Throughout history, illegal immigrants have experienced judgments and challenges in America. In “The Border on Our Backs,” by Roberto Rodriguez, and in “Se Habla Entitlement,” by Star Parker, the two authors both address immigration and hold angry attitudes towards aspects of how it is handled even though the reason for their anger is very different. Rodriguez, an immigrant, uses a personal approach taking it to a more personal level unlike Parker, born into a minority family, who uses actual facts from American history as well as providing several factors of the topic and numerical statistics. At first, her essay has more validity to the reader, than Rodriguez’ essay by its objectivity. Demonstrations by immigrants are not as apartheid as Rodriguez or Parker describes, and although Latinos are a separate culture, they need such demonstrations for acceptance and for a voice to be heard. Immigrants arrive here in America to establish a better quality of life. They come here to get a job, raise their families, and get an education. To express their need for stability is important. In “Border on Our Backs,” Rodriguez carries some sociological information of how Latinos feel judged. The author states, “Just who precisely needs to be pardoned? Those who are exploited and who’ve been here forever…or those who’ve been complicit in our dehumanization” (562)? He feels criminalization in the way the Latin immigrants are treated. Rodriguez talks about some racial profiling in
In Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book, Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, she allows us to enter the everyday lives of ten undocumented Mexican workers all living in the Chicago area. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz refers to Chuy, Alejandro, Leonardo, Luis, Manuel, Omar, Rene, Roberto, Lalo, and Albert the ten undocumented Mexicans as the “Lions”. This book shares the Lions many stories from, their daily struggle of living as an undocumented immigrant in America, to some of them telling their stories about crossing the border and the effects of living in a different country than their family, and many other struggles and experiences they have encountered. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book delves into
Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity. By David G Gutiérrez. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995).
Immigrants are never fully welcome in a new place because people form small “in-groups” and ignore those in the “out-groups” in most cases. Smith starts this essay with a brief story about a fourth grader, Rodrigo Guzman and his family being deported back to Mexico, focusing on the reaction from his classmates when
Immigrating to America is a process in which many people all across the world entrust as their one way ticket to a better life. Whether they do so legally or illegally, coming to the United States ensures better opportunities, economically, politically, and so on, to people who would have otherwise been worse off in their countries of origin. Even so, the common understanding of being “better off” can be considered a misconstrued concept when it comes to living in the states. Many families that choose to immigrate to the U.S. fail to realize the cultural hardships that newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he faces growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, while attending a predominantly white institution. Much of his writing consists of the cultural differences and pressures he feels to assimilate to Western culture and how this process, in turn, changes him into the person that some may find to be unethical, but nonetheless, someone he is proud of.
In the book Punished by Victor Rios, he presents the argument that the consistent labeling by every state run institution that cast young Latinos as criminals or cast “at risk youth” expected to commit crimes is symptomatic of the social structures that creature the criminalization process of young Latinos. Non-state institutions as well as parents, who often seek help from them, are often advised to
Dr. Jason Richwine discusses the Latino’s absorption and integration into the American culture. He compares the Latino nation with other countries’ immigrants that has rose out of poverty, while the Hispanics have not been rising up out of the lower class after several generations have passed. Richwine mentions that American prejudice might be influencing the Hispanic immigrants not striving. For example, he states, that “popular explanations from the
A diverse minority group of Latino and Spanish-speaking peoples has played an important part of what it means to be American and what it means to be a citizen in the United States today. Moving into the future, in order to analyze the trajectory that this group is in, we must first understand the group’s history in the United States and in territories that would become the United States. In addition, we must look at the origins of the most recent wave of Latino immigration in order to understand their current effect on American society and the intersection between both minority and majority groups. Finally, we get to the apex of this investigation: what lies in the future for Latino Americans in the United States? Although Latino
I do not fit in one box on a federal checklist, I am of several cultures. My experience of listening to my Grandmother’s stories made me acutely aware of this fact. I am not just an American, I am a Mexican-American. Living in the Rio Grande Valley, I am part of this “third country” that Anzaldua calls the borderland (Anzaldua Borderlands 1987, 3). In this third country where the “third world grates against the first and bleeds”, the spilt blood creates a new country; an uneasy fusion of both cultures (Anzaldua Borderlands 1987, 3). In my case I was born to a father from Mexico and a mother from America, I am part of the third culture, the Mexican-American. I am proud to be an American and a Hispanic, yet America devalues me because of my heritage.
Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s, Labor and Legality is a book written on the Mexican immigrant network in the U.S. She centers it on the Lions, a group of Mexican men from Leon, Mexico that all share their lives and help explain the many networks and strategies that are used in order to excel and gain happiness. There have been many different sorts of misconceptions about immigrants, and in recent years about undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The U.S. has made a sort of war on illegal immigrants and has made it a seemingly high priority in the media and in politics. Therefore, many Americans have been mislead and ill-informed about the history of immigrants/undocumented immigrants. Gomberg-Muñoz’s Labor and Legality helps set us straight. She unveils undocumented immigrants for the people that they are instead of the criminals that the media leads many to believe. Although she doesn’t have a wide range of participants for her study, I believe that she addresses many of the misconceptions and just plain ignorance that American people have of people that are undocumented; why stereotypes are supported by the people themselves, why politicians include stronger illegal immigration laws, and everything in between. Many of her topics reveal a sort of colonialism that the U.S. practices on Mexico; the exploitation of undocumented peoples to the benefit of the U.S. through economics, hypocritical laws and campaigns, and the racist and prejudice consequences.
This is an interdisciplinary work that incorporates criminology, social work, sociology, law, and anthropology. It shares the stories of individuals who have been severely affected due to the irregularities of the local, state, national and transnational immigration policies. The authors use the term nativism to illustrate the hegemony in the United States in terms of the politics and economy that according to many is being lost. They describe how immigration is being described as a crisis that is validating the War on Terrorism and Drug along on the U.S. – Mexico border. They explain how undocumented individuals are being criminalized because of this nativist ideology that has influenced and reinforced harsh policies that attach an enemy
In the United States of America (U.S), illegal immigrants have been oppressed by the government. The reason why they come to the U.S is for a better life, so they can live “ The American Dream.” However, illegal immigrants struggle to live a better life due to the fact that they have a lot of disadvantages such as finding medical help, jobs, and plenty of other resources that someone who’s not citizen aren’t able to have. The U.S is known as a country that gives people human rights no matter the situation they are living in which is clearly stated in The Constitution, however, for illegal immigrants, it is the opposite due to the fact that they live in fear. Some examples would have to be taken advantage by people, and oppressed by certain races/ groups. Therefore, the U.S Citizenships and Immigration services (USCIS) should give green cards to illegal immigrants who have not been convicted of a crime because they will no longer live in fear, be able to find better jobs to support their families financially, and will have opportunities of going to college.
Gonzales develops his thesis by asserting that Latin American immigration and Latino presence in the United States are
Juan Gonzalez uses Chapter 12: “Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracán over Language and Culture” of his novel Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America to introduce a truly polarizing argument that has plagued the Latino community in the United States of America. Gonzalez is quick to point out that English is the common language in this country, though he is quicker to note that it should not necessarily be so. This author is so incredibly biased in this chapter that it is nearly impossible to disagree with his opinion without feeling like one is completely shutting out the entire Latino community. However, speaking as a member of this community, perhaps it is this unique insight that allows for not only a contending opinion, but also the framework to make the opinion relevant. Gonzalez makes brash claims with little supporting evidence and relies heavily on argumenta ad passiones to manipulate the reader’s emotions instead of focusing on rationalism and sound judgment. Quite possibly, it was the abundance of this logical fallacy that made it difficult to sympathize with his argument; though, it lays the basis for this chapter analysis.
Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, shares his life-long journey as an undocumented immigrant in his text, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” As the title suggests, Vargas attempts to convey to his audience, who likely never has and never will experience anything similar to what he has, what it is like to live as an immigrant in the United States of America. Skillfully, Vargas details the perfect number of personal stories to reach the emotional side of his audience, which is anyone who is not an immigrant. Through the use of his personal accounts Vargas is able to effectively communicate that immigrants are humans too while simultaneously proving his credibility, as he has experience and a vast amount of knowledge
The reality is that these people who are quick to judge, do not know the real situation. Author Michael Fuoco addresses this issue, he notes, “The Hispanic homicide victimization rate declined by 5.8 homicides per 100,000 Hispanics - from 12.4 homicide victims per 100,000 Hispanics in 1990 to 6.6 in 2010, for a 47 percent decrease” (Fuoco, par.9). The truth is, many public figures use violent words to describe immigrants, but since the first wave of Hispanics, in the 1900s. The alien population entering the United States has shown improvement in both; working statistics and crime rate.