Elvia Quinoñez: The Story Of An Illegal Immigrant

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Illegal immigrant realizes the importance of legal immigration
Heavy panting, hushed whispers, and hurried footsteps are the only sounds a group of women hear as they dash across the dessert toward the United States' border. After hearing a loud noise fast approaching, a spotlight illuminates the group and allows the border patrol to send the trespassers back home.
Immigration reform is a highly debated topic but looking through the eyes of an immigrant shows the dedicate a lot of them have towards bettering their own lives. In 1982, Elvia Quinoñez and her friends try several times to cross the American border before she finally succeeded.
Speaking through a thick Guatemalan accent, Quinoñez begins her story by saying, "I just saw that …show more content…

With determination, Quinoñez traveled to Mexico to try to cross the border illegally. Each time she tried to cross the dessert, border patrol stopped her and sent her back.
"I tried to cross the dessert a couple of times and the helicopters of immigration got us in the middle of the night and sent us back to Mexican. I didn't speak English very well, but I know they called someone on the ground and they got us and sent us back to Mexico," Quinoñez recounted.
Even facing failure, Quinoñez did not give up hope. After speaking with her cousin, they arranged a way to travel across the border unnoticed. Quinoñez met someone that would take her across while she hid the trunk of the car. Fortunately for her, Quinoñez survived the cramped space and made it to the United States.
After arriving, Quinoñez set out to get a job and begin her career. She started by working in a hospital with her uncle to make enough money to support …show more content…

According to Buccho, he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. They married soon afterwards and now have several children.
"I got married and my husband was a citizen, but I didn't get my paperwork in until probably 2 years after I got married," Quinoñez said as she explained the process of becoming an American citizen.
"It wasn't hard to become citizen and the process is probably the same now. What helped me was that I was already married, and I had family here, so it wasn't that bad," continued Quinoñez.
Having lived in the United States for years now, Quinoñez says that she appreciates how people are less concerned about your personal business. This is a quite a change from her home country, but she does miss her family and friends. She tries to visit them as often as she can and talks to them on the phone frequently.
"I don't think it's fair for the people that already live here because they are already working and doing all the stuff that the law requires of them. There are a lot of people that come just to use the system. It's not fair for future immigrants or the people who are already here," said Quinoñez when asked about the current immigration

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