Narrative Essay On Mexican Immigration

Over the past century, one of the largest ethnic groups that have immigrated to America have been Mexicans. One of the most popular cities with Mexican immigrants is, of course, Chicago. There are many diverse Mexican communities throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, more so than any other minority group. Due to the large Mexican population, it is no wonder why they chose, and still continue to choose, Chicago despite its distant location from Mexico.

My father was born in Mexico and lived there for roughly twelve years. His father ultimately decided to immigrate to America for a better job opportunity. It is likely he made that decision from seeing other family members and friends do the same. In 1977, my dad along with his father, mother, and siblings immigrated to America. They lived in northern Chicago in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. Although it was not entirely

Hispanic, as there were several other minorities and even a few white families as well. He lived there with his family for quite some time before leaving. During this time, he was not an American citizen.
My father married my mother, who was an American citizen, in 1986. As we discussed in class, one way to obtain citizenship is through marriage. As he has been married all these years, he is certainly qualified for American citizenship. Despite this, he is still not an American citizen.
When asked about why he never applied for citizenship or attempt to go through a naturalization process, he answered that he was green card holder and still had many of the same benefits that an American citizen has. He never found it worth it to go through the lengthy procedure of becoming a citizen when there was not much to gain from it. I asked if he would ever attempt to get his citizenship, and he stated it is still a possibility although he is not actively pursuing it.
Even though he is not an American citizen, he considers himself more of an American citizen than a Mexican citizen.

In fact, he has not traveled to Mexico since he left almost 30 years ago. While several family members still reside there, he never really wanted to go back. Also, he does not remember much about the culture of Mexico. As a result, his sense of culture is more Mexican-American based. Living in a diverse community was unique in that you had Mexican culture with American customs added in.

From living in a diverse community, it was a common thing to come across cultural diversity. He went to a culturally diverse high school with many Latino and European immigrants. While some people fully embraced being Mexican, my father tried being more American. He actively watched more American television and listened to more English music. In addition, his best friends through his teenage years were white. From what I read in A Different Mirror (p308), although several Mexicans came from poor places, they still cherished their cultural identity. My father seemed to be not one of

them.
Today, there is very little Mexican culture he is a part of. From the questions I asked him, it seems as if he classifies himself as an American rather than being Mexican. Despite all this, however, he is still not an American citizen. Regardless, it is evident that not all Mexican born immigrants will embrace their Mexican culture.