The readings for this week were very interesting to me because I could relate myself and some of my family members to them. They focused on transnational migration and dual citizenship. Transnational migration is a fascinating concept because it involves two different nations and it is also related to the term belonging. In the reading by Peggy Levitt, there was a discussion about the challenges that are included in transnational migration. For instance, the challenge I found to be more interesting was the first challenge, which was about social categories. It was discussed that social categories may not be what we think because those who are part of transnational migration define their class according to at least two cultural standards. Some
immigrants come to the United States to prepare themselves to live a better life in their homeland when they retire, rather than focus on the present and live good in the country they decided to settle. An example of this are the people who receive low-income housing in the United States while they are building a house in their country of origin. Many of the people that come to the United States try to take advantages of all the opportunities and benefits they find in this country. Some immigrants take advantage of the opportunity of becoming a citizen of the United States, but other immigrants are not interested on obtaining their citizenship. The different opinions that many immigrants, especially the Dominican community in New York, have about citizenship are discussed in the reading by Greta A. Gilbertson. Many immigrants look at citizenship as a way to stay in this country and have better opportunities than those who are not citizen of the United States. In fact when an individual becomes an US citizen, they are allowed to go back to their country of origin and come back whenever they want without losing their legal entrance to the United States. On the other hand, if they are a permanent resident they have a limited time of no more than six months in their homeland when they go to visit. Other immigrants are not interested on becoming US citizens because they say that there is not much of a difference between the rights of a permanent resident and a citizen of the United States. Many immigrants argue that having a dual nationality has to do a lot with the feeling of belonging. I completely agree with that because you feel belonging to the country that you are living in, but your roots from where you were born make you belong to the other country. I feel American, but I am also proud to say that I am Dominican. Question: Which country benefits most from transnational migration, the host country or origin country?
Furthermore, Kolker writes an informative non-fiction book about immigrants from different parts of the world. In this book she talks about how immigrants have brought their cultural values with them. Those values have been cherished and accepted in the United States. Kolker goes on to tell us, how immigrant’s lives are more
Differences present between immigrant and non-immigrant families in terms of opportunity, social inclusion and cultural acceptance is a prominent issue in the world today. In the novel, Brother, David Chariandy shows how these inconsistencies affect the opportunities present for second-generation migrants. Francis, Michael and Aisha are all children of migrants residing in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough or “Scar-Bro” as Michael refers to it (Chariandy). This suburb is home to immigrants of colour struggling to raise families on minimum wage jobs and the institutional racism present. This essay will first examine how the opportunity of second generation migrants is affected due to the preconceived idea of what opportunity is from the first
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
The Europeans who claimed what was to become America chose to integrate the land's present inhabitants and future immigrants in order to become the dominating race and, consequently, made other cultures feel inferior to their own. The Angel family, Mexican-Indian immigrants and the subject of Arturo Islas' Migrant Souls, becomes victim to the Americans' forceful demands for conformity. While Sancho, the father, never complains about assimilation, yet never becomes fully "assimilated," his wife, Eduviges, strives to be a part of the American culture. These conflicting reactions and the existing prejudice in the community leave their daughter, Josie, uncertain of her true identity.
Roberto Suro, the author of “Strangers Among Us”, wrote arguably one of the most sincere and informative immigration related narratives. Suro’s analysis and observations of the emergence of social and economic immigrant contribution go into great depth and explanation of exactly how Latino Immigration is slowly but surely transforming America. Suro’s narrative gives an in depth look at various Latino groups and how each group adapted and intertwined with American societies around the nation. Each Latino group regardless of immigrating location had its own separate story and journey as they each have immigrated to an American generation that is seeing economic changes with an overall unsympathetic American attitude towards immigrants. Immigrating to another nation forms
In The Sport of the Gods, Paul Laurence Dunbar presents a naturalistic look at African American life during turn of the century. This novel is centered on the “Great Migration” which was the decided shift of the black community from the rural South to the urban North beginning in the early 1900s. Dunbar uses the Hamilton family to represent the false sense of agency African Americans possessed within the post-Reconstruction society. The characters within the family are constantly attempting to better their conditions through appearance, relationships, and eventually treachery, but they are powerless in the strict social confines of the Rural South, and even more so to the tumultuousness of the Urban North. In the end of the story, the family is destroyed but their unfortunate dissolution can then implicate readers and become a catalyst for change and unification within the African American community.
I am writing in response to your request that I analyze Mae Ngai’s “Reforming Immigration for Good,” and offer my recommendation for or against publication. After reading Ngai’s document, in my opinion, I believe that UTA students will find the article interesting. Ngai’s Piece is very interesting because it addresses a reoccurring problem and can easily be made into a controversial debate. I recommend that UTA students should read the article because it has a different approach than what most people view on Immigration laws; however, I believe that UTA students will disagree with Ngai’s viewpoint of improving the immigration laws which will allow for more immigrants to apply for citizenship. I also recommend that students read it because
\ While reading Spare Parts by Joshua Davis, I came to understand many important topics in four boys lives, whether it was about their home lives or about beating MIT. The one that sticks with me the most was the struggle these boys had to go through because they were not American citizens.
Throughout the semester we touched on several topics, but one topic that stood out for was immigration. We watched and discussed movies like “Sin Nombre” and “El Norte” which depicted the process of migrating and the risk factors associated with it. On a personally I more interested in it because been an immigrant myself I can relate to Sayra in “Sin Nombre” and Pedro and his sister in “El Norte” to some extent.
Making the decision to leave your country for the better is a very difficult decision. This decision means leaving your family and friends, going somewhere that you have nothing, and possibly endangering your life. Mohsin Hamid describes the difficulties of migration through the novel Exit West. In this novel Hamid follows a young couple migrating out of their home town for safety and a better life. These reasons also apply to real life migration for why people are migrating. Hamid represents the traveling part of migration through these magical doors that leads to another country, depicts learning how to find your way in a new place, and presents the difficulties of countries not wanting migrants.
Knott , Kim, and Seán McLoughlin, eds. Diasporas Concepts, Intersections, Identities. New York : Zed Books, 2010. Print.
Eva Hoffman’s memoir, Lost in Translation, is a timeline of events from her life in Cracow, Poland – Paradise – to her immigration to Vancouver, Canada – Exile – and into her college and literary life – The New World. Eva breaks up her journey into these three sections and gives her personal observations of her assimilation into a new world. The story is based on memory – Eva Hoffman gives us her first-hand perspective through flashbacks with introspective analysis of her life “lost in translation”. It is her memory that permeates through her writing and furthermore through her experiences. As the reader we are presented many examples of Eva’s memory as they appear through her interactions. All of these interactions evoke memory, ultimately through the quest of finding reality equal to that of her life in Poland. The comparison of Eva’s exile can never live up to her Paradise and therefore her memories of her past can never be replaced but instead only can be supplemented.
My life in early 19th century was very dreadful and scary. I was from a poor family where father goes to work in factories for 12-18 hours a day. I was from Germany. Jews was the most segregated religion in Germany. We did not have full right to do a certain things such as go to certain college to get education, shoe our religion freely to other and enjoy our festival. My father used to get a low wages in work and we have to live with the things we have we have no right to argue back for wages or anything. At that time pneumonia,tuberculosis and influenza were very common dieses. If anybody get sick in family we did not have much money to cure or buy medicine. There was a struggle going on with farmer because industrialist have started making the crops and grains in cheap mony and sell which make the life of farmer hard to live. We also have a little land where we use to farm and live since there is not profit in selling grains than my father start working in factories. My mother used to stay home and prepare food for us. Christian people were persecuting many of my relative and jews...
Cheech Marin’s film, Born in East L.A., spotlights many key issues brought upon mainly by immigration. This comedic production hits the hearts to many because while it may be humorous, it is also a reality to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and so it hits close to home to many. Immigration is the main topic of this motion picture, but I want to focus on one subdivision of it only; language. The linguistic barriers in between a border is evident in the movie and especially a reality in our world.
Until I travelled I saw my grandparents as migrants from another country, living in a country that wasn’t their own, I witnessed the lives they would have had if they remained. I expected ‘Greece Greeks’ to be exactly like my parents, but it was very different. I didn’t feel the same connection that I felt back when I was home. Here I was in a country I spoke the language, where my grand parents were born and where my culture’ came from, yet I saw myself as the