I wish that American’s understand what it means to be an immigrant of this country. What it means to completely uproot your entire life to move to a country so vastly different from one’s own. The current political climate got me thinking about when I moved from the Philippines to the US. How much things have changed since then and how much they have stayed the same. The Philippines is a country of contrasts. A 5-star hotel can exist on the same block as a shantytown of straw houses. One can go from a city of a half-million people to sandy white beaches reserved for moneyed tourists simply by crossing a bridge. The biggest contrast might be between the rich and the poor. In Cebu City, where I’m from, this difference is incredibly stark. The poor lived in the shantytowns which were …show more content…
We always met up on Sunday for mass. Then, all of us spend the day eating, singing karaoke songs, watching tv or talking about our week. Sometimes, if we feel especially joyous, we go get satay (skewered BBQ) that was sold in a shack by the roadside. If money wasn’t something we could count on, we at least had our strong family ties to help us.
However, my dad wasn’t part of my family then. He was a presence that seemed remote since he lived and worked in Hong Kong. It didn’t seem like he was interested in my life or the lives of anyone in my family. The only time he visited, he came to deliver news that would change my life in ways that still effects me to this day.. I remember the moment that my father told me that we were moving to the states. I was busy eating my bowl of chocolate porridge.. He turned to look at us and told us that he had something to tell us. “You’re moving to America!” he smiled. It was news that my brain had a difficult time understanding. America was a country only seen on TV and occasionally talked about. I never once dreamed of moving from Cebu. What was there that was so important that our lives had to be
Overall, the SBS programme, Struggle Street (2015) provided a graphic insight into the hardships faced by lower-class Australians in Mount Druitt, Sydney. Nevertheless, viewing the programme allowed me to reflect and compare with my own observations of poverty within both Vietnam and Cambodia. The emotion I felt whilst watching the programme was incomparable to helplessly observing the great poverty within Cambodia.
“You are in America, speak English.” As a young child hearing these words, it did not only confuse me but it also made me question my belonging in a foreign country. As a child I struggled with my self-image; Not being Hispanic enough because of my physical appearance and not being welcomed enough in the community I have tried so hard to integrate myself with. Being an immigrant with immigrant parents forces you to view life differently. It drives you to work harder or to change the status quo for the preconceived notion someone else created on a mass of people. Coming to America filled me with anxiety, excitement, and even an unexpected wave of fear.
Immigration from the Early 1990's still affects America today. The people who came to America from different countries brought their traditions, their families, and their culture. These three things stuck with them through thick and thin and are still thriving parts of what America is today. Many immigrants came with literally nothing in their pockets and had to work their way to success. The Immigrant Experience by Thomas Wheeler tells the story of nine different immigrants' trials and tribulations of coming and living in America. Each immigrant went through different experiences of becoming American but they also had their similarities. Four things that attributed to the assimilation of the immigrants are: language, money, religion, and ambition.
Immigrants were first welcomed in the late 1700s. European explorers like Walter Raleigh, Lord Baltimore, Roger William, William Penn, Francis Drake, John Smith, and others explored to the New World for religious purposes and industrial growth. The first European settlers that settled in the late 1700s were the Pilgrims. After the Pilgrims first settled in Virginia, the expansion of immigrants started. Then in 1860 to 1915, America was growing with its industries, technology, and education. America’s growing empire attracted many people from Europe. The factors that attracted many people to the American cities where job opportunities with higher income, better education, and factory production growth. As the population grew in the American
For centuries, migrating has been a life changing decision for people that choose to enter the United States in search of a better future. Therefore, immigration is the permanent residency of people that choose to move to a new country. There are debates concerning the immigrants who enter the United Stated illegally and as the daughter of immigrant parents, I am fortunate to be born in this country.
I was sitting at my small desk in my room when I saw my dad had come home from who knows what, wearing a sad face. He came up to my room with a big red rose. Right then I knew what was going on. I never spent a lot of time with family members who I was not close with. I acknowledged their presence, but I never talked a lot to or about them.
Hate, shame, and guilt are the emotions I internalized for fourteen years of my life as a result of crossing the border illegally. An event that brought me face-to-face with death and was detrimental to my life since the age of eight. A traumatic experience that has placed me in the hands of therapy sessions and antidepressants to strengthen my emotional stability.
I am an immigrant, which I sometimes view as a privilege and other times not so much. It felt wonderful when my relatives were kind to my family because we got our visas to come to the United States. I was born in Bangladesh in a small village in my tiny house. Not the typical story you hear from many of my peers. My birth is very important to me, not because I ever celebrated my birthday. It wasn’t until I came to the United States that I realized that people actually celebrates their birthdays, but I never argued about celebrating because I knew my parents were not aware of birthday parties and because we were always financially unstable. My desire to have a birthday party made me realize that my family was economically inferior.
Today, in most cases, people don’t spend very much time thinking about why the society we live in presently, is the way it is. Most people would actually be surprised about all that has happened throughout America’s history. Many factors have influenced America and it’s society today, but one of the most profound ways was the way the “Old Immigrants” and “New Immigrants” came to America in the early to mid 1800s. The “Old Immigrants were categorized as the ones who came before 1860 and the “New Immigrants” being the ones who came between 1865 and 1920. The immigrants came to the United States, not only seeking freedom, but also education. Many immigrants also wanted to practice their religion without hindrance. What happened after the immigrants
From the beginning of the United States, immigrants have always played an integral role. The nation itself was built on immigration, whether to escape persecution or war; however, the United States, as it progressed has had instances where immigrant groups have had issues assimilating into society whether due to the political wave running through the nation or from an economic depression. One group, that has been experiencing this difficulty assimilating into society has been Mexicans who have, since the beginning of the 1960’s, have been coming over in droves to escape the poverty, corruption, and drugs that run rampant in Mexico. So, although the United States was established on immigration, the United States has had an issue with the incoming
When my family and I got in the plane that would take us to the U.S., I was very excited. It was as if I had butterflies in my stomach. I was also nervous because I had heard of people that were turned away when they got to America because the government was not letting as many immigrants into the U.S as they had in the past. Therefore, my whole family was a little anxious. Two things could happen when we arrived at the Washington, D.C., airport. We could either come to the United States to chase after “the American dream”, or we could be turned away which meant that we would have to return to our country of origin.
Immigration has always been a large conflict people have faced all across the world. There are plenty of reasons why people migrate to a country, whether it may be the United States or any other particular one. Many people often come in an attempt to escape poverty, crime, or to simply have a better opportunity to better their lifestyle. Although there are people who migrate and commit severe crimes, there are others who sacrifice themselves in order to live a better life. In addition to that, I believe the government should approve new immigration laws in favor of immigrants who come to better their life and achieve their dreams.
Those were the final words in the letter my father gave me at the airport. We both cried as we said our goodbyes and I embarked on my journey to my new life in America. I will never forget that day. It is ingrained in my memory as the day my life changed forever.
INTRODUCTION In the era of cultural diversity and unprecedented levels of migration, the role of citizenship is gradually becoming somewhat contentious. In the face of increasing migration flows, neither can it remain excessively tied to individual’s nationality, nor to the place of birth. Nowadays, citizens are the ones who ‘should be treated justly by the courts, they should be able to participate as fully as they wish in the political process; they should be able to take advantage of the educational, employment, welfare and health opportunities and provisions of their state’ (Heater). In the context of immigrant integration, the essence of citizenship lies in the principle of equality and commitment.
A child reunites with his or her mother for the first time in forever, put yourself in their shoes and imagine what it would be like. How would you feel? Immigration has been an important and frequently debated topic in the U.S. because of many people migrate here legally and illegally and the effects it has in the country, but first what is immigration? According to the Oxford dictionary, Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. In the last few years, a lot has changed with the Immigration policy in the United States. According to American Immigration Council (AIC), the body of law governing current immigration policy, provides for an annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants, with certain exceptions for close family members (AIC, 2014). Everyone has different opinions about the change, but I am more interested in the reason behind why people migrate to United