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Being an immigrant essay
My immigrant life essay
Being an immigrant essay
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The path that brought me across the border of Mexico to the United States has also brought me along this path to law school. My parents divorced in 1994 and the lack of economic opportunities for a single mother produced her difficult decision to leave Ecuador on July 15, 1995. My sister, two cousins, and I left on a weeklong journey in pursuit of a better life. At 13 months old I was taken from my mother’s arms by a coyote and I crossed the Mexican border alone that day. I admire the risk and multiple jobs my mom worked to bring me to the United States to pursue a dream and I understand the choice that many immigrants take to do the same. Two years later, on July 19, 1997 my mother remarried to the man who adopted me, raised me with equal …show more content…
Immediately, I began with a service of tutoring and mentoring refugee students in the inner city public schools. In addition, I taught English to adult immigrant students and prepared them for their journey to citizenship. Each individual had a unique story that I empathetically connected to because they were once challenges of my own. Their common challenge was communication that I also experienced from being raised in a Spanish household. Not being understood due to a different language, culture, and ethnicity is a frustrating …show more content…
I was able to overcome this barrier through travel to France, Italy, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ecuador. I desired to reach that diversity of cultures and immigrant community closer to home. I eliminated the obstacle, which in this case was location, by interning at the Law Office of Mercedes S. Cano in Jackson Heights, Queens (NY) last summer. I visit this area yearly and have recognized the strong exposure to the immigrant community. It was a rewarding experience to learn from Ms. Cano’s wealth of knowledge regarding
Part Three of the book “Just Like Us” written by Helen Thorpe is comprised of illegal undocumented individuals residing in Denver Colorado. The individuals consist of a group of four Mexican young adults all with the dream of one day attending college and finally obtaining a legal status within the United States. In this portion of the readings, Yadira, Marisela, Clara, and Elissa are entering their senior year at their University and have defined the odds of successfully completing college while maintaining an illegal status. Helen Thorpe clearly demonstrates a passion in tracking individuals that are determined to become legal citizens within society; however, lack the proper advocacy and documentation to do so. Part Three of the book envelops
Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account when he wrote Shadowed Lives, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY it takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants. Chavez is detailed within the book points are placed regarding people's choice to migrate as well as their stories of crossing the border into the United States We can learn a lot from Chavez's book, making distinct opinions on immigration itself, and the difference in immigration culture after migrating.
For more than 300 years, immigrants from every corner of the globe have settled in America, creating the most diverse and heterogeneous nation on Earth. Though immigrants have given much to the country, their process of changing from their homeland to the new land has never been easy. To immigrate does not only mean to come and live in a country after leaving your own country, but it also means to deal with many new and unfamiliar situations, social backgrounds, cultures, and mainly with the acquisition and master of a new language. This often causes mixed emotions, frustration, awkward feelings, and other conflicts. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, the author describes the social, cultural and linguistic difficulties encountered in America as he attempts to assimilate to the American culture. Richard Rodriguez by committing himself to speaking English, he lost his cultural ties, family background and ethnic heritage.
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.
“ Ironically I faced discrimination from other immigrants rather than Americans themselves”, stated Valentina Luma when she was been interviewed. This quote was the most relatable to my experience of being an immigrant to United States of America compares to hers. Valentina Luma was the age of nine when her and her family immigrated from Dominican Republic to the United States. Luma’s journey to the United States wasn’t arduous physically rather mentally where the process to get accepted took almost a decade, she admits to understand why some immigrants would rather come to America illegally than wait almost a decade to come. Some of the positive
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.
The United States is a country known for its variation of nationalities and ethnic races. After extensive research, and questioning I discovered that my ancestors originated from Norway and Switzerland. My family migrated to the United States in the late 1800’s from Norway due to social, economic, and religion reforms as well as, a surplus in the population. Learning of my ancestor’s migration to America has very much influenced my views on the existing immigration problems that the U.S. currently faces.
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
Stoneyl, Sierra, Jeanna Batalova and Joseph Russel. "South American Immigrants in the United States." Migration Policy Institute (2013). 25 April 2014. .
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
In the work with immigrant women who are often marginalized members of society can be encouraged to engage in social activism and connection (Sue and Sue, 2010). This can mean different things for different individuals and it is important that this encouragement is done in a way that is consistent with the strengths of the client with consideration for their needs and goals. Immigrant women can take up volunteering at local community centers to support other immigrants or lobbying lawmakers regarding immigration policies and services available to support those marginalized in the community. The purpose of such social engagement is to increase self-esteem and engage in social transformation in a way that can lead to the restructuring and enhancement of personal beliefs and
Many immigrants come to the US looking for the American dream, and with that dream give their children a better life. I 'm a first generation immigrant that came from a small south American country named Ecuador. With the almost six years of being in this country I have learned many aspects of American culture, and even embraced some as my own. This particular event in my life is strongly related to sociological concepts as immigration, race, ethnicity, and assimilation.
The issue that I am exploring is the legal challenges that the displaced agricultural migratory labor community is facing with legal residency in the United States; such as the ability to access state and federal benefits and the challenges and strengths local communities face from the impact on this migratory community. I have been working with the displaced agricultural migratory labor community on the East coast for the past 8 years. I have found a passion for this community through the interaction I have had with thousands of individuals from all around North and South America. For 6 years I managed a blueberry farm with one thousand acres of blueberry field. During this time, I was responsible for recruitment, hiring, feeding, lodging,
Writing from the McHenry County Adult Correctional Facility, Illinois; I want to voice what I think is necessary for the sake of preserving the principles of democracy and civil liberties that characterize the United States of America. Even though I am a legal student in this country, I am sitting here, in this immigration jail, because I was protesting two days ago at the doors of the Chicago O’Hare airport claiming for the rights of those who are as equal as me. It is sad for me to say that as for January 31st, 2017 there still exist bigotry, discrimination, and xenophobia against us, the immigrants of this big country.
My family’s immigration story begins with my great great grandfather and mother John and Lucille LaSalle coming to America. They emigrated in 1905 from Italy to America. They wanted to come to America in hope for a better life. They didn’t have a lot of money in Italy and wanted to come to America in hope to make more money. They did not speak English and had a rough and long journey ahead of them. They took very little with them only what was special, and symbolic to them. My great great grandparents came through Ellis Island, like most Italian immigrants they were met with racial prejudice. My...