Crossing with the Virgin

One’s commitment of immigrating to a new country for a better life indicates that oneself is ready to risk the life given to them by facing many hardships along the way. In the novel Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, Enrique does exactly that, risking his own life at the age of seventeen in order to reunite with his mother who left him when he was five in order to obtain a better job in the US and give Enrique and his older sister everything she thought they deserved. Nazario utilizes an emotional appeal and metaphors to inform readers of the arduous situations migrants experience on their long and tiring journey in search of a family member and a better future.

In the reading land of open graves by De Leon, discusses the dangers that millions of Mexican and central Americans face when trying to get into the United States undocumented. These people include people who have the dream of living in America and creating a new life where they can support their families. Also for those who have been deported back to Mexico being separated from their families and are in hopes of being reunited with their loved ones. These people face a hard battle ahead of them because they have to travel through the Sonoran desert of Arizona that is one of the largest deserts in North America. And have to deal with not only fighting the harsh desert elements, while only caring as many supplies as they can. They also have to deal with the structural violence that goes under looked that thousands of Mexicans have to face while migrating to the United States.

These are just some examples of what and who tries to prevent immigrants from crossing over. Some do successfully cross over. Many Mexicans come for the search of a better life for their kids and family whether its to send them to school or supplies and uniform. Whatever the

They slip into the San Diego rail yard furtively, preferably beneath the protective cover of darkness, jumping fences, eluding guards and dodging two hundred -ton locomotives in a perilous dash for the most elusive of prizes, a free ride to the north. According to Jose Flores, an illegal Mexican immigrant seeking work in the United States says, “To be truthful, I have no idea of precisely where this train goes, other than it takes us to el norte” (Griffin 363+). The fact that each night literally hundreds of men and women clamber over the barricade is testament to its ineffectiveness and to the irresistible pull of United States jobs “that on average pay eight times their equivalent in Mexico” (Griffin 363+ ). Javier Ortega, a 40-year-old auto body repairman from Guadalajara, says, "It doesn 't matter how many people, horses, bicycles, helicopters or planes they use…. People will go. It doesn 't matter if the fence is electric" (Griffin 363+). These people carry dreams with them in hopes for a better life. These people are willing to walk day and night through any desert and any river they come across to achieve the “American Dream.” Illegal immigration between Mexico and the United States is a serious situation that needs to be solved. To better understand this situation, one must analyze the causes and effects and come up with a solution.

Language is much more than a method of communication. Permeated within it are traditions, customs, and legacies of one’s culture. The identity of an entire population is in the distinct vocalizations of their native language. Unfortunately, as a wave of immigrants enters the United States at young ages, many face language barriers that pose significant challenges. Language barriers affect a multitude of immigrant populations to different degrees. This, in turn, causes many of them to abandon not only their native tongue but a piece of their ethnic identity, as well. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s personal narrative,“The Language of Silence,” she describes the difficulties she experienced throughout her childhood with a language barrier as a

The book “Coyotes” by Ted Conover describes the lives of immigrants who cross over to from Mexico to the United States. It describes the hardships that they face along the way and it shows what it is like to be an illegal immigrant. Ted Conover is an American journalist who basically wanted to shed light on the impact of illegal immigration in both Mexico and the United States. In order to do this he travels to Mexico so that he can experience firsthand what it is like to be a Mexican crossing the border illegally. From there the book describes his journey of trying to navigate life as an illegal immigrant in the United States.

Throughout the various books that we have read, one of the many concepts that stood out for me was the well-being and healthcare of undocumented workers. Due to the current criminalization of immigration, most undocumented workers live in a constant state of fear and anxiety. This really made me think about the psychological and somatic outcomes of fear, stigma, trauma, and prejudice for undocumented workers. This brought into question the structural and symbolic violence that causes undocumented workers to suffer from mental and physical illnesses and how the treatment, if any, is administered.

Immigration is a very dangerous and risky journey. Everyday immigrants try so hard to make it to the United States. This journey involves parents trying to support kids back home, families trying to start over, or kids trying to get to their mom; but some do not make it through this hardship. Those individuals, who make it, try like never before to support themselves and the family they needed to leave behind. Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario is a well written novel that uses many pathos, logos, and ethos examples. Each one of them is used effectively because of the way students are persuaded in believing there true. Elements from the quotes can reveal that Sonia is knowledgeable and

To Conover’s true style whilst writing “Coyotes: A Journey Across Borders With America’s Illegal Migrants” (Conover. T. 1987) he went undercover, again for a year, to explore and understand illegal immigration, the immigrants and the mercenaries involved. At first Conover was trying to describe the sensation of crossing the border without actually putting himself at risk, and at involvement but, when that failed and it was pointed out that without ever actually crossing the border himself he would never truly understand, Conover decided that he would find a way to cross the border much the same as the illegal immigrants did, and he succeeded.

Throughout life, every individual must face obstacles; some more difficult than others. In the story “The Trip” by Laila Lalami, poem “Exile” by Julia Alvarez, and article “Outlaw: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, there is a main character who has to face many challenges because of the fact that they’re immigrants. In all three texts, it is evident that being an immigrant has many affects on their lives. However, this label and the obstacles that come with it didn’t stop each character from pushing forward.

My parents both came to this country at a very young age. My father was 16 when he first moved to the U.S. and my mother years later moved when she was 19. I am a child of immigrants and it was hard growing up. I consider myself a Mexican American or Chicana. I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and later moved to Las Vegas. As I asked my father what he had to deal when he first moved he said “people would discriminate me just because I couldn’t speak well English and because of my brown skin”. “I was only 16 and wanted to live the American dream, but it was more like hell in America”. A lot of people are discriminated every day just because they aren’t Caucasian/white Americans, but they’re still American they live here and have a living here.

United by the obligations of the law, yet entirely divided by society, welcome to America. Patriots chant “equality” one moment, and “deport them” the next. Cruel, unaccepting, and uncompassionate, American society of the majority often appears to view itself as sovereign, turning a blind eye to, and often contributing to, the struggles of minorities. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan (1990) does an excellent job of sharing her experience with similar issues as she tells her readers about the struggles her mother encountered due to being an immigrant who only spoke “broken” English. Society often put no weight into what Tan’s mother had to say, believing her ability to express her thoughts reflected the quality of said thoughts, which are of absolutely no correlation (Tan, 1990). This often led to Tan having to intervene for her mother, especially during serious situations that required resolution (Tan, 1990). Immigrants, no matter how intelligent or talented, may be plagued by continuous struggles because of a lack of understanding of English or American culture, stereotypes encouraged by the media, and discrimination, especially in the workplace.

With the fast-paced globalization together with the heightening political economic issues of the world, it has brought forth the illegal immigrants to cross the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona, or as the anthropologist, Jason De León describes it, The Land of the Open Graves. However, there is more to unauthorized immigration than what meets the eye. Scratching the surface of the case of undocumented migrants reveals that it rooted from the intensifying global inequality and crisis of the world. Accordingly, the author’s decision to vividly depict the brutality beyond words the undocumented migrants had suffered while crossing the borders allows the readers to see the bigger picture behind illegal immigration, preventing further unnecessary deaths of the innocents.

Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account when he wrote Shadowed Lives, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY it takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants. Chavez is detailed within the book points are placed regarding people's choice to migrate as well as their stories of crossing the border into the United States We can learn a lot from Chavez's book, making distinct opinions on immigration itself, and the difference in immigration culture after migrating.

Imagine as a young Mexican woman citizen in her mid-twenties who is living in a horrible conditions in the Southern part of Mexico with no job and with four kids. She also has terrible sickness condition and doesn 't have any health care and insurance to take care of her and her children. The mother is thinking about to move from her current place to a much better place, U.S., but however, she has not filled out any legal documents to move to the United States of America. So then, she picked up everything she has and her kids, too. When she arrives at the national border of Mexico and United States, then she have to get across the border without anyone founds out, because she is not legally to do that, anyway. The most important reason to