The chance to live in the U.S and be a citizen is a privilege most people are not aware of. There are people in other parts of the world that risk their lives to come here. People from Latin American regions are a prime example. If lucky enough they get here successfully. However, even when they are here there is still a risk they could be caught for not having papers and are then deported. This is exactly what happens on a daily basis with people that come to the U.S from Mexico. In her article, “Young migrants make perilous US-Mexico journey”, by Valeria Perasso, she expresses the hardships and social reality of people that get sent back to Tijuana after already facing the hardships of trying to make a life or get to family members in the U.S.
To begin with, mentioned in lecture “development and social change is about power and unequal power relations among nations…” (Lecture). In Latin America, the government is weak and people try to come to the U.S in hopes of creating a better life. Valeria writes an article that goes into individual cases of two people who have been sent back after attempting to enter the U.S. She states “Between October 2011 and March 2012, a total of 5,252 minors were taken into custody after trying to get into the US illegally - a 93% increase from the same period in the previous year”(Perasso, 2012:1). With the way the social scale is here it is not easy at all to have any of the same opportunities as citizens do. The power is all at the hands of people who are either born here or have gained papers over time. There are numerous families that have to live through the struggle of being accepted here which can be noted as ideological/indirect social power.
I found it intriguing that in the article, Rod...
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...cause they have to live life being scared everyday of being caught. They are not able to go to the police most times either mostly because they are afraid. Even though our country has a large percentage of illegal Latin Americans they still don’t receive the same benefits trying to create a better life for themselves in the U.S and probably won’t for a very long time in my opinion.
To wrap everything up, most people know in general terms how hard it is for people to cross the border and make it here. Yet, most of us that have papers and know this do not take advantage of being here. Even though there will always be an unequal distribution of power, people from Latin America just come to here for a better life. Perasso expresses the sad reality for many people who are deported back to their side of the border. Even with the risk, most of them will try to go back.
Humans have a never ending thirst for a better life, and a better existence for themselves and those they hold dear. Jose Antonio Vargas was sent away from the Philippines by his mother hoping that he would be able to achieve a better life, and be happy. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas is able to find his better life and happiness in America but also fear and anxiety. Vargas gives us a look into the life of an illegal immigrant the good, the bad, their achievements and their constant struggles. Very much like Vargas my father immigrated to America, but legally in 1986.
Illegal immigration has been an issue in this country since its founding. However, in recent years, more and more people are deciding that the conditions in their native countries are too dangerous and impossible to overcome, so they decide to take on the journey to try and enter the United States, “the land of opportunity”, without the proper documentation. In the novel Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario, we see first hand the expedition many of these people take in order to fulfill their dreams of helping the families they leave behind. Many of these people, like Lourdes and Enrique, come thinking that the “American Dream” will be easily obtained through hard work. Unfortunately, times have changed, and this promise of riches is no longer the norm. Those undocumented immigrants that are lucky enough to make it to the United States are faced with a harsh hit of reality when they realize that the perception they had build of America, with an abundance of jobs, is actually flooded by poverty and an unsteady job market.
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
“ Ironically I faced discrimination from other immigrants rather than Americans themselves”, stated Valentina Luma when she was been interviewed. This quote was the most relatable to my experience of being an immigrant to United States of America compares to hers. Valentina Luma was the age of nine when her and her family immigrated from Dominican Republic to the United States. Luma’s journey to the United States wasn’t arduous physically rather mentally where the process to get accepted took almost a decade, she admits to understand why some immigrants would rather come to America illegally than wait almost a decade to come. Some of the positive
America is known as the land of the free. People from other countries want to obtain this human right; they immigrate from far and wide to reap the benefits and be able to send money home to support their families. The struggles and hardships they endure to find this freedom is often forgotten about when it comes down to reach their goals. This is shown in the book Enrique’s Journey, written by a Los Angles Times reporter, Sonia Nazario who explores the struggles one Honduras boy finds himself faced with on the journey to find his mother. Due to poverty many families overlook the complications of illegally crossing the border into the United States and suffer the repercussions. The repercussions are the dangers surrounding the illegal nature
Many illegal immigrants enter this country with limited choices like Reyna Wences, who entered America at the age of nine, with her mother, and three-year old brother. As a child, she did not have much input in the decision making to move to the United States. According to the article “My Life in the Shadows” they borrowed six thousand dollars from relatives to pay a guide who helps smuggle people into the United States. Reyna and her family entered into Arizona from Mexico, in which she was shocked to find a lack of guards or security as she crossed the border. Reyna then grew up in America and it is now what she calls home.
As an attempt to escape the possible tragic proceedings following cultural conflicts, Latin American immigrants seek refuge in America. Once in America, immigrants seek to gain new opportunities that can enable them to essentially achieve a better quality of life. Additionally, Henderson argues that immigrants from Latin America migrate to the United States for roughly the same reasons as other immigrants: “they might wish to join family members, have a lust for adventure, or need to escape something in their home country; but mostly they need jobs, which are scarce back home”
Born into slavery in February 1818, Frederick Douglass knew no other way until finally escaping in September 1838. In The Heroic Slave Douglass writes about the journey of a slave named Madison Washington and his fight against slavery. A white man named Mr. Listwell helps Madison throughout his fight and truly impacts his life for the greater good. Throughout The Heroic Slave Washington and Listwell express their dedication to fighting back against the oppression of Blacks, gaining freedom and proving that freedom is something everyone should have forever, and under no circumstances should never be taken from them. Both Madison Washington and Mr. Listwell think that everyone should have the right to freedom because in the big picture we are all only human.
Vaquera Vasquez uses the quote “People, some like my father, who crossed the border illegally in search of a better life. Some stayed, others come back, and a few are missing” (Vaquera Vasquez #2). In this quote the author is showing to immigrants what is the reality when immigrants are crossing the border. Some immigrants can survive the experience arriving to the US and starting a new life. Others immigrants come back to their home country because they cannot support that adventure and they give up. However, there are other immigrants who do not have the same luck that others have, and they are caught or murdered by the border patrol. That is why Latinos have to be honored because taking the risk of leaving their home country to find something better in the US is something that not all the immigrants can
“I do not believe that many American citizens . . . really wanted to create such immense human suffering . . . in the name of battling illegal immigration” (Carr 70). For hundreds of years, there has been illegal immigration starting from slavery, voluntary taking others from different countries to work in different parts of the world, to one of the most popular- Mexican immigration to the United States. Mexican immigration has been said to be one of the most common immigration acts in the world. Although the high demand to keep immigrants away from crossing the border, Mexicans that have immigrated to the U.S have made an impact on the American culture because of their self sacrifices on the aspiration to cross over. Then conditions
There are those who choose to immigrate to the United States in hopes of leaving poverty and oppression behind in search of a better life in a country that does not welcome all with open arms. President Obama reminds those who are lucky enough to have born in this great country that, “For all the noise and anger that too often surrounds the immigration debate, America has nothing to fear from today’s immigrants. They have come here for the same reason that families have always come here–for the hope that in America, they could build a better life for themselves and their families. Like the waves of immigrants that came before them and the Hispanic Americans whose families have been here for generations, the recent arrival of Latino immigrants will only enrich our country,” (2013, para 22). One of the stories in the book Enrique’s Journey is that of a young mother, Lourdes and her inner strength to persevere through the obstacles life throws at her. She comes to the United States looking for a better future, and in the process leaves behind her two young children in
At the beginning of this course, we read the article Why Latin America? I was not sure that I knew much about Latin American other than the beautiful variety of cultures, the beaches and tourist sites, and the poverty in a lot of areas. I had seen documentaries on immigration and the conditions in some countries of Latin America all throughout high school, but I had never looked into Latin America outside of that class. I felt such a disconnection and while I knew in the back of my head that they were not so different from us, I felt that Americans had developed a lot of harsh feelings towards Latinos American people. From the Latin American films, I have learned that Latin America’s problems are not so different from the US’s, especially on
Through the history and trends of Latin American immigration, one can begin to understand the impact of immigration on American society. Latin American countries have not always been the leading countries of origin for immigrants to the United States; however, with the Immigration and Nationality Act, they surpassed European countries’ immigration and rose to the top (1). Subsequently, a number of Hispanics ca...
Some undocumented people have been living in America for years. Others have even had their children born in America. Every time they step out of their homes, they fear losing everything that belongs to them. Throughout the day, they work hard while they hide from the law. They hope to make it back home, safely, to their families. Although, sometimes they do not make it to their homes. Sometimes they make mistakes and end up going to jail for driving without a license, for skipping a stop sign, or for simply being at a place at the wrong time. When someone is being deported, there is a family that is being separated. Living in fear or living devastated is very different from living the American dream. The American dream allows everyone to live happily and
As the number of immigrants increased in the past year, so has controversy of immigration policies. In the United States, as of 2013, 990, 553 people were granted lawful permanent residence in the United States (CNN, 2015). The countries with the most of origin are Mexico, China, Indian, Philippines, and Dominican Republic. In 2012, The Department of Homeland Securities estimated that there are 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States. The top countries of origin are from Central America and Philippines (CNN, 2015). As we can imply from the statistics, most of the population that migrates to United States are from countries with corrupted government, high poverty or unemployment rates and are overall less developed. Everyone deserves a new beginning and America give immigrants hope to reach their hopes and dream, but in reality it is not always as simple as it