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“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too” (Barack Obama). (Insert Title Here) The history of the United States of America is founded on immigration; after all, the natives in the country originally were pushed out by European settlers. Throughout the years since America was settled the majority of our population has become immigrants. When searching through family trees, almost all of the genealogy leads back to another country of origin. The short narrative, “First Crossing” by Pam Munoz Ryan, follows a young man, Marco, and his Papa through their struggles of trying to get into the United States of America. Marco and Papa are trying to smuggle themselves into the country so they can provide for their family back in Tijuana, Mexico. After many failed attempts, they make it through, successfully reach America, and begin their new lives in the new country. Ryan illuminates the idea that immigrants are searching for work in order to provide for their families. Although this may be true, …show more content…
Mexican immigrants Marco Represents the Majority of Immigrants In “First Crossing,” Ryan uses the a variety of male characters to convey the idea that immigration is different for every individual.
However, I believe she uses a young male to play one of the main characters, Marco, to portray a certain aspect of immigration from a youthful perspective. Marco hasn’t has as many failed attempts to get into America as his older companion Papa has; therefore, he is still very hopeful in his journey to the U.S.. At the end of the narrative, Papa and Marco are about to be dropped off to their final destination of the journey and Marco is watching all of the other vehicles pass them by on the freeway: “They were all headed somewhere in the United States of America. Marco wondered how many were headed to a whole new world” (First Crossing 93). Marco is now letting himself wonder about the fate of other’s lives and if any of those people are just like him, searching for a fresh
start. Marco also has a sense of fear instilled in him because he has been caught before. The first attempt Marco and Papa made to get into the U.S. the group they were with was apprehended by four Border Patrol officers. The group walked back to the coyote’s house, then during the middle night the group was packed into a van for another attempt at crossing into America; however, Border Control ambushed the van again. On their final attempt to get into the United States, the coyote lady was taking one person across at once by hiding them in a car this time. This was not as comfortable as the van though; it is mentioned that Marco stumbles on his dead foot after getting out of the car for the first time. When Papa speaks to him, “he couldn’t hear what Papa had said because of the noise in his ears, as if they were filled with cotton and bees” (First Crossing 93). It is because of Marco’s childlike spirit and outlook on the world that readers are better able to connect with the story.
Throughout the course of my life, I have always encountered individuals wanting to better their economic situation especially those within my community. Those who come from impoverished communities in other countries risk their lives and lifetime savings to come to the United States hoping that one day they will regain everything that they lost. Their only motivation to come to this country is to be able to provide their family with basic necessities and in order to do this, they must work two or more jobs that pay at minimum wage and are taken for granted. However, many individuals do not see this side of the story and categorize immigrants as unambitious people. In order to be completely aware of what immigrants truly go through and how they succeed in life, one must be willing to place themselves in their shoes and hear his/her story. We must acknowledge that the hands of these people work in back breaking jobs in order to sustain their families. While some Americans may be against immigrants arriving to the United States in search of a better life and the American Dream, in The Madonnas of Echo Park, Brando Skyhorse further reveals that immigrants are exploited as cheap labor, and although they contribute greatly to the everyday function of American industry, they are quite invisible.
In his book, “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” author Tomás Rivera documents through a fictional non-traditional novel, the life experiences of a child that endured many difficulties, he describes the hope, struggles, and tragedies of the Mexican-American migrant workers in the 40s and 50s, and how they travel from home to work to survive. The book’s focus is in Texas, although other areas are mentioned throughout the United States. Divided into 14 different short stories and 13 vignettes the author records the predicament of the Mexican-American migrant workers in Texas and explains how the migrants had to overcome constant discriminatory actions by the White Americans and endure difficult living situations because of poverty as well as unsatisfactory job
It involved the analysis of data from 90,000 individual surveys conducted by the Mexican Migration Project to establish the presence of social effects, and the analysis of qualitative data from 120 in-depth interviews with migrants and their family members in Mexico to reveal the underlying mechanisms. Firstly, it confirmed the hypothesis that “having prior migrants in the household or community increases individuals’ likelihood of migrating net of economic and political context effects” (2013:19). Secondly, through its qualitative research, it found that tough immigration policies among other things, reduce communication channels between migrants in the United States and their families in Mexico. The flow on impact of this is a break down in the feedback loop on what is often, a hard life as a migrant in the United States. Within the context of increased restrictions on border crossings, Garip and Asad (2013) argue that restricting these communication channels simply acts to perpetuate the myth of a glamorous life in the United
Immigration has existed around the world for centuries, decades, and included hundreds of cultures. Tired of poverty, a lack of opportunities, unequal treatment, political corruption, and lacking any choice, many decided to emigrate from their country of birth to seek new opportunities and a new and better life in another country, to settle a future for their families, to work hard and earn a place in life. As the nation of the opportunities, land of the dreams, and because of its foundation of a better, more equal world for all, the United States of America has been a point of hope for many of those people. A lot of nationals around the world have ended their research for a place to call home in the United States of America. By analyzing primary sources and the secondary sources to back up the information, one could find out about what Chinese, Italians, Swedish, and Vietnamese immigrants have experienced in the United States in different time periods from 1865 to 1990.
After reading The Book of the Unknown Americans, I realized how difficult immigrating to the United States can be. I am an immigrant also, so just reading the story makes me relate to many problems immigrants experience relocating to a different country. Immigrants often face many issues and difficulties, but for some it is all worth it, but for others there comes a point in time where they have to go back to their hometown. Alma and Arturo Rivera came to the United States to better their life, but also so that Maribel could attend a special education school. While Arturo had a job things had gone well for the family, but once Arturo lost the job and passed away the two of them had to go back because they felt that that was the best option for them. Reading this book made me realize how strong an individual has to be to leave their own country and relocate somewhere else not knowing if this will better your life or cause one to suffer.
It has been said that immigration is as old as America itself. Immigration traces back as far as the 1500's when the West faced the coming of the Spanish. At that time, the Americas had been settled by the Indians, who were soon threatened by the first immigrants of America. These Spanish conquerors threatened to undermine the culture of the Indians as well as their way of life. Evidently, immigration started from the beginning of our country's time and has had an everlasting effect on America today.
For many Mexican immigrants, crossing the border into the land of freedom and the American dream is no easy task. Some immigrants come over illegally by means of hiding in cars to cross borders, using visitor visas to stay longer, marrying to become citizens, and having babies as ‘anchors’ to grant automatic citizenship. Other immigrants gain green cards and work visas and work their way into becoming US citizens legally and subsequently gaining citizenship through paperwork for their families back home. After escaping harsh living and working conditions in Mexico, immigrants come to America prepared to gain education, opportunity, and work. This American dream unfortunately does not come to pass for most.
It has been observed that, from history American has served as a destination for most immigrants in the world the world (Williams 16).
Family dynamics present interesting revelations, especially regarding the relationship between parents and children. While most families undoubtedly encounter dysfunction at some point throughout life, immigrant families seemingly experience such stress continually. A handful of short stories, including “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, “Who’s irish” by Gish Jen, and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li, demonstrate how strained relations erupt in immigrant families. Familial tension noticeably arises because of the immigrant parents’ inability to fully adjust to the American way of life. Further, immigrant parents adhere to strict expectations in an attempt to uphold the family’s conservative heritage. Finally, immigrant parents typically
“Tunnel” by Sarah Ellis is about a sixteen-year old boy who is looking for a job. He gets a job as a babysitter, and has to look after a girl name Elizabeth, Ib for short. Ib and Ken go for an exploration mission, as he calls it, ending up at a recognizable place from Ken's childhood. Ib enters this place, endangers herself, and requires assistance from Ken. Ken and Ib hear voices that will only disappear upon hearing Ken and Ib’s real name. Ken helps Ib, and they leave, trying to forget about the traumatic experience. This story was able to positively depict the elements of a short story through the point of view, theme, and the mood of the story.
Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut, “Immigrant America: A Portrait.” Kiniry and Rose 336-337. Print.
The Story “The Price of Crossing Borders” was written by Eduardo Porter. The story, “The Price of Crossing Borders” is Eduardo putting his opinion into words about the illegal Immigrants. He explains in many different ways how they help but, he also explains how many natives don 't consider their “help” as help. Eduardo believes the illegal immigrants can help the business industry, but that means the middle class actually working man and women has a chance of losing their job, or job opportunities to a person who shouldn’t even be in this country. in other words Eduardo is supporting the immigration of illegal immigrants.
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.
“What makes someone American isn 't just blood or birth, but allegiance to our founding principles and faith in the idea that anyone form anywhere can write the next chapter of our story” –Barack Obama. Immigration is flawed in the United Sates. Most North Americans have a feeling of hate towards immigrants from all over the world, because they think that immigrants are taking their jobs. The fact is that immigrants actually play a huge role in the economy and development of a country. The whole United States is built on immigrants. Throughout American history, millions of people around the world have left their home countries for a chance to start a new life in the U.S and they continue to emigrate. There are some theories as to why people
Immigration is the movement of non-native individuals into a country in order to permanently live there. The movement of immigration has occurred for as long as society has existed. In the previous few centuries, immigration has brought lots of new people from other countries of the world to the U.S. According to UN figures, there are more than 45 million immigrants live in the U.S and this figure is more than four times as many living in any other nation in the world (Hess and Thomas C. Frohlich). The United States is said to be a land of hope and good prospects. That is why people from all parts of the world are moving into the United States for better life for themselves, and most prominently for their spouse and children.