Annotation Of Legal Alien By Pat Mora

With a lack of understanding a new country’s system, it can be hard for immigrants to take advantage of services that are granted to everyone without tarnishing some of their dignity. In How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Carla’s mother calls the police after Carla experienced a traumatic event on the street. Hoping to solve the problem and make the area safer for her daughter, instead she is greeted with a barrier. A police officer responding from Carla’s mother phone call impatiently describes the legal system, “There was a sigh of exasperation. A too-patient voice with dividers

This structure depicts the economic exploitation of one Hispanic by another. At first Enrique and Rosa do not see, as illegal immigrants, it is nearly impossible to be free. Enrique and Rosa might be safer living in America than in Guatemala, but as an illegal immigrant they will never reap the benefits American citizens have.

“Notes of an Alien Son: Immigration Paradoxes” by Andrei Codrescu is a short essay about his mother leaving Romania to come to America for a better life. Codrescu begins his essay by depicting the reasons why immigrants come to America. Most of them don’t expect things to be so difficult. In this case, they are not granted with the better life they expected to have when they came to America.

Gonzalez opens this chapter with, conceivably, the harshest narrative he could find to support his claims: He writes of a Latina mother forced by a judge to speak English to her daughter at home if she wanted to retain custody (Gonzalez 206). He continues on to describe the three categories of people affected by the

In the film “Mi Familia,” we follow the story of the Mexican-American Sánchez family who settled in East Los Angeles, California after immigrating to the United States. Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas introduce the story of this family in several contexts that are developed along generations. These generations hold significant historical periods that form the identity of each individual member of the family. We start off by exploring the immigrant experience as the family patriarch heads north to Los Angeles, later we see how national events like the great depression directly impact Maria as she gets deported, although she was a US citizen. The events that follow further oppress this family and begins separate identity formations. These

In Pearsall, Texas, the Anglo and Mexican communities were divided to contribute to Elva’s confusion and frustrations of being alone. The immigrant society was lumped together as their own “class” of people:

Richards essay describes how he has to “ trade” his Spanish language identity to find his “public” language identity . He remembers his parents trying their best to speak more English in their home to help their kids fit into society . He talks about how the fact that he lost one identity was worth the gain of the other identity he so longed for . “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen” (454-455). It was at that moment that he knew for a fact that his whole life he was already an American citizen . To him beign an American citizen meant having an English language identity and being able to speak the public language. As a boy Rodriguez was able to only speak and understand the Spanish language . To him it was the only real identity he ever had growing up . He also discussed that because the Spanish language identity is developed among his family members. That the language is somehow responsible for how they were able to identify themselves

For many years now people have judged one another based on characteristics and family background. Some judge based on skin color, race, where your family has come from, and how you came about. “Legal Alien/ Extranjera Legal” by Pat Mora gives a very realistic message of how it can feel to be a mexican american and to be seen as a ‘legal alien’. To feel not wanted by either side, and to be judged based on the origins of your ancestors and your race. “viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,/ perhaps inferior, definitely different,/ viewed by mexicans as alien.” This here, is a perfect example of the way Mora feels about being judged and seen as an alien and her interesting use of diction, metaphors and similes. I think the tone Mora has is one

In Pat Mora's poem, "Legal Alien," the author describes her biracial character as being "viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic, / perhaps inferior, definitely different, / viewed by Mexicans as alien," a description which highlights the situation encountered by people who strive to be prestigious individuals by floating between cultures and who consequently fail to be a part of any particular group (Mora 9-11). Often the individuals are biologically trapped between two probable lives, and they forge ahead to meet the opportunity of possibly belonging to the higher society while they degrade the small culture which has weaned them from birth. These people find themselves

modules gives many examples how strong cultural pasts lead to identity problems in a new society. Also, the module shows us that many Mexicans were not happy with the stereotype formed about their identity. In Between the Lines, we see how Mexicans in America suffer through harsh discrimination, while trying to stay close to their relatives and culture. The letters talk about how Whites did not have concerns with family values or cultural beliefs. Whites based many of their values off succeeding in the economy. Whites in general had no regard for Mexicans as people.

She discusses how Mexicans identify themselves; since there are many different ways to identify culture, they make up several different cultures (Indian, Black, and Mexican). By the end she talks about the fight that Mexicans put up to stand up for their culture and their identity.

During the Mexican-American War the border moved, but the people didn’t. History has shown us that no matter how thick the border might be Latino Americans have a strong connection to their culture and roots; instead of assimilating, Mexicans live between two worlds. The film, Ballad of Gregorio Cortez gave us a perspective of two cultures; “Two cultures- the Anglo and the Mexican- lived side by side in state of tension and fear” . Cortez is running for his life as he heads north, while the Anglo believe that because of his Mexican ethnicity, he would travel south to Mexico. Throughout the film there were cultural tensions and misunderstandings; language plays an important part of someone’s identity, and for many Latino Americans Spanish is their first language. The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez also shows us that language plays an important role, and can cause confusion between two different groups. For example, Anglos refer to a male

America is characterized as a country of endless opportunities and freedom. People risk their lives to escape their countries searching for a diversified and opportunistic nation in search of a better quality of life. However, foreigners face a possible likelihood of being unable to escape poverty due to their immigration status and the disadvantage of lacking educational accomplishments. Numerous Americans have become outraged over time due to the decreased employment opportunities and have placed their blame towards non-citizens. Due to the vast majority of these aliens belonging to Mexico, the racial assumption continues to be directed at Mexicans when referring to immigrants. Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem, “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans,” centralizes on the misconception of Mexicans commandeering positions in the workforce from native-born American citizens. Baca imposes his belief that non-citizen workers are not imposing themselves in the workforce and creates many visualizations for his audience through his experiences on the racial stereotype. This literary piece creates an emotional topic between the speaker and the audience which allows people who oppose to understand the struggles that immigrants go through. Baca emphasizes and verbally illustrates the irrational accusations directed at aliens using mockery to battle with the truth towards their ideology and to connect with his audience deeply.

The story illustrates the overlapping influences of women’s status and roles in Mexican culture, and the social institutions of family, religion, economics, education, and politics. In addition, issues of physical and mental/emotional health, social deviance and crime, and social and personal identity are

Yee, V., Davis, K., & Patel, J. (2017, March 06). Here’s the Reality About Illegal Immigrants in the United States. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/06/us/politics/undocumented-illegal-immigrants.html