Kaizen Lui Mrs. Nicole Yuen Period 2 14 March 2024 Immigrant Letter Home Dear Father, I miss you and everyone at home greatly and hope you are doing well. It feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve seen everybody. Please do not worry about me, as I am doing fine, but I wish I could get out of this wretched place. Working on the plantation is very laborious, but at least I can share stories with fellow Filipinos who also come from Manila. The food on the plantation is okay, but I wish I could have the adobo that mom cooks back home. Although Hawaii is nothing like home, it has a few similarities to the Philippines, like the climate and terrain. The temperature here stays in a tropical, humid climate year round and the mountains rise as high …show more content…
I'm sorry that I had to leave everyone back at home to work on the plantations, but life and earning money was difficult. The rich killed all wildlife, cutting off our food sources, and there were hardly any job opportunities I could take on. I hope that over the five years I have been here, those conditions have changed and you are doing better. However, I also came to Hawaii because there were rumors that I would be paid in gold and be able to return home even wealthier than when I came here. Besides being paid well, my contract also stated that I would have greater medical care than in the Philippines and I would have all my expenses such as housing, food, and water paid for. Over the five years working on the plantation my contract has ended, and now I can not pay back the plantation for my expenses nor afford the $300 cost of the ride back home. I was promised that Hawaii would be a wonderful paradise where I would be paid well and live a better life than the Philippines. Before I came to Hawaii, I also expected that I would be able to explore the wondrous land of …show more content…
We are confined to the fields of the plantation and are not able to go to the high mountains or see the never-ending ocean. As I have said before, working on the plantation is very exhausting. We have to work 10 hours six days a week with only one day of break. On our work days, we have to wake up at 5:00 am with only two breaks at 8:00 am and a 30-minute lunch break from 11:30 to 12:00. Despite working all these grueling hours, we only get paid under $15 a month minus all of our expenses. While we work, an evil luna or the supervisor watches over us, working tirelessly as he rides on horseback, not having a care in the world. The lunas ignored that if any of us got ill on the field, they would just scold us and tell us to get back to work. If we ever stopped working in the field, we would be fined and money would be taken off our paycheck. Our living conditions are pretty poor too, as I have to live in a cramped space with three other men. In our little house, we only have two rooms which are barely furnished. I tidy up around the house while my roommate Antonio makes us food, Andres does the laundry, and Alejandro keeps the morale
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
Written by Margaret K. Pai, the Dreams of Two Yi-min narrates the story of her Korean American family with the main focus on the life journeys of her father and mother, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee. Much like the majority of the pre-World War II immigrants, the author’s family is marked and characterized by the common perception of the “typical” Asian immigrant status in the early 20th century: low class, lack of English speaking ability, lack of transferable education and skills, and lack of knowledge on the host society’s mainstream networks and institutions (Zhou and Gatewood 120, Zhou 224). Despite living in a foreign land with countless barriers and lack of capital, Kwon lead his wife and children to assimilate culturally, economically, and structurally through his growing entrepreneurship. Lee, on the other hand, devoted herself not only to her husband’s business but also to the Korean American society. By investing her time in the Korean Methodist Church and the efforts of its associated societies, such as the Methodist Ladies Aid Society and the Youngnam Puin Hoe, Lee made a worthy contribution to the emergence and existence of Hawaii’s Korean American community.
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
In the U. S today, the approximated population of undocumented immigrants stands at averagely 11 million. Therefore, this has created a hot debate in Congress about the action to take over the undocumented immigrants. Those opposed to illegal immigrants suggest that, their stay in the United States effects U.S citizens on the job market negatively . In addition, illegal immigrants are viewed in certain quarters as takers in the sense that illegal immigrants benefit more from public resources than the american-born citizens of the U.S. However, the reality is that immigrants contribute positively to the U.S economy and pay significantly into the system compared to what they send back home. In addition, the contributions associated with undocumented immigrants involve sustaining the solvency of the SSTF (Social Security Trust Fund). In this sense, the use of cost benefit analysis by those supporting immigration restrictions are unfounded and do not reflect the facts on the ground (Nadadur 1037). The opponents of undocumented immigrants believe that having more undocumented immigrants in the U.S is costly; however, there are no solid reasons to prove that undocumented immigrants are a burden to the treasury. Instead, the undocumented immigrants play an important role in boosting the economy and in particular by taking up jobs those citizens perceive as demeaning because the money they earn goes back to the economy through taxes resulting from consumer spending when they send money back home.
During the 1900’s through 1950’s the United States experienced an influx of immigrants coming in from Mexico seeking employment opportunities, as many of them wanted to avoid the Mexican Revolution occurring from 1910 to 1920. Methods for arriving in the United States varied for each individual’s preference of the destination, but the means of transportation had been constant throughout. These methods of transportation consisted of contractors seeking unskilled workers willing to partake in hard labor in steel, railroad, or agriculture companies. Contractors traveled to towns close to Mexico’s boarder such as Laredo or El Paso seeking Mexicans citizens for labors. In some instances, immigrants traveled on their own will based on the advice
Adamnski, Mary. “Korean Immigration to Hawaii at a Glance .” The Honolulu Star Bulletin. 12 Jan. 2003. 22. Nov. 2003.
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
We don’t realize how hard it is for immigrant parents to get their children education, and we judge and hate on something we have never been through. I guess it’s true you never know someone’s pain unless you go through it. Not everyone has the same privileges as others, some have to work twice as hard to try to give their children an opportunity towards an education on the contrary some American families have it simpler. I not blaming people who have families who were born here or say it’s wrong, but many people tend to affront children of immigrant parents and feel like they have the equitableness to say they aren’t suitable to receive public education.
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 am not the ‘Illegal’ you think I am, and immigration is not what you think it is” Why do people cross the line illegally? there are many reasons for undocumented immigrants to cross to the united states do to the poverty in the country, high level of education in the united states, and the better opportunity of jobs. Many immigrants decide to emigrate from their country of birth to seek a new opportunity for all the family but analyze the information is not only one culture a lot of different cultures immigrant to have a better life in the united states. Undocumented immigration is a big issue in the united states because many immigrants come to live the “ American Dream”. Immigrants from all around the different country
Immigrants have always been an important part of United States’ population. Each year, there are hundreds of thousands of immigrants, from all around the world, including legal and illegal, come into the United States for job opportunities, new life, or the American Dream. “Immigrants have contributed significantly to the development of the United States. During the Lincoln administration, immigrants were actually encouraged to come to America, as they were considered valuable to the development of the country.” (Soylu & Buchanan, 2013). They believe that the US will give them more freedom, protection, and opportunities, which sometimes it becomes the major issues for immigrants. That’s why “the U.S. population is becoming more racially and
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
At a young age, my teachers and parents taught me to believe that I could do and accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I grew up thinking that I was unstoppable and that the only limit to my achievements was the sky. However, during my second year in high school, I began to realize that I was not as unstoppable as I had thought. I began to experience the consequences of my parent’s decision of bringing me to the United States illegally. Among those consequences were, not being able to apply for a job, obtain a driver’s license or take advantage of the dual enrollment program at my high school, simply because I did not possess a social security number. I remember thinking that all of my hard work was in vain and that I was not going to
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.
To meet these selfish goals, the plantation owners needed workers, and they can not afford to pay the workers a meaningful wages.