammy.
No, no, no.
I know three Osamas named Sammy.
- I know some Sammys. - Straight up.
And what is the strongest guilt that y'all have
received from your parents?
Oh, man, my Pops reminded me of the struggle
of getting from DR to here, so nothing was good enough.
Like, when he first told me that yo, I came here with 50 dollar,
by like, two years, I came with $0.50, and that's it, y'all.
Hold up.
You told me it was 50.
Like, no--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
No, I adjust for inflation.
[LAUGHTER]
Do your parents hug you?
Barely.
Oh, my god.
Yeah, no hugs.
I hugged my father once.
He was like, what are you doing?
Were your parents super strict?
Very strict, Muslim.
Oh, yeah.
I know how that is.
I didn't even say anything.
I was like, yep. - You could feel the B's.
You could already feel it.
He felt the vibes.
If you have kids, are you going to raise
them the way you were raised?
Oh, yeah, I'm definitely going to beat them.
I want them to be good people.
I want my children to be good people.
Let's talk corporal punishment.
Yes.
Is it weird when you relate to other white kids,
they didn't understand that your parents would hit you
but you love them.
Definitely.
What was the worst punishment you got as a child?
Oh, man.
My mom-- my mom switched it up on me.
One day, she just sat on me.
Yeah.
Sat on me for, like, a good three hours.
She was doing-- she read a book or something, man.
Indians, we have this thing where
you have to be the monkey.
Oh, yeah?
You have to pull your ears out and start
squatting up and down, up and down, up and down.
Just repeatedly.
And are you forcefully pulling on your ears, or are you--
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, forcefully too.
Let me say something.
CrossFit is cultural appropriation.
That's right. That's right.
You know what I'm saying?
Teach these devils!
The only reason we got here was child abuse.
Are your parents happy with you or--
- No. - No?
No, no. I got into med school.
I'm going to go.
And then I said no.
And my mom threw, like, 19 pots at me.
The good ones too, like, the glass ones too.
Oh, the Pyrex and all that?
They say Pyrex can't break. It broke though.
Oh, man.
See, rebellion for me was I was a Poli
Sci major instead of premed.
Oh, my gosh.
You guys didn't know.
I really broke out.
And are your parents happy with you?
Yeah.
Although I think they wish, like, I was AOC.
I mean--
Wow!
That's like my mom with Zayn Malik.
Really?
Yeah, she's like, Zayn's so handsome.
I'm like, I know, Mom.
Are your parents proud of you?
I would say yes.
You said a yes with such confidence.
Yeah.
Oh, I mean--
You must be a lawyer that's also a doctor.
You know, I'd never made it to both of those degrees.
I became an engineer though, so I--
[YELLING EXCITEDLY] Oh! Oh!
Of course!
I knew it!
What are the most ridiculous warnings or threats
your parents gave you growing up?
Don't bring a cat in the crib 'cause cats
will steal your soul.
Yeah.
Don't date white women.
- Cat in the crib? - Yeah, cats steal souls.
That's something I've heard before.
Cats will steal your soul, man.
- Do you have a cat now? - Hell yes.
Yeah!
Shoutout to Jack Bauer, my nigga, yeah.
What are the crazy Jamaican superstitions?
Crazy Jamaican superstitions?
Yeah.
Like, literally, anything will turn you gay.
I'll tell you--
I'll tell you ours.
Don't go under trees at night.
There's ghosts.
That's where ghosts are.
Wow.
Just a crazy Dominican superstition?
Yeah.
Using condoms.
[LAUGHTER]
[MUSIC - "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"]
We don't-- we don't that.
[THEME MUSIC]