Second Generation Immigrant Research Paper

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Interviewing a 2nd Generation Immigrant
Ethnic immigration in America has been a topic of much research, where sociologists attempt to understand why immigrants choose to permanently settle to the US, especially from Latin America and Asia. Some come for the chance at a better life, and others come for family reunification. In the case of Michael, a 2nd generation American whose parents emigrated from the Philippines, it was both. Michael discusses the struggles his family experienced, his self-identification, educational achievements and goals, along with reasons why his parents chose to immigrate and permanently settle within an ethnic enclave of Los Angeles. Immigrants may be cast in a harsh light, with some natives fearing they may replace American culture with their own, crime, or fear of hurting the economy. However, Michael’s life experiences demonstrate that he is like most immigrants who come to America; in reality, they are actually assimilating to American culture in an upwardly mobile …show more content…

His parents arrived in 1986 or 1990, with him being born in 1994, therefore making him a 2nd generation American (Feliciano, Lecture 3/31). His grandmother was the first one to arrive in the US, which lead her to petition everyone else in her family to arrive; this lead to his parents legally migrating to the US. This is an example of the cycle of migration within individual’s social networks that allows for the continuation of immigration to the US while also enabling family reunification (Feliciano, Lecture 4/2). Because his parents are documented, this makes the US government policy towards them indifferent, not receptive because they did not acquire refugee status, so they did not receive government assistance in settling to a particular location, nor hostile because they were not undocumented (Feliciano, Lecture

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