Latino Immigrants In Enrique's Journey

There are those who choose to immigrate to the United States in hopes of leaving poverty and oppression behind in search of a better life in a country that does not welcome all with open arms. President Obama reminds those who are lucky enough to have born in this great country that, “For all the noise and anger that too often surrounds the immigration debate, America has nothing to fear from today’s immigrants. They have come here for the same reason that families have always come here–for the hope that in America, they could build a better life for themselves and their families. Like the waves of immigrants that came before them and the Hispanic Americans whose families have been here for generations, the recent arrival of Latino immigrants will only enrich our country,” (2013, para 22). One of the stories in the book Enrique’s Journey is that of a young mother, Lourdes and her inner strength to persevere through the obstacles life throws at her. She comes to the United States looking for a better future, and in the process leaves behind her two young children in

hopes of reuniting with them one day soon. During her journey, she faces a multitude of challenges; one of which is her relationship with her children. Toward the end of the book, she will reunite with the son she left behind. Sadly, this reunion will not be what either of them expected, as the teenager feels resentful toward the mother who left him. “By the time that happens, if it happens, the children are usually very angry with their mothers. They feel abandoned,” (Nazario, 2014, pp. xxv).
Lourdes
In Honduras, Lourdes found herself struggling to meet the most basic needs of her two young children, Belky and Enrique. She is saddened by the fact that, “She has never been able to buy them a toy or birthday cake,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.4). It is hard enough to scrape money together in order to buy food to feed her children. What work she does find pays very little. She feels that, “They have a bleak future. Enrique and Belky are not likely to finish grade school. Lourdes cannot afford uniforms or pencils. Her husband is gone. A good job is out of the question,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.4). For this reason, the young mother decides that her only choice is to leave her children and make the trek to the United States in order to provide a better future for them. “She will be gone for one year—less, with luck—or she will bring her children to be with her. It is for them she is leaving, she tells herself, but she still feels guilty,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.4). Unfortunately, Lourdes pursuit of a better life does not end after a year, and due to the many hardships she faces due to her environment, she is not able to afford to bring her children to live with her.
Life in the United States was not easy for Lourdes. She pays a smuggler to take her to Miami; he takes her money and leaves her in California. She eventually finds work as a live-in nanny, taking care of children who are not her own. Life in the United States is not as glorious as she envisioned, at times she goes months without calling to talk to her children. She manages to send a little money home, but it is often not enough. “It is enough for food but not for school clothes, fees, notebooks, or pencils, which are expensive in Honduras,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.11). Lourdes moves in with her boyfriend in hopes of saving more money for her children. The day comes that she finds herself pregnant, and after struggling through her pregnancy, gives birth to a daughter. Soon after the boyfriend, who is abusive, returns home and Lourdes once again struggles with being able to pay her own bills, let alone send money home. ”She can’t buy milk or diapers or take her daughter to the doctor when she is sick,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.14-15). This causes her to wonder if she made the right decision when it comes to leaving her children. Her life in the United States does not seem much easier than it was in Honduras, and too make it worse she is apart from two of her three children.
Being in the United States has been hard for Lourdes, as she worries about being caught and deported back to Honduras.

There are times when she does not feel safe, gangs are everywhere in her neighborhood and crime is widespread. While some employers have been kind, “Others seem to revel in her humiliation,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.15). Then there are those individuals who have some power, make promises, to only run away with what little money she does have. She has nightmares about returning home to visit and not being able to get back into the United States without the legal paperwork. “She has no money to pay a smuggler. She tries to come back on her own. The path becomes a labyrinth. She runs through zigzagging corridors. Each time, she awakens in a sweat,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.20). She longs for her two children, but does not want to put their lives in the hands of smugglers and risk losing them

forever.
Lourdes soon leaves California and heads east to North Carolina, where “There are plenty of jobs for immigrants and it seems to be safe,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.186). One day she is made aware by a family member that her son has left to find her. She spends times between worrying and praying for his safety. Then she receives a call from a smuggler in Texas, who wants almost two thousand dollars in order to get her son safely to her. Even with money being hard to come by, “She takes $500 she has saved, borrows $1200 from her boyfriend, and wires it to Dallas,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.188). For Lourdes having Enrique with her in the United States, opens up more obstacles that she must face.
Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Factors
When looking at the poverty and oppression that Lourdes has struggled with, it is important to consider her interactions with her social environment, along with micro, mezzo, and macro factors. Furthermore, how these factors influenced her environment, along with how they contributed to the poverty and oppression she has experienced. From a micro perspective it is important to understand Lourdes as an individual. Her familiarity with poverty and oppression comes from her upbringing, a lack of educations and the absence of decent paying jobs in her country. “People view their environments and the forces that shape them differently depending on many things: biological factors, such as their own heredity and intelligence; personal life experiences, including their childhood; ethnicity and culture; and level and type of education,” (Ambrosino, Ambrosino, Heffernan, and Shuttlesworth, 2016, pp. 54). As a young mother and sole provider to two small children, her decision to immigrate to an unfamiliar country comes from her believe that the United States will provide her with the means to meet her and her children’s needs.
Equally important is Lourdes environment when it comes to a mezzo approach. Here when looking at her environment it is important to look the relationships between the microsystems. “Depending on one’s definition, micro systems include individuals, whereas mezzo systems are small groups,” (Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 2015, pp.3). Good jobs are hard to come by. Lourdes relies on her family to take in her children and care for them when she leaves for the United States. Her village does not offer resources that will help her family when it comes to feeding and clothing two additional people. “The community and neighborhood exert significant influence upon individuals in most areas of the world, including the United States,” (Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 2015, pp. 259). Even after entering the United States, Lourdes has a hard time finding a job that pays well due to her lack of education and being in the country illegally.
The last factor to be looked at is macro and how it relates to Lourdes environment. “Consider the influence the community has had on her,” (Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 2015, pp. 269). Her government has contributed to her poverty, as they do not provide better paying jobs or much needed resources. When it comes to her neighborhood, no one else is any better off, they are all struggling to survive. “How people experience their social environment has a major influence on their expectations about the future and their trust in social institutions,” (Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 2015, pp. 270). For Lourdes and her children, their future in Honduras, as well as the United States, has felt hopeless. At times the challenges they have faced, caused them to be no better off than if the family had stayed together in Honduras.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there were many times in her life that had been filled with frustration, resentment, anger, and sadness. Lourdes was able to move beyond these emotions and find the strength that was needed to survive. One example of this strength is seen as she travels with the smuggler who is taking her to the United States. “Each afternoon, she reminds herself that if she is weak, if she does not keep moving forward, her children will pay,” (Nazario, 2014, pp. 8). The love she feels for her children and wanting to provide them with a better life, helps Lourdes stay strong and keeps moving. Another example of how her strength has helped her survive, is when she is abandoned by the father of the baby she gave birth to in the United States and, “Takes the one job available: work as a fichera,” (Nazario, 2014, pp. 15). For Lourdes, due to her culture, this job is filled with humiliation, and disgrace. “Her first day is filled with shame. She imagines that her brothers are sitting at the bar, judging her,” (Nazario, 2014, pp.15). Through her many jobs, Lourdes has felt oppression and poverty that come with the knowledge that she can be deported at any time, yet she continues to move forward. In the end, all that mattered to her was finding the strength to carry on for her children.