Immigrants In Just Like Us

The collection “Coming to America” is comprised of journal entries, biographies, and autobiographies that discuss the social and political transformations that arose from immigration. “Of Plymouth Plantation”, “Balboa”, and “‘Blaxicans’ and Other Reinvented Americans” illustrate how immigrants shape America’s direction. The changes that occurred when settlers migrated seriously impacted the nation they were travelling to. The first of these changes pertains to culture. Immigrants brought their religions and languages to their host country, and that caused a great deal of acculturation, usually to the new religion or language. Government is another principle that was implemented into the “inner workings” of the new country. Lastly, the newcomers

Daniels, Roger. Not like Us: Immigrants and Minorities in America, 1890-1924. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1997.

Immigrants come from different parts of the world in many shades of white, brown, and black. In extreme cases, some immigrants are stereotyped as rapists, thieves, drug dealers, etc. or at the very least seen as second-class citizens. Depending if they support the issue or not, even the red or blue side of the political party, people tend to blind themselves from the reality of why they actually migrate. Natives tend to deny seeing the humanity in immigrants’ individual stories and lives. They not only migrate to different countries for better opportunities, but to find jobs to support their families and give their children a better education than they would have had in their country. George Saunders’ short story, The Semplica-Girl Diaries, relates to immigration because the SG’s reflect the treatment of immigrant workers in our society. The SG’s display women who have lived in extreme poverty and don’t have a better choice but to sell themselves to the rich as lawn

Traditionally immigrants are faced numerous challenges on a daily basis. America is known as the place where there is a chances to succeed, a place where you can be free. Numerous Immigrants came to America with the goal that they could have a more noteworthy plausibility at prevailing in life. Settlers went out on a limb a when coming to America, for some it worked out well however for others they had a troublesome time here. Regardless of the battles that the outsiders experienced, for example, emerging from others, being isolated from their families, and breaking their way of life, the settlers are as yet thankful to be in America since they were in preferable conditions over they were in their country.

Humanity is ever so much more complicated than one could have ever imagined. Humans can thrive on change, but ultimately look for something to declare as home. In search of this home people travel long distances and risk everything they have. When an American contemplates the word immigrant, one imagines the countless people from Mexico crossing into our country or the refugees that hope to make this country their home. What eludes most of us, however, is the reality that most people were, at one point, immigrants to this country and that our forefathers came here exactly the same as refugees come today. What is brought to mind when I hear the word immigrant is hope and perseverance. I remember the countless people who have traveled here

The United States has been the land of opportunity for immigrants. It is a place where immigrants from all over the world come to build a better dream and future for their families and leave from poverty, they come with nothing but determination. One thing that every immigrant brings with them is their culture. A person's culture is strongly tied to the country where they grew up. It is tied to their relationship with their family. Many people come to America from so many different places all over the world. For this reason, people call America a melting pot of cultures immigrants are striving for a better future even though when they migrate to the USA they don’t know the consequences they will face and struggle to be successful living in the United States.

Day in and day out many immigrants enter the United States of America in search of greener pastures. This greener pasture includes higher educational prospects and lucrative jobs. However, life usually does not turn out as many of them usually anticipate. The expectation they usually have prior to their entry to the United States is partly due to the all rosary and nice things they hear about America. They hear such nice things from the media and also from diaspora’s who return from America to their homeland who usually don’t share their entire experiences with them. There have been quite a number of reports and research findings that outline the various challenges that are faced by immigrants in America. I personally share some of these issues as an international student in a foreign country. Prior to coming to Metropolitan State University, I had colleagues who told me about the school and their excellent environments that facilitate learning. Also other friends who were in America made me aware of the opportunity to work alongside schooling which made me more interested as I needed financial aid. With all these palatable information in mind, I did apply for the school and even though the tuition fee was quite expensive considering my socio economic background, I did apply having the mindset of working to meet up certain financial needs. Upon arrival in America, I realized that I was given a fraction of the entire picture. I wasn't allowed to work outside of campus,

Just like Us by Helen Thorpe was on systematic study of four young Mexican women growing up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado with two of the women living in the country as legal residents and the other two living as undocumented. The definition of sociology is defined as “the systematic study behavior and human groups.” (Scheuble, 2014). Thus definition and can be directly applied the Thorpe’s novel and specifically to the illegal immigrant status of the girls. Throughout her novel she explores situations and problems that occur in America specifically relating to illegal immigrants. For example Thorpe goes on to write about how Yadira was forced into purchasing a fake social security card through the black market. After Raúl Gómez

Between the years 1861 and 1941 almost 30 million people immigrated from Europe to the United States. Many left for a new life, some left because the crops were dying and they were starving, some came for a job, and lastly people left because of religious persecution. In the 1800s, two of the main contributions of the immigrants in the U. S. were the larger population and different cultures.

Immigration remains the foreground of the United States; this happens to be one of the reasons it is known as the land of opportunity. Since the beginning, immigration has been a key concept in America, immigrants could settle down without fear of persecution. However, modern laws have seized this foundation and twisted it in such a way that it is a crime to migrate to the United States, under certain circumstances. Now, there only exists few options for immigrants to be naturalized and made permanent residents or citizens, which has left several with no other option except to break the law. This has caused an abundant number of undocumented immigrants to settle down in places, near the borders of the United States, such as Florida and Texas. The border states are closer to many of these immigrants’ home countries so they do not have to pay as much to get to a state such as California, which is another reason for the abundant number of immigrants in these states. Illegal immigrants should be allowed to reside in border states as they boost the economy, they offer inexpensive labor, and they make these states more culturally diverse.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s many immigrants came to the United States for a better way of life. I chose this particular question because I am first generation American.

I started this essay off with a quote one of the characters mention in the book because it basically gives us the main idea the author is trying to get readers to understand throughout the book. By looking at the title of this novel, “The Book of Unknown Americans” and by looking at the author’s name- Cristina Henriquez, we can already get an idea of what this novel is going to be about. When someone first takes a look at the title and author of this book they would assume that it is going to be about immigrants who moved to the United States and struggled to fit in. After reading this novel, I now understand how difficult it was for these Latino immigrants to leave everything they have in hope for better lives here in the United States. Each person has their own meaning of what it means to be an American and their own reason of what most immigrants come here for. The Rivera family came here in hope for better resources to help treat Maribel because they didn 't have the resources they needed back in their country.

In “Immigrants” by Pat Mora, they are struggling to achieve acceptance and help their family have a better future. The parents are trying so hard to associate their children with “American traditions” and still are left wondering if they will be accepted in America. In my opinion nothing is worth loosing your actual culture or values. They are literally willing to do whatever it takes to transform heir children into American traditions. “Feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie” (Line 2 Mora). Both Hot dogs and Apple pie are both American food and American culture. Wait there is more they are even considering changing the names of their children. Buying them blonde dolls and football cleats both have typical American

Just Like Us by Helen Thorpe is “The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America.” The story revolves around four high school students; Marisela who is a gaudy, driven, dramatic girl who wears “twice as much makeup as anybody else in her circle.”(8) Yadira who is a strong and reserved girl who “never gave away anything important with her facial expressions.”(8) Elissa is a star athlete and Clara usually dresses like a tomboy. They are all eighteen years of age and top students at Theodore Roosevelt High School together in Denver, Colorado, whose parents all came to the United States illegally from Mexico. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States. They

The great influx of immigrants who came to the United States during the nineteenth century faced xenophobic sentiments from everybody— commoners and government officials alike. Consequently, the immigrants who came to America in search of economic opportunity were attributed with the characteristics of filth, laziness, and inferiority. Accordingly, editorial cartoons of the time encapsulated these nativist views held by Anglo-Saxons. One such cartoon, “The Stranger at the Gate”, depicted a rugged immigrant carrying various pieces of luggage labeled “disease”, “poverty”, and “anarchy” (Stranger). Through the use of symbolism, the cartoon reflects the popular sentiment that immigrants are filthy and offer America nothing but disease and poverty.