Elizabeth's Story Of An Immigrant

This set of stories were both very sad and hard to read. I had difficulties reading Elizabeth’s story and thought it was very brave of her to share her experiences with rape and being taken advantage of. I also admired Lorena’s story and perseverance in wanting to become a doctor. However, one particular story really spoke to me and made me realize how lucky I am to be a citizen of America, and how much I take for granted my job and my status here. El Mojado, an immigrant from Mexico, stated that “everything we do is a crime. You don’t have papers, it’s a crime. You buy fake papers, it’s a crime” (Orner 217). Unfortunately, this is completely true. He went through the trouble of crossing the border, getting and losing multiple jobs, and getting

[We] have no rights here in the United States. I don’t have a right to anything. I know I’m nobody important” (Orner 212). This is the main argument of my journal – the rights immigrants don’t have, but need, in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union says “there are 41 million immigrants in the United States,” and that “the United States spends $1.84 billion detaining immigrants” (Immigrants’ Rights). With this money, we could be fostering and helping said immigrants thrive in our country. Instead, we are selfish and unforgiving as a people. In recent news, an immigrant-rights group called “United We Stay” has proposed a new “Bill of Rights” for illegals. They ask for “health care, in-state tuition rates for college and a guarantee of citizenship in the long term” (Dinan). All they ask for is the same rights Americans have. If they are living and working in America, I believe they deserve the exact same rights.

In the case of the immigrants in Orner’s book, they have worked long and hard, and have gone through unimaginable circumstances to get to where they are today – some in better situations and some in the same place where they started. The American Dream for these people aren’t real. I hate that we’re feeding immigrants the notion the if you come to our country, you will be treated as an equal and be given enough money to survive. This is a lie that is destroying homes,