Why Do Immigrants Come to the United States: the Courage of Latinos

The story of people trying to cross the U.S. border has been mostly a political one for much of the past year. The stories of people who risked everything to come to America are often lost in the media. For “Why do immigrants come to the United States” essay I had the privilege of interviewing a close family friend named Carmella. Carmella is a 45-Year-old Latina Woman who has immigrated to the US. 

Culturally complex and emotionally charged are the issues surrounding immigration, especially at a time when many Americans are experiencing severe economic distress. Under these conditions, the views of many people towards immigrants have changed, and we are seeing a wave of strict restrictive laws aimed at driving people out of the U.S. without visas. I think religious people should understand that international immigration is a question of human rights. Accepting immigration as a human right means recognizing that people should be free to cross national borders in search of survival or to avoid danger.

I chose to interview Carmella because of how close she is to my family and she has always been hard working. I proceeded with asking “Why do many immigrants come to the United States?”. What brings immigrants to the United States is the idea that has brought immigrants to the United States ever since it was itself a state, the reason is because the idea of a land of opportunity in which you can change your circumstances and thereby improve your political, personal, economic and social well-being. She knew coming to America would not be easy but knew the outcome would be better than staying in Mexico. There are many areas where it is not possible to share a different point of view, where you can be punished, or where speaking freely would have other repercussions Within our Constitution and Bill of Rights, there are many aspects that cater to those who do not have the same rights and resources within their own country.

I began by asking what was her most memorable moment as a Latina coming to the United States. She proceeded by saying that coming to the United States felt out of her comfort zone. Discrimination is something that occurs daily and Carmella has been a victim to it. Mexican Americans want to be part of those who came here with nothing and have succeeded in the immigrant narrative. But we also hope to be included in the discourse of civil rights to force the United States to live up to its reputation as a country where 'all men are created equal.'. For Mexican Americans, equality has long been a foreign concept. Historians have done a terrible job of chronicling Southwest Mexican people's abuse and violence, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. She chose to speak about discrimination because bringing awareness to this is important to her. Discrimination has been going on for years and its time we change that.

Coming to the United States has been eye opening and brought opportunities she never knew would be able to receive. Latinas in the United States are a rising and are a powerful group. Hispanic women are making significant progress in education employment, wellness, and other fields, but there is a long way to go to close the gaps between races and ethnicity. Carmella followed by stating how proud she is of being a Latina. Latinas are growing with wisdom and power daily and it is important that we take notice. This is a wonderful change that is happening and brings happiness to me seeing how far we have come.

Carmella embraces her Latina roots although she’s in America now. However, she realizes the struggles like many demographic movements throughout the history of the country, these young bicultural Americans are growing older immersed in their Latino and American environments and struggling to work out a place for themselves in between them. Although this youth of today of Latinos is more fluent in English than the generation of their immigrant parents, three in four young Latinos state that they still use Spanish. For these young Latinos, toggling between two languages and being fully bilingual is perhaps one of the most common threads to grow up. For many young Latinos, even more of an effect than language is how their skin color affects how they are viewed by other Americans as well as other Hispanic Americans.

Coming to the United States and going through the dramatic changes adjusting to the new life, you begin to lose track of how far you have come and do not stop to think if you would have done anything differently. I brought this question up to Carmella because I wanted to get a feel of what her thoughts would be. Carmella feels as if everything that has happened was fate and changing it would probably not have given her the best outcome. In her eyes she feels that the Latino population have an influence not just on U.S. population demography, but on other facets of U.S. culture as well. For example, that can be seen in in the growing popularity of Latin American food and music and in the incidence of signage, ads and media in the Spanish language. Moreover, the business community has discovered the Latino population's economic influence.

Latinas are starting to have a positive impact on the different cultural structures in the United States and on all parts of society. Global population trends have made Latinas crucial to America's future socioeconomic path. I felt like I learned a lot by interviewing Carmella and realize the hard work she has put in to be in the position she’s in as of now. Her hard work and dedication is truly inspiring and just goes to show how tough Latina women can be to achieve their goal. As a millennial Latino woman, I realize how much easier we have it now as far as women’s rights and makes me feel so thankful for the women of the past generations with the challenges they overcame to get us where we are today. Overall, the interview brought me a lot of knowledge and respect for Latinas and to keep pushing ourselves to do more.