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Immigration and how it affects families essay
Immigration and how it affects families essay
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Abstract
Migration is much more than just one person migrating from one country to the other, it is a complex movement that impacts and involves many other people. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that about 700,00 new undocumented immigrants come into the United States each year (2016). Of these 700,00 undocumented immigrants, thousands of families are being separated. Current immigration policies make it very difficult for families to migrate safely together. These immigration policies include deportation and detention centers both of which separate families. The trend that is found is that a parent or both parents migrate first while they save up money to bring their children individually. The highest number of immigrants come from Central American countries mainly, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. These are the countries that we will be focusing on. The three main themes that this paper will be focusing on will be: Anxiety due to fear of immigration policies, emotional impacts due to familial separation, and educational outcomes of immigrant children.
Fear and Anxiety
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(2011) studied the effects that immigration policies have on immigrant families, specifically those from Guatemala and El Salvador. 72% of the interviewed families stated that they had left behind family members during their migration; they each reported feeling conflicted about leaving their children behind in their home countries. Participants stated the high levels of fear and stress caused by deportation and even the mere possibility of it (page 289). Parents recognized the higher level of opportunity available in the United states but the main results of the study showed that laws regarding immigration and undocumented migrants are stressors for the parents and especially the
Humans have a never ending thirst for a better life, and a better existence for themselves and those they hold dear. Jose Antonio Vargas was sent away from the Philippines by his mother hoping that he would be able to achieve a better life, and be happy. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas is able to find his better life and happiness in America but also fear and anxiety. Vargas gives us a look into the life of an illegal immigrant the good, the bad, their achievements and their constant struggles. Very much like Vargas my father immigrated to America, but legally in 1986.
For immigrants, reuniting with parents who left them is a huge problem in the U.S. Children who reunite with their parents after many years have a lot of problems with the parents. The parents and children tend to argue, the children have buried anger, and both have an idealized concept of each other. According to Los Angeles’s Newcomer School, a school for newly arrived immigrants which is referenced in Enrique’s Journey, a bit more than half of want to talk to the counselor about their problems. The main problem Murillo, the school’s counselor, says is mostly family problems. Murillo says that many parent-child meetings are all very similar and identical to each other. Some of the similarities are that idealized notions of each other disappear, children felt bitter before going to the U.S., and that many children have buried rage. Mothers say that the separations between them and child was worth it because of the money earned and the advantages in America. However, many children said that they would rather have less money and food if it meant their mothers would stay with them.
It involved the analysis of data from 90,000 individual surveys conducted by the Mexican Migration Project to establish the presence of social effects, and the analysis of qualitative data from 120 in-depth interviews with migrants and their family members in Mexico to reveal the underlying mechanisms. Firstly, it confirmed the hypothesis that “having prior migrants in the household or community increases individuals’ likelihood of migrating net of economic and political context effects” (2013:19). Secondly, through its qualitative research, it found that tough immigration policies among other things, reduce communication channels between migrants in the United States and their families in Mexico. The flow on impact of this is a break down in the feedback loop on what is often, a hard life as a migrant in the United States. Within the context of increased restrictions on border crossings, Garip and Asad (2013) argue that restricting these communication channels simply acts to perpetuate the myth of a glamorous life in the United
Starting a new life is very problematic for many Central American children that migrate to the United States. There are a lot of difficulties involved in the process to migrate to the United States including the journey to get there. An extremely common way to migrate is by train. Migrants usually take away many life lessons from the journey to the United States such as the generosity and assistance from fellow Central Americans. On the other hand there’s extreme hardships. For example, the many robberies, and gang violence a migrant can face on the journey to the United States. During the trip, migrants learn that they usually cannot take things for granted, especially how scarce food, supplies, and other necessities are.
The goal of this research is to find out why the immigrant students have to face more challenges in the level of education they achieve, the high level poverty that they face in their daily lives and all the confusing networks they have around them which they have no clue of how to utilize it. Also, the research focusses on the fewer resources immigrant students have while achieving their goals. The research question is important as it does affect all immigrant students and their respective families and not limited just to the immigrant. I am sure many families move to a different country to achieve better education and to make a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones. These families come with so much hope and faith, but in return they are bombarded with so much confusing information that it’s very easy for them to get lost and give up. At last, children are the future and if from being they don’t have the correct resources then how will they achieve their goals.
Immigrants must overcome many barriers to succeed in America. First, migrants frequently must learn a new language. Inability to communicate is a critical barrier for accessing the health care system (Urrutia-Rojas, Marshall, Trevino, Lurie, & Minguia-Bayona, 2006). Second, the processes of work and schooling for themselves and their families can be daunting. Lastly, immigrants use the established social network of longer duration residents for reference and knowledge (Nandi, Galea, Lopez, Nandi, Strongarone, & Ompad, 2008). For purposes of this report, there are three different types of immigrant: legal, undocumented, and refugees or persons seeking asylum. All three types of residents want to succeed and achieve their personal dream.
It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today brings awareness of how Latino/as are affected.
By the late nineteenth century the economic lines in America between the upper and lower class were quickly widening because of the boom of urban industrial expansion. Moreover, during the 1800s, America witnessed an influx of immigrants coming from many parts of the world, they made tenement houses in New York’s lower East Side a common destination. One person witnessing the living conditions of these tenements was journalist Jacob A. Riis. For several years, Riis, with camera in hand, tooked a multitude of photographs that depicted the atrocious working and living conditions in the New York slums. Riss reported that the tenements were severely overcrowded, unsanitary, and a breeding ground for crime and disease. Riss also claimed that the “slum” landlords of these tenements exploited immigrants by charging them more rent than they could afford. As a result, every member of the family had to work—even young children. Subsequently, in 1890, Riis wrote a book entitled: How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York, which included his horrifying photographs and sketches, as means to expose to the middle class the chaotic environment of tenement living. Although Riss’s book exposes a myriad of social and economic problems regarding tenement housing, one of the more prominent ills his photographs and prose reveal is the harsh and distressing reality that immigrant families from the lower class must treat their children as a form of labor in order to survive. With this in mind, by describing and analyzing three of Riis’s photographs, I will demonstrate the validity of my argument which portrays the exploitation of child labor.
As the Latino population in the United States continues to grow, U.S. Census Bureau, 2001, increasing attention is being turned toward understanding the risk and protective factors of immigrant Latino and U.S.-born Latino children and families. The demographic data relating to Latinos in the United States estimate that one of every two people added to the U.S population was Latino, in July 2009 Latino population was the fastest growing minority group U.S Census Bureau, 2010. Despite the increased risk of growing the immigrant families are in lower risk of Social Economic Status, having parents with less education and limited with language and knowledge about education. Immigrating to one place to another is often the most stressful event
The American Dream, is what every immigrant looks for when coming to the United States. But it's not all it seems to be. There are consequences, stereotypes and pressure put on the children of these immigrants. 40% of children in immigrant families have at least one parent who is mexican born. As stated by Childtrends.org. This means 40 out of 100 children have pressure on them whether it's by their parents (because they are immigrants) or by society by placing stereotypes.
Family dynamics present interesting revelations, especially regarding the relationship between parents and children. While most families undoubtedly encounter dysfunction at some point throughout life, immigrant families seemingly experience such stress continually. A handful of short stories, including “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, “Who’s irish” by Gish Jen, and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li, demonstrate how strained relations erupt in immigrant families. Familial tension noticeably arises because of the immigrant parents’ inability to fully adjust to the American way of life. Further, immigrant parents adhere to strict expectations in an attempt to uphold the family’s conservative heritage. Finally, immigrant parents typically
I have to introduce you to three individuals, not random individuals, but siblings - two brothers and a sister. They may seem just like any other people, but they have a secret that isn’t easily realized unless you know them. They belong here in the sense that they were born here, but their hearts belong to another land. They are the children of immigrants; the first generation to be born in America. It is a unique experience that to others may seem odd or exotic, but for these three is just as normal as learning to ride a bike.
Many Immigrant families have obstacles/challenges to confront as soon as they step into this Country. Not only the Illegal parent’s with the
In Enrique’s Journey, Sonia Nazario illustrated the complexity of immigration problems by noting Enrique, a 17-year-old teenager’s journey from Honduras to the United States. Immigration has always been an existing problem even today. People decide to leave their native hometown to seek for better opportunities or hoping for a reunion with their family members. However, it comes with a great risk. The problem of immigration remains to be ambiguous considering the motives, process and the results of immigrants.
A well-known story by most immigrants who leave behind their family and arrive in another country looking for a better job to support their families in their native country. However, the consequences of family separation are awful. Shifting the Center states that “The pain of family separation creates various feelings, including helplessness, regret, and guilt for mothers and loneliness, vulnerability, and insecurity for children” (Ferguson, 2007, p.404). In other words, family separation is a really high price paid for both, parents and children. That is the reason for which most parent become “trapped in the painful contradiction of feeling the distance from their families and having to depend on the material benefits of their separation” (Ferguson, 2007, p.409). Sadly, most of these parents don’t have a choice and have to leave their families. Otherwise, their children would be lack from the most essential necessities of a human being such as food and