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The Importance Of Latino Immigrants In America

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Imagine what it is like to be seven years old moving to a country where you don’t know anyone, you don’t understand the language, and everything seems foreign. When I first arrived to the United States, I didn’t have friends due to my inability to speak English. It wasn’t an easy journey, but my determination to achieve the American Dream gave me strength to keep going. I decided to take English courses during my free time, and now I am a great writer who is fluent in both English and Spanish. In the book Sonnets and Salsa by Carmen Tafolla and the play In the Heights by Quiara Alegría Hudes, both writers emphasize the productivity and perseverance of Latino immigrants in America. Carmen Tafolla delights us with captivating poetries brimming …show more content…

This is very disappointing and disconcerting considering that Latinos contribute to 66.5 percent of the workforce in America and yet they are earning less and suffering disastrously high unemployment rates. In addition, Latino immigrants are facing many issues in the labor force such as unpaid wages, overtime violations, discrimination, unpredictable schedules, and dangerous working conditions. Jobs with high Latino employment are less likely to provide health insurance coverage and other employer-sponsored benefits to their employees, and less likely to employ on a full-time basis (“Hispanics/Latinos in the United States”). This makes it very challenging for workers and their families to have access to adequate access to health care, safe, sanitary, and decent housing, and educational attainment. In her calm, but firm voice, Carmen Tafolla makes sure to discuss Latino immigrants’ double burden: Lack of health insurance and high rent, “Chure can’t seem to get ahead/ cause it’s always pay the doctor or pay the rent” (11). We can deduct that the Latina mother in the poem feels powerless to improve her economic situation, especially when she writes “Sammy outgrew his shoes/or were out of light bulbs or toilet paper” (11). Furthermore, the lack of health insurance is extremely troublesome for the Hispanic community who are most likely to suffer from serious to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Due to the lack of resources, Latinos will not seek treatment which can ultimately lead to

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