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Personal Narrative: My Life As An Undocumented Immigrants

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Immigration is a very broad topic, taking into consideration all of the emotional aspects it also provokes for the group of minorities that fall into this category in the United States. Although America is the home of a range of diversity, many still wish that their hopes of completing their “American dream” does not end soon. The Deferred Act for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is shortly coming to a complete end. This privilege of having the act gives many the opportunity to be considered a citizen and have most of the benefits that this act offers. But there are still immigrants, like Jose Antonio Vargas, out there who “even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.” …show more content…

This hope can be portrayed as someone receiving the benefits of an education along with the career opportunities it offers, in which they cannot receive in their home country. For example, graduating from high school and college, and establishing a home through all the career opportunities the United States offers out to millions of educated citizens. In the first article I found on the New York Times, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant,” highlights through a primary source the life of an undocumented immigrant. The author establishes a meaningful impact for his readers, explaining how he wishes dearly to be part of the American dream, instead of just living it. For example, “Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream. But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality.” This article gives a firsthand sight of this type of life, that not only the author lives but also millions of other immigrants like him. Although many are given traditional benefits through DACA, they still have to live in the reality of knowing that in any minute their dreams and hopes can be …show more content…

Although many dreamers will not be given the chance to renew and remain under the benefits of the act, there will be more attention focused on the ones with criminal records. For instance, “This means that for deportation, criminals who are undocumented will still be the priority, as well as illegal reentrants and people with outstanding orders of removal.” With the act being retained for a while, there will be more focus on those who do not have a right to remain in this

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Sonia Nazario’s piece, Enrique’s Journey, thoroughly depicts the hardships that come with modern day immigration and the issues that can stem from a single decision. In her book, Nazario writes that immigration “is a powerful stream...that can only be addressed at its source” (Nazario xxv). She uses the metaphor of a stream or river to illustrate the gradual escalation of complications that can arise from immigration and the choice of pursuing a greater future in the United States. Just like a river, a majority of the force behind immigration currently has developed through several minor justifiable situations that create a widespread consequence. Immigration is a vicious cycle stemmed from a lack of love and economic stability within Latino

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Cohen’s fourth thesis talks about the differences among groups of people in areas of race, gender, etc. and how those differences can create monsters in society. Unauthorized immigrants often get placed into a “different” or “unwanted” group and that causes them to face unfairness in society. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” correlates to Cohen’s thesis because unauthorized immigrants can be made into monsters due to differences in race and legal status. The group of unauthorized immigrants can become alienated in society, and the people themselves are sometimes referred to as “illegal aliens.”

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Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s The Undocumented Americans is a work of nonfiction that shins light on the lives and experiences of undocumented immigrants in the United States. While living a pretty rough life as a child being undocumented and having to live in the shadows, Cornejo Villavicencio shies away from preaching about her hardships and focuses more on the immigrant population in specific regions. Throughout her arguments and insightful experiences, Villavicencio adds to the bigger pictured situated around the idea of migration, challenging commonly held assumptions and stereotypes about these individuals known as immigrants. The overarching ideas of her book is to provide a firsthand understanding of what it means to be undocumented

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It is something that will improve the country socially and economically. It would resolve so many issues regarding immigration reform and about all of the young undocumented alien minors in America. It is something that would motivate them even, because they have been given a second chance, which is great then. It will empower them; it will show them that you should never give up and that America after-all. These alien minors will become better-educated, higher-earning workers and taxpayers.

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In the process of working toward the American Dream, people struggle to fit in, to belong, to be accepted. For many of them, an important part of the American Dream is the chance to reinvent themselves—the opportunity to become someone different, someone better. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant”, Jose Antonio Vargas is an “undocumented immigrant” who has been living illegally in the U.S. since he was twelve years old. To chase his American dreams, he embodied a lie until it became unbearable and he expose his truth and let the masks crumble onto the ground. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. broke unjust laws and engaged in nonviolence direct action in order to pursue his American dream of equality and freedom.

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This autobiographical essay will define my experience as a Dominican immigrant living in New York City. Being an American citizen with a Dominican background are extremely relevant to the process of political socialization. My family background is founded on the principles of democratic values, which taught to me by my mother and father. In New York City, I found a “melting pot” of different immigrants that allowed me to feel more accepted as a Dominican living in the United States. More so, these aspects of the socialization process provided a foundation for my belief in democratic values throughout my life.

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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.

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Despite many Americans believing that the American Dream is no longer available as there are government restrictions that limit their potential for success in any fashion, others insist that the American government provides rights for the people of America to be able to constantly achieve what they believe to be the American Dream. The American Dream is not just a dream of success but more a measurement of achievement and the ability to better one’s

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No matter who you are or where you have come from, you have undoubtedly heard of the American Dream. The idea that no matter who you are or where you have come from, you can do whatever it is you desire in America. What was once one the main driving forces for immigrants to flock to the new world, has slowly changed over the years, but still holds its value in the eyes of those who are looking for a promising new place to live. The American dream might not hold the same awe inspiring sound that it once did, but for many generations before ours, it was a beacon of hope that helped build the foundation that the United States was built on. And still today the American dream might not be as achievable as it once was, but it is still an important symbol to the American ideology.

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The American Dream is an opportunity in which a determined person can have exceptional success through dedication and hard work, achieving equality, freedom, and personal goals. As immigrants, my grandparents followed this beacon of hope, and had this one thing in mind: a better life. Coming from

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Back in the early 1900’s the American dream was known around the world and thought of as easily capable; Nowadays the “American Dream” is not as reachable, the economy has changed and there have been shortages in jobs. Immigrants who move into the United States strive to work a

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Coming from a low income family, living in a small town in India, I learned early on about struggling and surviving those struggles. I watched my parents working day and night to provide for electricity, pay for our monthly school fees so my sister and I can have a better education, and for the future they wished upon for their children. To further enhance this vision, my father decided for the family and I to immigrate to the US. Everything was different in the sense that I changed schools, learned a new language, had to make new friends, and learned the different culture. I had to adapt to a whole new world, which was a little difficult at 6 years old

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“The Immigrant contribution” and “The Quilt of a Country” are two essays that share a similar focus, however, they cover two drastically different sides of the topic. Both of them share the main idea that America is a country made up almost entirely of immigrants. Kennedy’s essay, “The immigrant Contribution”, focuses on how immigrants have affected our country, whereas Quindlen’s essay discusses how people of many different cultures coexist and work together. The essays both concentrate on immigration in America and how immigration has shaped and molded our culture. The two authors describe the many different aspects of immigration in immensely different ways.

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