Misunderstandings of Immigration
It’s everyone’s instinct to worry about yourself and your family before others. There’s nothing wrong with that mindset because it’s normal, but it’s wrong to let that mindset blind you from seeing the other side of situations. Immigrants come to the United States with the same mindset as everyone else: to do what’s best for themselves and their families. So what makes them trying to have an equal opportunity as us so wrong? People look at them as if they are rude, greedy, people who will take away all of the resources, opportunities, and dreams that America is meant to hold but not one of them has said that. We are so obsessed with the idea of sustaining the things we want for ourselves and turn a blind eye to those who need that help that we can give.
The people I work with at Canal Alliance are people who are focused on bettering the lives of either themselves or their families. Their intentions are not to go and learn English in order to take away jobs that give out the most money, their intentions are for them to learn English and make the United States feel more like home. That way, they will be able to thrive and get jobs that pay well, sustain their family needs, and make them happy and comfortable.
A lot of the issues discussed in Yunuen’s story can be applied to the people I work with at Canal Alliance, but the idea of following your passion when under so many pressures and rough times can really relate to the people I work with. For example, my class that I help is mainly older people who all have kids and a family. They can barely speak English, which is a major struggle to have when living here, and they are trying to learn to get more opportunities to support their families. Although, they are not just wanting to settle for a job that they don’t like since almost all of them have jobs already. They are trying to do their own passions of organizations, buildings, and etc. by learning English. There is one man, we’ll give him a false name like Michael. Michael has two daughters and he is learning English at the adult ESL class and going to other services at Canal to learn business politics, in order to start his own business in construction. It’s hard for him because he cannot make all the classes since sometimes he has to pick his daughters up from school, but he is trying his best and is trying to pursue a passion that will not only support his family but make him happy in his new home. Like Yunuen stated, “every day is a battle” (“Life is No Disneyland”, 108), and I can see how these parents are struggling but are trying their best to make it to every class. It is hard to relate to them when I have my own biases that I was born with. I can see and observe their lives, but I cannot live it myself and explain their hard comings as if I truly understand because I can’t. Their mindset is just like Yunuen explained,
“You put it at the back of your mind and keep going, but that’s the hard part. No one else has to live that way, worried they might get stopped by the police, No one else has to worry that their little brother won’t have a way to get to school, not because you don’t know how to drive, but because you’re not allowed”(“Life is No Disneyland”, 109).
Something so simple as driving is scary for them, and it’s hard for me to explain if I can’t fully have the same experiences as they have but I am able to acknowledge their life and potential to change it.
The structural issue/cause that I will research will be on immigration, but also the effects of immigration. I want to know their mindset on immigration and if they are scared or comforted by it. I chose this because many of the people at Canal Alliance are immigrants but also my dad is as well. I think I may not have experienced it myself, but to have a close relationship with someone who has been through a relatable experience to those at Canal Alliance is intriguing, and I want to understand how greatly immigrating to the United States impacts one’s mental health. As Yunuen stated, “‘Ever since then, I can’t be anywhere near Disneyland,’ she says, not smiling. ‘I have never gone, because I was traumatized by all that.’”(“Life is No Disneyland”, 103). I want to know if any other immigrants are mentally scarred as well.
