Leaving America Summary

Each year, thousands of Central American immigrants embark on a dangerous journey from Mexico to the United States. Many of these migrants include young children searching for their mothers who abandoned them. In Enrique’s Journey, former Los Angeles Times reporter, Sonia Nazario, recounts the compelling story of Enrique, a young Honduran boy desperate to reunite with his mother. Thanks to her thorough reporting, Nazario gives readers a vivid and detailed account of the hardships faced by these migrant children.

In the poem “America,” by Tony Hoagland, the idea of Americans being consumed with their money is shown using symbolism and metaphors. The speaker in this poem is a teacher whose name is never mentioned. One thing revealed in the poem is that the speaker has a father who is presumably very wealthy and successful. One of the teacher’s students compares America to a maximum security prison. A recurring theme throughout “America” is Hoagland showing examples of America’s greedy society using a teacher, student, and a father’s experiences. Using metaphors of money and symbols of rivers filled with merchandise, Tony Hoagland captures how the teacher begins to think after he hears his student compare America to a maximum security prison.

“The Homeland, Aztlan” by Gloria Anzaldua sent me to the memories of the little Mexican guy, who I met working as a hostess in Brazilian Steakhouse, my first part time job in the U.S. We never got along, because I did not speak English well, and it seemed like he never talked at all. Unremarkable busboy, I was shocked with his story that I heard from one of the servers, and I was surprised how much suffer and asperity this little man went through. He crossed the border illegally, hunted by police and customs, and walked through the desert, hiding and sleeping in the mountain caves to finally reach desirable America. He suffered and went through so much to work tirelessly for the money that I, my shame, was complaining for.

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.

CATEGORY 1: From growing up watching the news and reading articles about illegal immigrants, to currently realizing and seeing things into a different perspective. I noticed how the media loves to twist information, which brainwashes people into thinking negatively about events, like immigrants coming to America. It was at that point in my life that I realized I never thought about the struggles and obstacles they have to endure in order to cross the border to America. After reading the book, I learned that people scarified a lot to come to America. Reymundo Barreda is one of the characters that I wished would have made it to America alive and accomplish his goal.

In the Rivera family by their lonesome all they think to do is stay quiet and that causes things to unintentionally grow worse. They do so because they believe in the things they have going right in their lives that they don't jeprodaize themselves. There lies a disconnect in receiving these “Unknown Americans” troubles. Immigrants don't often seek help, in Alma’s case she isn't even seeking to tell her husband of the assault on their daughter. Yet Alma goes to consult the law enforcement after the assault of her daughter Maribel it wasn't effective enough to cause change in their home. “You don’t understand” Says Alma as she deal with the officer…“I had the

The purpose of a preface is to introduce the subject of the book to the reader, and this book accomplishes that goal. Kinzer perfectly begins his book by telling the reader about a conversation he had with an Iranian woman at a book party. He recounted that they had a cordial conversation and that politics really didn’t play a part. That was until the woman brought up the fact that she was related to Prime Minister Mossadegh and Kinzer, naturally intrigued, inquired if she could tell him anything about the coup against him. He noted that she quickly became agitated, crying out, “Why did you Americans do such a horrible thing?” She went on to say, “We loved America. To us America was the great country, the perfect country” and “I can tell

There are some many political, economic, social issues that social workers and even families faces. In the Sanchez case, immigration laws plays a huge part in their family. There are members of the Sanchez family that are undocumented and could face deportation if caught. The family needs immigration resources that will assist them with the adoption of the grandson and with Roberto in their home. Emilia, which is the daughter of Hector and Celia, was born in the United States. However, she could be denied citizenship because of her drug problem. This will show “poor moral character” which is under the immigration law (New Directions in Social Work, n.d.). Also, the Sanchez family faces financial problems. Due to undocumented status of some of members, the Sanchez family cannot take advantage of the resources that may help them with their financial problems. Roberto, which is the undocumented nephew of Celia, was injured on the job and because of his status is unable to receive any financial assistance like worker’s compensation. This cause financial issues for the household. Social issues has also plaque this family. Emilia has had an abortion which is against the belief of the family. They are devout Catholics and do not believe in abortions. Vicki, which is the daughter of Celia and Hector, has been diagnosed autism. The family has not seek out resources for the daughter. I believe the family may be ashamed of her and is not

Social workers fulfill a unique role in policy creation because that is a time for them to advocate for the oppressed or individuals who are attempting to cope with the stresses of everyday life. Most social workers have the opportunity to work hands on in the field with clients during some point in their career, and during that time they are able to get a clear understanding of the problem the client is experiencing. In The Other America, Harrington makes mention of the poor and how they lost their connections to the world; that clearly depicts the importance of the social workers’ involvement with the creation of policy (Harrington, 1962). Since those living in poverty have been referred to as “politically invisible,” social workers are

Part 2: As Omari, and Vanessa spoke about their stories, I felt like I made small connections about their immigration stories, and their benefits. Vanessas mother moves away from Los Angeles, california because it stopped becoming a safe place for her to live. This connects to my grandparents in Mexico, they moved away from Guerrero to Veracruz, Mexico because the environments and their surroundings were not safe anymore. Omari moved from the North side of Milwaukee, to the South side of milwaukee. I understand how that was a big change for him, even a side of a city, can be very different to the other side of a city. The main reason why Omari moved was for the better of their safety. From the stories that I read, what I got out from them was that the families moved for better opportunities in life.

The stories central problem is how they move a lot being illegal immigrants. They face many conflicts like when the baby gets ill and they do not have money for anything. Another conflict the family faces is the moving around. That is the conflict because he has to keep

Our America by LeAlan Jones and LLoyd Newman makes readers feel bad about children deaths in Chicago which inspires people to help even though it makes readers feel bad.

As a legal immigrant and international student who has been through the many processes to receive a visa to study and live in the United States, looking for a better opportunity and a better education, I am aware of the hardships and difficulties that many of the legal and illegal immigrants have to overcome in order to become legal immigrants. My perception on migration issues was already shocking, but I never had the chance to read and get to know through a book, the real stories of individuals who have encounter problems during their lives. Fish’s story is one of the most shocking ones. Fish was an amazing goalkeeper for “Los Jets” who had struggled a lot during his past, and once he crossed the border in order to find a better life, he left everything he achieved behind, and he crossed the border back to Mexico to visit his grandmother who was sick and died later. His example made me appreciate more the fact that I am a very lucky woman because I was given an opportunity to come to the United States and become a better

Nice summary. It is straight forward and meaningful. I like how you react to the movie. It shows that the movie has helped you understand why illegal immigrants would risk their life to come to the U.S. However, I can relate to the movie because my parents come to the U.S for me to have a better future and education.

I remember when I was fifteen, I went to visit my grandmother in Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos, Mexico. Because my grandmother doesn’t drive, we took the bus to get place to place. While on the bus, I saw a women with four kids and only one of them was wearing shoes. I had been happy to visit but witnessing all the poverty made me rethink my own priorities and those of my American peers. Thinking about that mother and her children, made me bawl my eyes out. Not because I had felt pity towards them but because even though they had so little they were so grateful and seemed so happy. I thought about the things that I had that they didn't. It made me wonder why so many kids in the U.S. depend on technological devices to make them happy. There must be more to life than facing a screen for most of the day.