“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.”~ Barack Obama. As Obama stated everyone has migrated or at least had someone in their family that did. Immigration is a huge topic, especially nowadays. In Oakland there are many hard working immigrants. Based on my research, many immigrants move for a better life , search for a better economic opportunity, but they face struggles along the way, and fear deportation.

Better Life

Leaving for a better life is a huge part of Immigration. As humans, we always look for a better life individually or for the family. In an article “ Why do some families risk crossing the U.S. border? Because if they don’t, they’ll be killed” from Washingtonpost.com by Amanda Erickson. This article was about why people move to the US and shows what some people go through. It talks about the violence there is at some Latin American countries. Also Erickson talked about the separation of families. Erickson wrote, “ Many of these families are coming from exceedingly violent corners of Central America and aren’t just traveling to the United States for better jobs or more economic opportunities. Some are literally fleeing for their lives” (Erickson). This is showing that people don’t just move because they want to but because they need to for many reasons. Living in Oakland there’re plenty of people who are immigrants and move for a good cause. They either move because they are escaping from violence in their country or because they want to provide a better future for the family.

Economic Reasons

Furthermore, economic struggles are a huge part of why immigration exists. Many immigrants move to better support their family. In an interview with a person who lives in Oakland explains why he moved here to the USA 10 years ago from Mexico. This interviewee asked to stay anonymous and explained, “ I moved here because my family was very poor and I had a hard time finding a job. There was no way that my family would survive if it wasn’t for me. I cross the border and started working to send them money” (Anonymous). Moving from Mexico to Oakland has completely changed the person’s life. Now the person has a better job, a family and money to send to the person’s parents.

Struggles Along the Way

itionally, when people cross the border for more opportunities it is not always simple and often struggles continue. Some people struggle financially and emotionally at first. In  another interview with Jose Alfredo Espinoza, a construction worker who is the father of three and was a Mexican Ranchero and who moved to the USA 33 years ago, he stated, “ My experience was hitchhiking and walking. I took 8 months to find my family. I will sleep in abandoned cars and under bridges. I wouldn’t eat most of the times. I’ll get hit, or kicked out of places” (Espinoza). From the interview, it shows that immigrants struggle to move to a better place. Espinoza took so long to find his family and didn’t give up even if it meant to be homeless. He went from getting a good meal back at home, working with his dad and siblings on a ranch into not working, starving and being in strange place.

In addition to financial struggles after moving, many immigrants also live in fear of being deported. In an article “A life without papers” from NYtimes.com by Ehiracenia Vasquez it shares the personal opinion of a woman who lived without papers. This is showing how it really is to live because it is the immigrant’s perspective. Vasquez wrote, “ I keep all these papers in a drawer next to my bed, so I will have easy access to them as soon as I need them… the documents that would protect me, for a time, from deportation, and give me some relief from the constant fear that comes with life as an undocumented immigrant” (Vasquez). I mmigrants have their documents that make them feel safe nearby. They have them as if it they were a part of their body. Having a fear of being deported is like a nightmare and people who came here for a better life shouldn’t feel that way.

In conclusion, from the two interviews that were taken in person and two articles that were taken from different people show that we all migrant for a better life. Even if we don’t see the positive side or say this your country, just remind yourself how you and your family got here. Some people will say that even if they go through all these struggles these people are bad people for immigrating without papers. However,  we shouldn’t judge people, we are not all perfect and people are who they are because of their way of living. Instead of talking bad and not helping them we should encourage them to be better people in a country with opportunities.

Work Cited

Erickson, Amanda. “Why Do Some Families Risk Crossing the U.S. Border? Because If They Don’t, They’ll Be Killed.” The Washington Post , WP Company, 20 June 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/06/20/why-do-some-families-risk-crossing-the-u-s-border-because-if-they-dont-theyll-be-killed/?utm_term=.b5b65557cf79.

This article was about why people move to the US and shows what some people go through. It talks about the violence there is at some Latin American countries. Also Erickson talked about the separation of families. This article is credible because Erickson writes about foreign affairs. This makes her not have a bias because she is specialize in studying about different countries.

Espinoza, Jose Alfredo. “8 Months of Struggle.” 10 Dec. 2018.

A 53 year old man from Mexico, Oakland resident who is a construction worker and has 3 children. He moved to the USA 33 years ago (Oakland 14 years ago). This is trustworthy because most of his family migrated to the USA. Also, he’s been here 33 years and based on the interview he has pass the border two times.

Anonymous. “Moving.” 13 Dec. 2018.

A 37 year old man from Mexico who currently lives in Oakland, is a seller and is a father of 2. He moved to the USA 10 years ago (Oakland 10 years ago). This is trustworthy because he recently just moved to the USA. Also, he has shown a lot of what he has done to accomplish everything he has now from when he passed the border.

Vasquez, Ehiracenia. “A Life Without Papers.” The New York Times , The New York Times, 2 Mar. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/opinion/a-life-without-papers.html.

This article was about how an immigrant leaves being scared and living with their documents as if it was part of them. It also talked about making programs to get prepared to be able to move forward. This is credible because is the opinion of a woman who lived without papers. This is showing how it really is to live because is the immigrant’s perspective.

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Tristian Arrieta
Tristian Arrieta
February 13, 2019 2:35 am

I love how you opened up the essay with a quote from Barrack Obama. It reminds me of a quote from Woodrow Wilson where he said “We came, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite.” The topic you chose is very relevant to the time we live in our, especially under the current administration. The use of the interviews really helps personalize the essay and gives an impactful feel. Living in southern California i hear a lot of the similar stories you had people share.I like how instead of trying to really persuade a person to be for immigration you instead told everyone the reasons of why people immigrant to the United States, it helped humanize the people coming over, and helped give them a voice. You did a great job and i look forward to reading more of your work.

Tristian Arrieta
Tristian Arrieta
Reply to  Evelin
February 15, 2019 12:54 am

Dear Evelin,
Yeah I do know people who are and who were immigrants. I have a few students in my classes that are from various countries in Central/ Latin America. I do believe there is a way to solve problems towards immigration. I personally believe that the immigration system should be reformed, the last true immigration reform was in 1986. I think we should hire more immigration judges, workers etc. to better serve the vast amount immigrants that are stuck in the process. I also believe that one of the best ways to help immigrants is to recognize why people leaving their country in vast numbers, and figure out a way to help those countries.
I do not agree with the current stance the administration has towards immigration. I believe the first step to trying to help the immigrants is to recognize them as people that have a legitimate reason for coming over. However, it’s hard to say what will work since it would have to be passed through congress which is more divided than ever.

Jackie
January 18, 2019 10:12 pm

Dear Evelin, I am amazed by your essay, “The path of immigration” because many people dont really understand the whole situation with immigartion. Also the reason why many mexicans and others come into the US. One sentece that stands out to me is, “ This interviewee asked to stay anonymous and explained, “ I moved here because my family was very poor and I had a hard time finding a job.” I think this is a very strong sentence that supports the huge reason why many immigrants come to help out their family that they leave behind during rough times. Thanks for writing.I look forward to seeing whta you write next, because I feel like there could be other ways in supporting your claim. Also I will look forward in what other intresting facts you will have to tell us. Sincerely Jackie.

Christina
January 17, 2019 8:02 am

Dear Evelin,
First of all I love how you talked about a strong and really important topic in our city, State, and overall country. Something else I really like is how you format your article (by topics). When you use Obama’s quote, “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.” This quote was really relatable to me because we are all from different places world but we all live in a big country together. Something else that was really strong to me was when you talk about how people are leaving their country to have a better life and or to save their family. And when thinking about people leaving their country cause there in danger why would we deny them shelter especially if we have nothing against them they are just trying to save their family. Overall I love the topic you chose and I hope it raises awareness to others around us. I also suggest you to use grammarly because you had a few typos.
-Christina

Valerie
January 14, 2019 11:09 pm

I like how you started the blog with a Barack Obama quote since he was the most impactful president in my opinion. Something you should do is when you are citing in your context to not write .com since it’s misleading. Also, check your spelling since it was confusing to know what words you meant to say. I hope to see more work about immigration.-Valerie

Martha
January 9, 2019 7:37 pm

Dear, EvelinYou did an unbelievable job at writing this. I love how you introduced the interviewee because you added good important information, this helps me add more information over my interviewees next time. I think you could’ve added more analysis about the quotes you chose. But I do believe your quotes were great and brought the reader’s attention. Another thing you did great was your conclusion it really told the reader the message of your article. Overall, I love your article and the way you formatted it but I think you could’ve added more analysis which would make it a lot stronger. Great Job! Sincerely, martha.

Martha
Reply to  Evelin
February 6, 2019 7:30 pm

Your welcome!!! keep up the great work!

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