I Am No Immigrant Essay

When I was deliberating topics for my case study ethnography report I was inspired to examine some one very close to me who is "undocumented", someone whose experience I have seen first hand, some one who has affected my life and understanding of immigrants with his situation; my partner, Mario. This class has exposed us to many writings on the subjects of migration, immigration and emigration. I began to compare the concepts and information in the readings to Mario’s personal situation. I was curious if his answer would be "In search of a better life" when asked, "Why did you come here?"

Studying to be a physician requires lots of effort and time. To an immigrant like me, I tried to manage my studies, volunteer work, and adjusting to a new culture at the same time. I like to stick with my plans, and it has always been my plan to enter medical school on 2018. However, my road to entering medical school didn’t come as easy to me. After transferring to University, two of my close family passed away.

My entire family was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. After three and a half years of living there my family decided to seek a better future in The United States. My father would go to the United States back and forth to work and earn money to send to us in Mexico. Eventually my mother was able to get a visa and my brother along with my little sister had an alternate way into the United States. We lived in Dallas Texas and Atlanta Georgia before settling in Howard county Maryland in a very small apartment. Luckily we were doing pretty well with my dad being the only one knowing English at the time. My father was working two jobs and I was getting ready to start kindergarten. I was very excited because the education we would have received in Mexico was nothing compared to the education in Howard County. I was excited for what was to come, but there were disadvantages of knowing only Spanish. Being bullied because of my poor English had an impact on me. I was in completely separate classes learning things that were simple compared to the regular course. I was excluded from certain activities, field trips and assemblies. I was clueless at first though as I slowly learned the language I understood things a lot more.

What does it mean to be American? It can be a "loaded" question this day and age, and the answer will vary depending on whom you ask. I am willing to bet that it would be hard to get a consensus even in a small group like our class. I suspect that's because the answer is shaped by many possible variables.

The culture of every ethnic group is beautiful in its own way and worth cherishing. Today, America is known as the great melting pot not for the number of immigrants it has but rather because of the wonderful cultures and traditions the immigrants brought with them. Immigrants do not need to forgo their mother tongue, significant celebrations or customs to become American. However to be socially accepted, they will need to learn English, take part in celebrating national holidays and fulfill their patriotic duties Americans like every other U.S citizens.

America is traditionally a country of immigrants. Very few people today have relatives who were Native Americans, many of them because of religious persecution, and others because of they were just looking to start a new life on the exciting untouched frontier. For instance, in Florida, the first arrivals were European, beginning with the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon who explored the land in 1513, following French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century. From the past, America was seen as a country of opportunities. People from all over the world have moved here looking for better opportunities. There are a lot of reasons why immigrants should live in this country, but I would like to mention three of them.

Debate over immigration and immigration policy is not new to the nation's history. For a long time, Congress debated legislation to control the immigration problem. As immigration rises and hatred grows more laws will be carried out trying to release some of the pressure. Immigrants offer cheaper labor to businesses. Immigrants do not get minimum wage, but instead they get paid lower, this gives the business an edge over other competitors.

When I was young my grandmother taught me to always help others. Even those who may be mean or undeserving of it. There were many stereotypes and jokes made about me but she still wanted us to always help others. I learned to go with the flow and let it go. This lesson and the value in helping others helped me especially in high school. During my junior year in high school I began to take an interest in a program call Opportunities in Emergency Care. That year I was certified as a first aid provider and in CPR. As a senior I continued my education in this field. I am now a certified Emergency Medical Responder and I will be a certified Emergency Medical Technician. I have had many occasions to apply the knowledge and skills I gained, by working

Illegal immigration has caused a lot of controversy within the United States. The media has influenced our society to make us believe that illegal immigrants are horrible people. One thing that I have learned throughout life is, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Rousseau 4).” This sums up how society dictates our lives and limits us to what the media wants to us to believe. Whether it is legal or illegal, everybody should be treated equally. Illegal immigrants might always end up with the short end of the stick, but they heavily support the US economy. They contribute by paying taxes every year. In addition, they adopt difficult low wage jobs that are not of interest to the average American.

taken by Americans. But most of the jobs that some of the immigrants take are

Initially, I was an Ecuadorian girl that had a Christian family, I grew up surrounded by my family and loved ones. My cognitive development was in progress, and I had created fundamental bonds in Ecuador. Provided that my dad is an American citizen and due to his work in America, he could not spend too much time with us in Ecuador, so, my mom, my little brother, and I immigrated to America. After three years of my life, our family reunited, and I became an Ecuadorian-American. Since I was very young, assimilating the changes came to be unnoticed, if it weren’t for the fact that during the next years I spoke Spanish at home and English at school. As a result, my translations of these languages affected my communication, creating slow comprehensive

Immigration is a topic that has been argued many times in the United States. Many people support it while others believe that immigrants are criminals who commit the crime of entering the U.S. illegally. Roberto Rodriguez and Star Parker both use different styles of writing in “Border on our Backs” and “Se Habla Entitlement” respectively. Although Roberto Rodriguez uses a personal approach to convey his message, Star Parker’s method of using real life facts and details to support her opinion really pulls through and is therefore more convincing.

I chose to watch “The Other Side of Immigration” because it was a documentary I could personally relate to. My parents emigrated from Cuba in order to make sure that my brother and I have a roof over our shoulders and don’t have to deal with the economic struggle my parents dealt with. We constantly hear the issues brought up by many U.S. politicians and the general public about immigration, but we never truly know what causes these individuals to separate from their loved ones, risk it all, in order to simply work in a tomato farm (or any other stereotypical connotations Americans think when they hear about illegal Mexican immigrants). What would actually motivate these people to leave their families for years, pay thousands of dollars or

All my life, my mother and father has told me how hard it has been to support our families in Vietnam. The economy from here to there is so horrible that we have to support them. We're always sending at least about a million in Vietnamese money which is equal to about a hundred in American money due to the currency between America and Vietnam. Because of these two reasons, I am in favor of having better immigration process for people who come outside the US.

There is a common misconception that undocumented immigrants are a threat to the united states. Many people believe that because these immigrant somehow entered the country illegally or came with a visa and it expire and stay(which is also illegal), are now a criminal threat to the United States. People are scared that these undocumented immigrants are terrorists and only come to hurt the country. According to research and statistics of immigrant laws, criminal laws, and jails, undocumented immigrants are not harming the United States.