Undocumented families face many hurdles in the United States. The simple fact that laws prohibit their presence here may be the most significant hurdle. There are other laws that contribute the list of hurdles, undocumented individuals are not allowed to get employment, apply for government public programs, higher education for their children, and the list continues. Although these laws prohibit undocumented families from being in the United States, they are still here trying to give their families a better living. In their struggle of providing, undocumented individuals are willing to work in jobs that others might not desire. As for undocumented children, they are given the opportunity to get a free education up until the end of high …show more content…
These hurdles exclude undocumented youth from gaining skills and professional networks that would help them succeed and contribute to society (Gonzales et al., 2014). Undocumented youth are also very limited to low wage jobs with out growth (Gonzales et al., 2014). Undocumented status retains immigrant’s form fully integrating into society, leaving them out only on the basis of their immigration status (Gonzales & Chavez, …show more content…
This struggle is addressing organized social problems and providing services to enhance the wellbeing of individuals and families (Gates, 2014). We have learned that UFW and DACA began at a very micro level, but evolved into much more larger than that. Cesar Chavez began his efforts through community advocacy. As social workers, it is important to acknowledge that in the efforts of advocacy one must begin by working directly with the people in order to understand what they are struggling with. Having culturally competent social workers is also key in working with undocumented families because they can be very mistrustful of outsiders and mainstream institutions (Gates, 2014). This can be due to the fact that undocumented families many times live in fear of deportation, so they believe that they might get reported. Meeting clients where they are is also key when working with undocumented families. Many times these families do not have access to transportation, so holding meetings in the community can be more convenient, a trusting place to consider can be schools or churches. Also for social workers to be fluent in the clients language of choice would be optimal or having interpreting services. Another suggestion for social workers to consider is building rapport with families. If the families see a genuine interest from the social worker, they will gain
Both the early-exiters and college-goers share these environmental realities, often times living in unsafe neighborhoods, dealing with multiple relocations, cramped living conditions, and overworked parents. The spatial segregation that perpetuates these realities is executed on class lines, where predominantly immigrant neighborhoods generally have more poverty, and as a result have a higher-crime rate. Gonzales explains how this process is cyclical, poorer people have a higher propensity to resort to criminal activity, subsequently the crime rate is higher, this makes less wealthy people want to live in predominantly Latina/o communities, keeping property values low. If the K-12 education largely bases its funding off of property taxes, Latina/os are more likely to receive a subpar education - thus the masquerade of education as the “great equalizer” comes plummeting down, both the college-goers and the early-exiters are subject to systemic failures. Furthermore, the groups not only share similar economic/financial constraints but they both are partially paralyzed by a sense of paranoia, of fear about the consequences of their undocumented status and the status of their family
While tangible reasons exists for the need to cut on undocumented immigration, the benefits that illegal immigrants bring to the U.S economy still surpass the arguments against providing undocumented immigrants with legal status. The undocumented immigrants are found in all sectors of the U.S economy and their input needs to be recognized by providing them with legal status to work and improve the economy. They in fact, add circulation to the economy and many benefits that most of american-borns don’t see.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today bring an awareness how Latino/as are affected.
For many Mexican immigrants, crossing the border into the land of freedom and the American dream is no easy task. Some immigrants come over illegally by means of hiding in cars to cross borders, using visitor visas to stay longer, marrying to become citizens, and having babies as ‘anchors’ to grant automatic citizenship. Other immigrants gain green cards and work visas and work their way into becoming US citizens legally and subsequently gaining citizenship through paperwork for their families back home. After escaping harsh living and working conditions in Mexico, immigrants come to America prepared to gain education, opportunity, and work. This American dream unfortunately does not come to pass for most.
Although many of the policies in place seem more focused around the children of immigrates and the opportunities they are offered. Such as: “ensure access to higher education for the children of immigrants” and “ensure appropriate immigration-related services to undocumented minors in foster care and, if they are eligible, adjustment of their status before they leave foster care” (NASW, 2015, p. 179). When it comes to working with immigrates: “social workers not only need to be aware of the special needs of this population, but also need to understand the dynamics of migration and the interface between immigration and immigrant policies” (NASW, 2015, p. 178). The immigrates that are coming into the United States are coming from all different cultures, and as social workers, we should do our best to attempt to understand their different customs and
Family dynamics present interesting revelations, especially regarding the relationship between parents and children. While most families undoubtedly encounter dysfunction at some point throughout life, immigrant families seemingly experience such stress continually. A handful of short stories, including “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, “Who’s irish” by Gish Jen, and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li, demonstrate how strained relations erupt in immigrant families. Familial tension noticeably arises because of the immigrant parents’ inability to fully adjust to the American way of life. Further, immigrant parents adhere to strict expectations in an attempt to uphold the family’s conservative heritage. Finally, immigrant parents typically
"Why did she sing when she can’t even pronounce the words right? Haha that F.O.B. is so stupid!" These were the haunting words that I overheard my classmate utter to her friend as I was walking off the stage from my solo singing performance, cold sweat trickling down my face and warm tears welling up as my vision got blurry. These words remained etched in my memory as I was constantly reminded of the fact that I needed to improve my American accent to conform and assimilate into the American society.
In Marcelo M. Suarez- Orozco and Carola Suarez- Orozco’s article “How Immigrants became “other” Marcelo and Carola reference the hardships and struggles of undocumented immigrants while at the same time argue that no human being should be discriminated as an immigrant. There are millions of undocumented people that risk their lives by coming to the United States all to try and make a better life for themselves. These immigrants are categorized and thought upon as terrorist, rapists, and overall a threat to Americans. When in reality they are just as hard working as American citizens. This article presents different cases in which immigrants have struggled to try and improve their life in America. It overall reflects on the things that immigrants go through. Immigrants come to the United States with a purpose and that is to escape poverty. It’s not simply crossing the border and suddenly having a great life. These people lose their families and go years without seeing them all to try and provide for them. They risk getting caught and not surviving trying to make it to the other side. Those that make it often don’t know where to go as they are unfamiliar. They all struggle and every story is different, but to them it’s worth the risk. To work the miserable jobs that Americans won’t. “I did not come to steal from anyone. I put my all in the jobs I take. And I don’t see any of the Americans wanting to do this work” (668). These
Most immigrants usually fill essential service jobs in the economy, which are vacant. Unfortunately, like new immigrants throughout U.S. history, “they experience conditions that are commonly deprived, oppressive, and exploitive” (Conover, 2000). They are paid low wages with little potential for advancement, are subjected to hazardous working conditions, and are threatened with losing their jobs and even deportation if they voice dissatisfaction with the way they are treated. Many work several jobs to make ends meet. Many also live in substandard housing with abusive landlords, have few health cares options, and are victims of fraud and other crimes.
Ruben Martinez was fascinated with the tragedy of three brothers who were killed when the truck carrying them and 23 other undocumented migrants across the Mexico – United States border turned over in a high-speed chase with the U.S. Border Patrol. “Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail” is a story about crossing and life in the United States.
Currently, there are 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States; 6 million of those immigrants are Mexican-born (Preston). Within that undocumented population are individuals who were brought to the States as children. These individuals have grown up in the American culture and consider themselves American, but struggle with being treated as second class citizens due to their undocumented status. On June fifteenth of 2012, the Obama Administration announced the executive order Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This order will allow immigrants who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits and avoid deportation (Hennessey and Bennett). President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is not only beneficial to it applicants but also to the United States as a whole.
Jose Antonio Vargas’s article on My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant is a writing about his childhood journey from the Philippines to the United States as an Undocumented Immigrant. Vargas writes this article to emphasize the topic of immigrant and undocumented immigrant in the United States. He uses all three appeals: pathos, ethos, and logic in his writing, in specific, he mostly uses pathos throughout of his entire article with a purpose for the reader to sympathize and to feel compassion for him. The use of these appeals attract many readers, they can feel and understand his purpose is to ask for others to join and support other people who undocumented immigrant like himself. In addition, it gives other undocumented immigrant people courage
Considering the ideas that both authors have brought to the table, I have concluded that in order to make progress in solving the problem of undocumented immigrants, we as a country must decide what’s best for our country. We either look at undocumented immigrants as an asset or a parasite. America is the ‘land of opportunity’ where millions of people want to live there and pursue the ‘American Dream’. We should not let people stop from achieving their dreams. But on the other hand, a quantity of immigrants leave their country because it does not have “stable democracies and free markets” that “ensure economic growth, rising standards of living and thus, lots of jobs”, because the countries of these immigrants “birth rates and native populations fall”.
We don’t realize how hard it is for immigrant parents to get their children education, and we judge and hate on something we have never been through. I guess it’s true you never know someone’s pain unless you go through it. Not everyone has the same privileges as others, some have to work twice as hard to try to give their children an opportunity towards an education on the contrary some American families have it simpler. I not blaming people who have families who were born here or say it’s wrong, but many people tend to affront children of immigrant parents and feel like they have the equitableness to say they aren’t suitable to receive public education.
It is a known fact that the majority of immigrants are more desperate for work and are willing to take jobs that others may not such as garbage disposal or working at a factory. Many people are willing to pay these undocumented workers in cash because they have no previous public records or a credit card or a bank account. They then circulate the currency and may bring back that money to their home country, therefore boosting both country’s economies. And finally, undocumented workers may help build a better country and economy altogether. If they can get a job and work for an amount of money that is able to support a family, then they may bring over their own families from their home countries. If they are around their mid twenties they may be willing to start a family with someone they meet or bring an already established family over to the country that they have that sustaining job in. This may also help a country from a population standpoint. If the undocumented workers have children, then that just helps increase the number of children in that country which may also help a population pyramid and cause there to be a wider base of more children. Then, as those children grow up, they may become documented in the country later in life and will then may be classified as an