SAN FRANCISCO—34-year-old Wilfredo “Flaco” Reyes, received a sentence of 10 years in prison without the possibility of parole for being an accomplice to the June 22, 2008 murder of Anthony Bologna, and his two sons—Michael and Matthew. The Bolognas were driving through an intersection in the Excelsior District when they were fatally shot. Reyes is the second suspect in custody for the 2008 triple homicide. His accomplice, Edwin Ramos, 28, was assumed to be the primary suspect in the shooting; he was arrested 48 hours after the incident in 2008.
Sam Torres is known in New Orleans as a wealthy business man. He owned a sanitation company that saw major profits after helping New Orleans clean up the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Torres lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans a 78 block area located in the historic section of the city. Last year, Torres home was broken into and his television was stolen. Torres had enough of the rising crime in his neighborhood and paid for a television ad expressing his distaste.
In the novel Across a Hundred Mountains, Reyena Grande tells the story of a young girl who takes the risk to travels to the United States to find her father, Miguel. However, Mexican immigrants strive to come to the Unites states, but have challenges to face crossing the border. Throughout her journey, Juana make a sacrifice and starts a lives a new life; as Juana stays in Tijuana at a park late at night, Juana was mistakenly taken to jail. Police officers assume that Juana was the one that stole a man’s wallet. When Juana was put in jail, she meets a friend name Adalina Vasquez.
There is an estimate of about 10 million illegal immigrants that are living in the United States. (Erin H. Fouberg, Human Geography) Even though they immigrated here to the US, they shouldn’t be considered as “illegals”. Immigration requires change and sacrifices for many people in order to stay in their homes. There is no wrong if you are considering to make a change in your life.
In Munoz's, "Leave Your Name at the Border", the main element that was being talked about was the fact that when people, immigrants specifically, come into this country, they feel that there is a social pressure that is being put upon them so that they will fit in. This pressure tends to make people do things such as change their names in order to fit in. An example in his situation would be that his stepfather changed his name from Antonio to Tony in an effort to "Anglicanize" it. This concept of fitting in has become a big struggle for many people that are currently here, and also for those who want to come here. An overwhelming sense of social pressure overcomes those who feel like outsiders because their identities do not fit in to the
The book, The Book of Isaias: A Child of Hispanic Immigrants Seeks His Own America, by Daniel Connolly, tells a powerful story about Isaias Ramos, who is the son of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Daniel Connolly spent five years reporting and writing about Isaias Ramos and his friends. Isaias is a bright 18-year-old high school senior who enjoys playing in a punk rock group called Los Psychosis and dreams of attending college and majoring in audio recording. He struggles with the decision to apply to Ivy leagues or work with his parents as a painter. His counselor recognizes his potential to go to postsecondary school, as he is ranked sixth in his class and scored a 29 on the ACT.
Jeremy Smith writes about the American policy’s negative effects on immigrants, particularly unaccompanied minors to unearth why they are criticized so harshly. Rodrigo Smith was a fourth grader in Berkeley California when he was deported to Mexico long after his tourist visa expired. As a result, his classmates asked, “How is that fair?” When they worked together to create a video to bring his spirits up, they showed more empathy and comfort than an abundance of humans on our planet. Despite the emotional punch this anecdote lands with readers, it is not an effective piece of writing on its own.
Humans rarely change their ways; they stay in their own worlds and always interact with the same types of people. Unfortunately, this habit often creates unseen barriers that divide and alienate human beings from one another. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway, Urrea provides a personal perspective to immigration by telling the story of 26 illegal immigrants, known as the Wellton 26, who are abandoned as they cross the Mexico-U.S. border. Through their story, Urrea proves there are invisible borders among people that create prejudice, such as language, ethnicity, and economic status. By reading The Devil’s Highway, it is clear that these barriers must be broken down to ensure harmony within society.
Babies that are born in the United States and are instantly U.S. citizens and thus can apply for their families citizenship once they are of age citing the reason of “ family unification”( Chavez,193). Birthright citizenship differs from traditional citizenship as it is a guaranteed right for the baby; which leads to discussions of whether they deserve to be citizens of the U.S. or not (Chavez,192). Parents of these anchor babies could be taking advantage of this birth right and thus giving them a surefire way to get citizenship of their own once the baby comes of age. While these types of citizenship differ, the definition of citizenship shown by Chavez is one that has emphasis of having a legal reason of belonging, while social stigmas
Caitlin Flanagan 's piece “Cultivating Failure” appeared in the Atlantic 's January/ February 2010 issue. The Edible schoolyard program teaches students to grow food. Instead, Flanagan is trying to persuade the reader that having school gardens will help students in school. It also talks about “ A Garden In Every School’(420) She added this quote, because she thinks adding a garden to every school could improve graduation rates.
The Distance Between Us Final Essay Rough Draft For an immigrant living in a new country, it can be hard to figure out where they truly belong. This was how a particular author of a memoir felt. In the memoir, “The Distance Between Us,” the author, Reyna Grande, wrote about her life as an immigrant moving from Mexico to the US in search of a better life. With her new life in the US during part two of the memoir, she faced multiple changes and challenges, such as struggling to assimilate into American culture without completely losing her Mexican side. Reyna was indicated to struggle with her identity because she wanted to feel American, did not want to let go of her culture, and did not feel Mexican enough.
Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.
The alienated feeling of being the “other” is another important symbol which plays a major role in the text as it unfolds the story and tells us about the immigrant experience. The short story “Eric” consists of numerous images that explain the text and act as symbols. Eric
One of the toughest adjustments, having been born to Mexican parents, is migrating to an unknown country where traditions and languages differ from one 's own. Though many pursue an education and strive for a better life, the purpose behind an immigrant, like myself, differs from the typical American. Immigrants strive for a life that was once impossible, going to school is not only to attain an education, but to better prove that we can also become successful regardless of our traditions and skin color. I lived in a country for over fifteen years, fearing deportation, not only losing a home, but potentially saying goodbye to a bright future. Although many feel empathy for Mexican-Americans, it is undeniably difficult to truly comprehend the immense trauma children and even adults undergo upon experiencing racism and prejudice.
Lingering in the shadows of my hometown community, exclusionism and intolerance for anyone on the outside shook the foundation of my outlook and behaviors because my initial understanding of citizenship was incredibly tolerant. For the majority of my childhood I was cared for by a nanny, her name was Juana, from Mexico City and her three children were my closest and most treasured friends. Juana’s husband, Carlos, was an employee of my father’s and when he came home at night from work he would teach me to count in Spanish and I would teach him to read my books in English. They taught me to speak Spanish, how to roll and flatten the tortillas before we cooked them on the stove, how to celebrate birthdays, how to dance, how to sing, and the most beneficial of all was how to feel welcomed and included into their family culture.
