Lithuanian family's American dream turns into a nightmare
After several difficult years in the United States marked by high costs, anti-immigrant hostility and violence, a Lithuanian family decided to return home. Despite a rocky readjustment, they now feel safer and closer to relatives.
Rūta Žilinskė from Alytus moved to Seattle with her husband Tomas, hoping to fulfil a long-held dream of living in America. She was initially shocked by high prices and struggled to find housing, but embraced the challenge with determination.
After the pandemic, rents in Seattle nearly doubled, jumping from $2,700 to $4,000 a month. Unable to afford the increase, the family relocated to a suburb of Austin, Texas, after a colleague's recommendation, with Tomas transferring within Amazon.
Facing hostility
In Austin's suburbs, the family encountered growing hostility toward immigrants, with Rūta describing how Mexicans and other immigrant workers were treated poorly. She later began working in real estate but felt she had to work far harder than locals to prove herself. Further hardships followed, including costly medical care and the death of the family's dog despite thousands of dollars spent on treatment.
After Tomas lost his job in layoffs, the family moved into Austin itself, where he found new work at Apple. Around this time, Rūta, a lifelong motorsport enthusiast, got her first job as a track marshal at a MotoGP race, which reignited her hope and passion. She was later offered a chance to work at the Formula One race in Miami.
Violence prompts the decision to leave
Despite these positive developments, safety concerns grew. Tomas was once followed home and beaten after locals identified him as an immigrant by his accent, and Rūta was threatened with a gun outside a shop while with her son. A final incident — their car being wrongly towed due to a bank's administrative error — pushed the family to decide to leave. They moved back to Lithuania last December.
The return home proved difficult, with Rūta needing time to adjust to an unfamiliar city and bureaucracy after years abroad. Still, she now feels safe and values being close to her parents and family again. She has continued pursuing motorsport, recently working as a marshal at the Formula One round in Belgium.
