In the article “Jackie Rayos-Garcia Tells About the Deportation of Her Mother, Guadalupe García de Rayos” it tells the story of a family getting torn apart and not knowing whether or not they’ll ever see each other once again. It is an amazing story, telling the readers how hard it can be to lose a parent at a young age. The struggles one faces for being an immigrant is such a touching story, and the fear immigrants face everyday in their lives trying to hide where they come from and what they are afraid…
Ana Rubia Andrade is a 20 year old Brazilian American. She was born in Brazil and then immigrated to the United States of America in 2002 at the young age of 6. Ana went with her younger brother, her parents, and her aunt on a 10 hour airplane trip and arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She stayed in Florida for one year before relocating to Saugus, Massachusetts an area where some family friends were also living in. Her family decided to move due to economic problems. The United States offered better opportunities to become successful. This is demonstrated in Ana’s aunt situation because her aunt was a nurse in Brazil and made less money there then when she worked part time at a gym in America. The Andrade family has not regret the decision to immigrate to America. Ana is just one example of thousands of immigrants that come into the United States of America yearly.…
I found Dan-el Padilla Paralta’s biography Undocumented to be a very insightful, enjoyable read. It is certainly a departure from previous readings in this class, as it is not theoretical and is not based on sociological research, ethnographic or otherwise. This is a very personal, longitudinal perspective we have not gotten before in this class. Undocumented follows Paralta’s adolescence and young adulthood, beginning with his immigration to New York from the Dominican Republic when he was four and concluding with him beginning his doctorate program at Stanford and meeting his wife. In between, he details his experiences as a young boy in a homeless shelter in Chinatown, as a high school student living in public housing in Harlem and attending a private prestigious school on the upper west side, as a Princeton undergrad studying Classics, and as a masters degree candidate at Oxford. The book is ostensibly about Paralta’s academic journey, but Paralta also pays close attention to his varied attempts to understand and embrace the dual identities of academic and poor immigrant, as well as his struggle to legalize his…
The film portrays Mariana, the female protagonist’s quick fall into poverty with her two young children. Over the course of a summer, Mariana loses her apartment and is homeless and desperate to take care of her children. Her husband’s friends effectively avoid her and leave her isolated with no knowledge of English or means to support herself. Mariana’s story is about the lack of support single immigrant women receive in terms of housing, health, childcare, and employment services. The film also shows the undue burden that Mariana’s children pose to her. Childcare almost always falls on the backs of women, especially immigrant women. Her children are precious to her, but she has a harder time finding employment because she cannot leave her young children alone. This time in their lives is a transformative moment for the…
The term immigrant is defined as “a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence” (“Immigrant”). In her autobiography, Barefoot Heart, Elva Trevino Hart speaks of her immigrant ways and how she fought to become the Mexican-American writer she is today. She speaks about the working of land, the migrant camps, plus the existence she had to deal with in both the Mexican and American worlds. Hart tells the story of her family and the trials they went through along with her physical detachment and sense of alienation at home and in the American (Anglo) society. The loneliness and deprivation was the desire that drove Hart to defy the odds and acquire the unattainable sense of belonging into American society.…
The article heavily relies on pathos. For example, the author gives a case of a 19–year-old girl who is struggling because of her illegal status. The author states, “Fernanda had dreams of going to college to study…
Immigration is never an easy subject. Sometimes, it will dictate how people perceive others because of the lack of a green card or legality in the United States. Helen Thorpe wrote and published a narrative on four girls who recently graduated high school that each has big decisions to make. For Clara and Elissa, choosing which college to attend is their main concern, and for Marisela and Yadira, applying to college is their biggest concern because they lack having a proper social security number and a green card. In Helen Thorpe’s book “Just Like Us”, she explores the different realities that these girls are facing just of attending college in America. Out of the four girls, Clara and Elissa have it easier because they are legal citizens and…
Francisco was born to immigrant parents in 1985 in a rural part of Denton, Texas. They lived in a 2 bedroom, 1-bathroom house which held 8 people. Francisco’s parents always emphasized how important education was, even though none of them had gone to college. His parents had low-income jobs. Growing up in this type of environment taught him many things,…
Tienda, M., & Haskins, R. (2011). Immigrant children: Introducing the issue. The Future of Children, 21(1), 3-18. Torres-Padilla, J. L. (2005). Death to the Originary Narrative! or, Insurgent Multiculturalism and Teaching Multiethnic Literature. Melus, 30(2), 13-30.…
I discovered that her story was very relatable, because I grew up hearing my parents stories about leaving their families at such young ages and moving across country for a fresh start in the States. At 14 years old, Diane Guerrero, was left utterly alone. She stated angrily, “When the authorities made the choice to detain my parents, they did not even bother to check that a young girl, a minor, was just without a family”(43). The immigration officers did not care about Diane, in fact, they never contacted her to find out if she had a house to stay in, now that she was homeless and parentless. Luckily, a few close family friends took her in, but she went bouncing from home to home for the next 4 years, hardly ever talking, let alone seeing her parents. She could have gone back to Colombia and let go of any and all opportunities, shockingly, she chose to stay here and take advantage of her citizenship. Hopeful, she said, “College gave me a shot at a future” (141). Diane was aware that college was her way to get a future and “maybe even bring my parents back” (145) I think, that’s a valid example of why people want to live in this country.…
My dad was fifteen years when he did something I can never even imagine about doing; he crossed the border. He sacrificed so much in order to live a better life, without him I would not be writing this essay right now. My mother is a first generation Mexican-American, like myself, and also experienced the affects of her parents wanting more for their family. Fortunately for us, our family has strived in today’s society and would not be where we are without hardwork and dedication.…
“Bury yourself in pity, doubt, poverty, shame and disgust. Become that of which you are surrounded by, be what everyone wants you to be, NOTHING! He’ll never amount to anything” they would always say, “he will just end up to be just like his mother, a beat down, drug addict, alcoholic Mexican, living under the poverty line, scraping for food and money just to get by.” But he refuses, he will not be THIS, he will not be labeled and categorized simply because society deems him to do nothing more than to follow the steps of those who raised him. Through tear-filled eyes and blurred words, he prays each and every night to GOD to make him something better, to take away this anger and resentment that fills his soul for being a “broke Mexican in McAllen Texas”. He no longer wants to be the one made fun of- the one who wishes that one day mommy will be in to give him a kiss goodnight, instead of the usual routine of him dragging her alcohol and drug infested corpse into her bed. School and sports are his home. They are an escape from reality and his other life. He excels in all he does and even graduates from high school with a scholarship to wrestle in college but, as always, must return early to protect the one who gave him life- his mother. Though saddened by the circumstances, he does not allow this to hold him back; he refuses to fall back into this never ending spiral of who and what he is supposed to be. Now in my third year into college I was asked to analyze my political compass and to interpret why I stand where I do in terms of economics and authority.…
For the once isolated immigrant from the hot deserts of the Middle East, never have I expected the open doors of opportunity at my grasp and the growth that soon followed within the freshman year of high school in the US. Before my immigration, I never truly experienced the challenge of a demanding curriculum. As such, I experienced an immense culture shock within my mind. Despite the difficulty of the transition, I knew it was worth it because I discovered an aspect of myself that remained dormant till I entered the gates of my new school.…
In the following paper, “A Cultural-Ecological Model of Migration and Development: Focusing on Latino Immigrant Youth” (Perreira, and Smith, 2007), “Understanding and Responding to the Needs of Newcomer Immigrant Youth and Families” (Gaytan, M.S.W, E.M, Carhill, M.A, Suarez-Orozco, 2007), and “Immigrant Youth in U.S. Schools: Opportunities for Prevention” (Birman, Weinstein, M.A., Chan, and Beehler, 2007), will be compared and contrasted. Two common themes amongst the three articles will then be identified and then discussed in relation to how they relate to powerlessness and despair. Finally, a current community resource will be identified which is available for immigrant youth today that can help address the common themes that are identified within the three articles.…
Delgado-Gaitan, C. & Trueba, H. (1991). Education for immigrant families in America. London: The Falmer Press.…