I agree. Part of my negative experience at the DLI in Monterey was that there were too many émigré intelligentsia. They often defected as a "career move" so to speak, hoping that if they portray themselves as "freedom fighters against Communist oppression" - red carpets would be laid for them. What they discovered, however, was that nobody really gave a shit and they found themselves sweeping floors and washing dishes with Third World immigrants. Teaching at the Institute was a vast improvement vis a vis office cleaning or dish washing jobs, but still well below the status they left in their old country.
Interestingly, they almost invariably blamed the "Communists" for their failure, painting a blatantly untrue "horror pictures" of their alleged "plight." It baffled me, because a rational expectation would be that they would rather blame the "host" society for not appreciating them - but then I discovered that things were a bit more complicated. These people left good jobs and respectable positions in their old country, hoping to gain even more in the US. That move turned out to be a mistake. However, going back would not only amount to admitting defeat, but also would expose them to the ridicule of their old peers. I can just picture their old neighbors, family members, and co-workers asking with barely hidden irony and schadenfreude "So where are you with your life, Mr. I-wanna-be-better-than-you? Coming back empty-handed? How pathetic. "
In that situation, demonizing the alleged horrors of communism was a rationalization of their unwillingness to return by saying "Things may not work as expected in the US, but they would be much worse if I go back." The added benefit of that attitude was that rabid ant-communism could open some doors for them in this society.
In that respect EE immigrants are very much different than, say, Mexican immigrants. For the latter emigration is an upward mobility move, at least economically. They maintain their emotional and economic ties with their old communities, because when they come back from their strawberry-picking or dish washing jobs in the US, they come richer than they left. They are welcomed and respected by their peers - and that is their reward for indignities they suffer in the US.
For the EE immigrants, by contrast, immigration is a downwardly mobile move. Their material standards of living either drop or remain the same - but that is not enough to compensate the relatively high status and living standards that they left behind. For them, going back is coming home empty-handed. Instead they prefer to send fake pictures of their supposed riches e.g. photographs of other people's houses and cars sent back home as their own. But to maintain that illusion - they need some sort of rationalization. Demonizing communism serves that purpose well.
Wojtek
PS. I cc this to the list - I think others might find this useful.