Sacrifices that the Immigrant Parents Make by Coming to Live and to Work in the United States - Essay Example

Research Paper Parents always find the “sacrifices” that they make for their families quite easy to bear. For instance, a mother can easily give up her career and become a house wife so as to make sure that her husband and her children have a comfortable daily life. A father can give up his dream job in order not to leave his wife and children in town. While every good parent has to make some sacrifices for the good of their families, the immigrate parents sacrifice the most in order to give their children a better life. In order to effectively meet the financial and the economic needs of their families, the immigrant parents leave their homes or their hometowns in search of greener pasture abroad. The immigrant parents find it quite challenging to leave their hometowns with which they have already developed emotional attachments. Another major challenge that many immigrant parents face in foreign countries is the challenge of learning another new language. Despite these challenges that immigrant parents face in foreign countries, many people, however, especially in the United States have misconceptions or misunderstandings about immigrate parents. Many people in the United States think that the immigrant parents find it easy to stay in the United States; other people think that the main reason behind the immigrant parents coming to the United States is all about money In order for us to understand the real reason why immigrant parents come to the United States and the sacrifices that the immigrant parents make by coming to live and to work in the United States, it is useful to look at the News, true life stories of immigrant parents, and the statistics of immigrant parents in the United States. These sources of information will enable us to know the truth about immigrant parents in the United States and also help us to understand that the main reason why immigrant parents come to the United States is love for their children, and the desire to give their children quality life. One important thing that we need to understand in our effort to understand why immigrant parents come to the United States is the fact that safe environment is a basic condition for a child to grow up well. For this reason, therefore, many immigrant parents come to the United States in search of safety for their children because there is no peace in their countries. Many countries around the world are not as developed as the United States; for that reason some of the developing countries are still facing safety issues and economic issues. Many parents of the developing countries where there is no peace and security, therefore, decide to come to the United States so as to ensure that their children grow up in safe environment. As Ester who was from El Salvador once said about immigrant parents “Sometimes, they have to take off running for the house because you can be caught in a gunfight there,” (El Salvador 2014 Crime and Safety Report, web). El Savlvador is considered one of the most violent countries in the world. Crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country. “By some estimates only 59 percent of population has access to safe drinking water. Recent homicide statistics showed that El Salvador had 2,492 murders in 2013 with the per capita murder rate at 43.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants” (El Salvador 2014 Crime and Safety Report, web). While no one can deny that every single child deserves a good environment to grow up a country like El Savlador is really not a good environment for children to grow up in at all. Ester worked hard cleaning apartment buildings for eight to twelve hours a day in order to get enough money to bring his two boys to the United States for their safety. As an immigrant in the United States, Ester not only had to work hard and for long hours, but she had also to suffer and worry about being in a foreign alone with her two sons. However, for Ester, who is actually a good parent, there is nothing that can compare with her sons safety and happiness in the future. Another major reason why many immigrant parents and their children come to the United States is to study. When young people grow up into young adults, they realize that college education is an important part of their lives. The young people realize that colleges are usually the step before stepping into the society. The young people also realize that a better college education can provide not only better academic knowledge but also better social knowledge. A case of Ltle Li will help us to understand better the fact that many immigrant parents and their children come to the United States in search of education. In the following quotation, Ltle recounts how his mother suffered to educate him, “Growing up in china, my mother concerned herself not with how she will wear to school everyday but rather how she could provide for her family”(Ltle Li). With the world's largest population, China does have a lower individual earning capacity than many other countries. Because china is an overpopulated country, the chances for people to get well paid job is much lower than is the case in American. For that reason, therefore, many Chinese go to the United States for education and good jobs. Another thing to consider in understanding why many Chinese go to America is the fact that in China, it is extremely hard to get into University; this is because of too many people and few universities. For that reason, the exam questions in China are tough, so that, it is only the best students who get admitted in Universities in China. As the following quotation notes, it is the effort of his immigrant parents that enabled Beborah Acosta to get good education in America, “The hard work of his immigrant parents to secure a better education and a better life for him”(Beborah Acosta). Because it is quite difficult to get to University in China, more and more students and parents, therefore, are trying to come to the United States for colleges; another reason why many Chinese come to study in America is that 18 of the world’s top 25 universities are in America. In the following quotation, Ltle Li notes how his mother works hard to ensure that he gets quality education, “My mother works seven days one year around” (Ltle Li). According to statistics, Asian students receive the lowest number of athletic scholarships, 0.1% in 2007-2008 (Athletic Scholarships, web) .For that reason, therefore, many Chinese bring their children to the United States because they consider it cheaper compared to the college tuitions charged in Chinese colleges; this is the reason why the majority part of Chinese immigrate parents are having lower jobs. Despite the hardships that her mother goes through to educate him, Ltle Li’s, however, notes that his mother finds her hard work for her son’s future easy to accept. The fact is that she will do everything for her son to have a better education which she believes will provide a better future for her son. Although living in a foreign land is quite challenging, living in a foreign land, however, comes with some advantages. For instance, learning a new language is a big advantage to the foreigners; this is because learning a second language does not only have a positive effect on intellectual growth and enriches and enhances a child’s mental development, but it also gives a better chance for them for a better and a well-paying job. With the rapidly growing globalization, our society is seeking more bilingual workers than ever. The best way to learn another language is indeed to be surrounded by people who speak it. Statistics have shown that many immigrants in the United States have learned English language and are able to effectively communicate in it, “Among all children in this country, 18% speak a language other than English at home. Among the children in immigrant families, 72% speak a language other than English at home”, (The Future of Children, web). In order, therefore, to create a second language environment for their children, a lot of parents will need to take their children to another country but it will also create a hard situation for them. As an adult it is lot more difficult to learn another language than when one is young because, once one has learned a native languages, the brain is no longer a blank slate and for that reason it is quite hard to learn a second language. Even if the immigrate parents are fine with not talking to neighbors, the misunderstanding for others still can be tough to bear. The following quotation brings this fact out, “You do write Jewish, don’t you, Mrs.Kaufman?”. William Kaufman’s mother who immigrated when he was young and William is still having a hard time writing English and he was once insult by his third-grade teacher because of that. Parents will give up their comfortable environment where they can use their own language to make friends, to attend jobs, and even to talk to their children’s teachers in order for their children to have an undeniable advantage than other children. For Chinese immigrant’s children who were born in the United States, if they have good language skills in both Chinese and English it is easy for them to be in-group and to find jobs. However, by the time that many immigrant children graduate from colleges, most of their parents have already reached their retirement ages and they start to live in loneliness and poor life. The following quotation about Wahid Ali brings this fact out, “After retiring from his job as a security guard in 2011, Wahid Ali spent his days struggling against tedium.” In most cases, old people are left alone and vulnerable, which can lead to depression and a serious decline in physical health and well-being among them; since most of immigrate parents speak only limited English and with few friends, this situation is a lot worse for the immigrant parents. Without having the skill for connecting with the outside world, it is also dangerous for them to live alone. Soon Kim attests to this fact, “When I go to Manhattan, I can sometimes get lost,” Soon Kim, 88, said through an interpreter. “When I get sick I can’t describe how sick I am.” (Poverty Looms Large for City Aging Immigrant Population, web) In addition, older immigrants have far lower incomes and far smaller retirement savings than older native-born residents, and they receive fewer benefits from entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. The following quotation makes this point clear, “The center’s clients, most of whom are Chinese immigrants, received Social Security benefits of, on average, about $600 a month, around half the national average” (Poverty Looms Large for City Aging Immigrant Population, web). Tthe situation is especially more suffering for old age Chinese, because in Chinese Culture it is the children’s responsibility to take good care of their parents when their parents get old and all the children have been taught to do that. Even the Chinese law includes monthly alimony and visit from children to parents. However, since the Chinese immigrant’s children grow up in American culture, they will not learn well about their parents and take that responsibility seriously. The children of old Chinese immigrants usually do not realize that will face such a terrible situation in the future; in the modern world, there are are still more and more Chinese parents moving into the United States with children. Both the immigrant parents and the native parents are always trying to give the best to their children, no matter how much they will have to sacrifice. A child is like a sponge that absorbs tons of parents’ love and care in order to grow bigger and better. However for immigrate parents, they need to sacrifice more for their children so as to give them the things that native parents give their children. To the immigrant parents’ eyes, the hard work, the loneliness, and the poverty, are all less suffering if their children can have a safe life, a better education, a two language skill and a better job. No one should judge those immigrant parents wrongly because after all, they are just parents who will give their life to their children. Works Cited Athletic Shocalrships. Web. http://www.fastweb.com/student-news/articles/athletic-scholarships- who-gets-them-and-how- many-are-there El Salvador 2014 Crime and Safety Report Crime. Web.https:www.osac.gov/pages/contentReport Details.aspx?cid=15771Details.aspx?cid=771 Poverty Looms Large for City Aging Immigrant Population. Web.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/ 26/nyregion/poverty-looms-large-for-citys-aging-immigrant-population-study- says.html Schlussel. Web. http://www.debbieschlussel.com/74923/illegal-alien-usa-one-in-10-american- - workers-can speak-english-muslim-aliens-invade-job-mkt-large-cities-in-us-cant-speak- english/ The Future of Children. Web http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xtml? Journalid=39&articleid=124§ionid=816 Read More