Cultural conflict- doesn’t understand why there is a line he must wait for citizenship and to be accepted into the country ‘it was never my intention to jump this strange queue of which I had never heard’.…
I am an immigrant. Jose Antonio Vargas’ story is a story that I can identify with because I too flew thousands of miles for a better life. Unlike Vargas, I have the privilege of being a documented immigrant, yet I do know many people who know first hand the things Jose has been through. I remember being in the eighth grade and having a fellow classmate ask me if on my way to the United States I was stopped by immigration. Because at the time I did not know much about immigration, I went home and told my mom about what I’ve been asked earlier that day.…
Some social factors that may be affecting this students line of thought which led to his ignorant statement could be his economic status, education, family, and political system. According to this article, “native-born applicants are at…
In "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant" by J.A. Vargas is an acknowledgement of an undocumented immigrant from Philippines to the USA. His story is an illustrative one for such a settler: every one of the 18 years of his life in the USA is a persistent battle for citizenship and acknowledgment. The writer is attempting to persuade his audience in the need of presenting more liberal laws on migration and lawful status for existing undocumented…
John F. Kennedy once exclaimed, “Every American who ever lived, with the exception of one group, was either an immigrant himself or a descendant of immigrants(A Nation Of Immigrants page 3)." John was known for his irish-catholic heritage, and he served as one of our most beloved presidents. John A. Treutlen was the first naturalized citizen governor. Treutlen’s parents were raised with British ideals. When Treutlen went off to America to make something of himself, his parents called him worthless (D). However, he rose above his heritage to bring great ideas to American policies. Treutlen wasn’t the only citizen considered worthless. In fact many immigrants feel like this when they come to America. They want to prove to their families (and themselves) that…
The debate over the United States immigrant policy has been going an issue since the first immigrant stepped foot in America. Many Americans believe that it is unfair that people from other countries can come to America and take opportunities from people born in America. Arnold Schwarzenegger writes, An Immigrant Writes, to shed some light on his belief that our policy should be revised to help both immigrants and Americans. Mr. Schwarzenegger’s article, An Immigrant Writes, was a compelling argument but was not successful because of his lack of ethos, detail, and refutation.…
The author starts off the article by comparing his Irish grandfather to Angel, a Mexican immigrant, how his grandfather had no issue living here and being a citizen once he married an American descendant but whereas Angel couldn’t even become a legal resident once he married an American . Is there any visible difference? Tierney also continues to describe that an Mexican immigrant lives in constant fear that they have no solid proof that they would come home to their families. As an example he quotes Angel “I work hard and pay taxes and don’t want any welfare. Why deport me?”…
Being born on American soil is a privilege that allows for a blind eye to be turned towards controversial and uncomfortable issues that don't directly affect our lives. This, however, does not change the reality of migrant experiences and the control of international migration.…
Among the Latino community, everyone at least knows or heard of someone who had to be sent back to their home country due to not having the right documents to be in the US. Often at times children who are born in the US fear losing their parents, something that is shown multiple times in Osorio’s article, many times this can result in children shutting down from everyone. When Osorio first started teaching these students, they were not very open and the school they were attending was making them feel left out by giving them culture free books. Juliana, was asked a question in which the question was if she knew anyone who had been deported. “She fidgeted with her hands, staring at the table, before looking up and saying mi papa” (Osorio). When Juliana was asked this question, her fidgeting seemed to tell that she wasn’t comfortable sharing this and the description where she was staring at the table tells that she was sad saying this. When Osorio first introduced the book “Del Norte al Sur” translated from the North to the South, many of her students seemed to grab interest to read the book. This book was about a little boy who lived in California with his father and his mother had gotten deported to Tijuana Mexico because she didn’t have the right papers to be in the United States (Osorio). It makes sense that these kids…
Just because a person is not born in a certain place doesn’t mean they are not considered that. As you look at everyone in America, everyone was not born in America, but still considered an American. But might just need to put a little bit more effort into it, but in the end still considered as an American. In the text A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood explains Rodriquez as a Spanish-speaking Mexican American. His family is from Mexico but now his family is considered…
In the past few presidential elections, the topic of immigration has played a significant role in a plethora of important political discussions and debates about policy reformations. A percentage of Americans lobby for the US to completely close its borders to immigrants, whereas others are convinced it is in the best interest of America to continue to allow immigrants into the country, and even go as far to say America should increase the amount of immigrants sanctioned into the country. In the article “How Immigrants Are Marked as Outsiders,” the author, Michael Jones-Correa, a professor of government at Cornell University and co-author of the book Latino Lives in America: Making it Home, defines exactly what an immigrant is and explains the three critical steps of transitioning from “outsider” to “insider.” In a corresponding fashion, the author of “No Longer an Outsider, but Still Distinct,” Lois Mendoza, who is the chairman of the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota and author of the book, A Journey Around Our America: A Memoir on Cycling,…
Lack of proper documents is often a problem for many illegal immigrants. Having lack of proper documents makes it hard to find sufficient employment, and not having sufficient employment makes it hard to live in America. When immigrants migrate to a different country illegally they usually hide their identity due to their illegal undocumented status. Vargas was unaware of his undocumented status until he visited a local DMV and found out his papers were fake. Because of his illegal documentation, Vargas kept his life a secret, living day by day trying to avoid being caught. He also wanted to attend college, but wasn’t able to apply for state and financial aid because his…
Jeremy Adam Smith’s Essay, “Our Fear of Immigrants” The Author of this article sets the stage for how children of illegal immigrants can be affected by their parent’s decisions. He peaks your curiosity when he opens up the article with “Rodrigo Guzman’s desk was empty” and as you continue reading, you immediately begin to wonder what happened to Rodrigo and his family. As the Author explains what has happened, you begin to sense that he has compassion for the family and states many reasons as to why Americans should have no fear of immigrants. My goal in this paper is to state several reasons as to why Americans should have fear of immigrants who enter into the Country illegally.…
In an article ¨On immigration, Bernie Sanders is Correct¨ by Daniel Costa introduces us Bernie Sanders a U.S. senator running for president. Costa expresses sanders is choosing the right path to legalize all foreign families. Bernie recognizes there is something fundamentally wrong in our current society. Lately we have seen racism, wages, and immigration takes over our world. Immigration has been a center to all of our attention in our current economy, followed by racism, and the raise of the minimum wage. Daily we have many undocumented children, families, cross the border, but are then shipped back off to their country. Undocumented people come to live the American dream, they come to seek a better opportunity to escape poverty in their…
I see the fear in his eyes every time he drives, not because he’s drinking and driving but because he’s scared that if he gets stopped by a police officer, he will get deported from this place he now calls home. Like many people here my father is just a number in the system. He has been here half of his life and he can’t enjoy the benefits I have, simply because he was not born here. Government official should realize that many people who are forming a life here will eventually maybe have documents in the future because once a child is twenty one they can ask for their parents or spouse; so why not just give them the opportunity to prove…