Central American Immigrants - Essay Example

The United s has established itself as the primary destination for immigrants from its establishment as a colony. This is a view that is prevalent among Central Americans whose proximity to the US serves to highlight the economic and social disparities between their respective nations. The struggle of immigrants has been the focus of research, literature, art and media: the struggles of immigrants to the US has often been used for social commentary and rationalization of the country's policies particularly in view of the image of the US as the promise land of democracy and liberty. For Central American immigrants who have experienced years of political and social strife, immigrating to the US promises opportunity and liberties that they have cease to believe as possible in their respective countries. The issues faced by Central American immigrants is a particular concern since most of immigrants who have become isolated in the US. The situation face by the immigrants are not unique to them or to immigrants. The challenges they face are also shared with other populations that suffer social exclusion or marginalization that may be unique to regional origins . In the critically acclaimed film Toritlla Soup, the plight of many many of these immigrants, particularly those from Central America trying to escape political persecution, face the seemingly impossible choice of having no choice to leave one's country and having nowhere to go. The sense of disenfranchisement prevails in whatever choice they make. At the same time, they also have to struggle with their personal and social identity as they and their family transition to their adoptive communities whose cultural, social and political barriers often lie beyond their competencies to surpass. Ellis and Wright (2005) study of geography and immigration also shows that there are differences in units of assimilation differs based on geography of immigration. They concluded that there is indication that there is sensitivity to political issues. Menjivar (2000) points out that there is a need to develop more intimate perspective of the issue from immigrants points of view. In her study regrading the immigration trends and issues among El Salvadorans, she points out that immigration into the US, whether legal or not, provides limited opportunity for social representation or empowerment. Often, with the focus of "managing" immigrants, policies become insensitive and unresponsive to the issues that are driving immigration trends, in particular those that are illegal. She points out that most policies view immigrants individually without recognizing the informal and formal social networks. The result is that individual immigrants feel that they are isolated from mainstream American society and rely more on these social groups which can make communicating with the population restrictive, if not combative with the government's various social programs (Johnson, 2006). Menjivar's (2002) subsequent work, this time focusing on Guatemalans, highlight that the challenged that immigrants are often carried over to their offspring whose identity is often split between being American and that of their parent's native country. Anderson (2003) points out that this can create stress particularly for juveniles and also is considered to reason behind delinquency and victimization. Though these populations may have little link or awareness of their cultural or social history they are subject to the social preconceptions that may incite their feeling of marginalization of social exclusion. This has further been attributed to adult victimization and criminal behavior and lead to diminished effectiveness of social institutions and services for these populations as a whole. Survey of the population who have become victims of abuse indicate a significant history of marginalization, cultural or social exclusion (Menjivar & Salcido, 2002). The experience not only increases their vulnerability to crime or victimization but also their propensity to commit the acts to others. This is reinforced by quality of life assessment studies among Hispanics: studies indicate that early health and social status becomes indicative of the rest of their lives (Eisenman, 2003). In one example provided by Menjivar (2006b), recent immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala have expressed that there is still some questions regarding their social status despite the validity of their immigration status and credentials. Though they do not feel that they still in the absolute fringes of society, their status remains "gray", thus lacking definitiveness or security. In a similar manner, Aldous (2006) points out that developing greater sensitivity can also increase the effectiveness of interventions that can increase the social competency and development needs. As evidenced by educational assessments began in the 1980's, each immigrant group has specific demographic characteristics and parent-child relations that influence their educational performance. In another study, Menjvar (2006a) uses the work life experience of Guatemalan women in view of their personal life experiences and globalization. The implication is that the immigrant's experience in the new society is being influenced by his history and at the same time being affected by global trends in society. In effect, the immigrant is being asked to assimilate himself not only into the locale but also to the global community. Considering the degree of impact that the stress of immigration of then has, extending to offspring and and social networks, the issue should be considered as both urgent and important (Fuligni, 2006). So are these issues specific to Central American immigrants These studies are not indicative of the population's behavior despite the prevalence of the characterization is in society. According to Fairchild (2004), these research should be used to improve policies for immigrants particularity for those immigrants who have has a history of displacement, persecution and exclusion. In a similar manner, Menjivar (2004) that there is a need for US policies to become sensitive to multiple contexts of experience. As much as experiences tend to be similar, there are still variances in individual history and perceptions that may make individuals unable or resistant to full social participation. These include family history and experience, immigration transition as well as changes in their self and social perceptions in the process of their immigration to the US. For any immigrant, there is a great deal of personal and social issues that have to be dealt with. Kinzie (2006) points out that many of the problems associated with immigrants often stem from negative experiences in their assimilation. The need for specific and unique studies for the immigration experience and status of Central Americans is a need common to all immigrant populations. From an individual perspective, changes in social role are also needed to develop insights on changes in dynamics, empowerment and social roles that can development from social participation, employment or cross-cultural interactions (Menjivar, 2006a). As Fulgini (2006) cites as an example, these differences influence social perceptions and perspectives that can dominate individual development as well as socialization. This is also supported by studies developed by Moran-Taylor and Menjivar (2005) which show that the emotional and psychology of influence of the immigration experience pervades future experiences regardless of how well the subject is able to assimilate in the US. The objective of the succeeding research is to develop unique insights to improve the immigration experience of Central American immigrants. Thus, the focus of research with Central American immigrants will endeavor to identify unique characteristics of the population versus other immigrant populations. The next phase of the research will focus how these factors then influence the immigration experience of Central American and whether these factors have eased or hampered their assimilation. The research can then develop suggestions on how competencies of the population can be utilized to increase the effectiveness of immigration policies that affect Central Americans. In doing so, the research will be able to improve the social status and participation of Central American immigrants, benefiting not only themselves but also their families, social networks and the rest of the community. References Aldous, Joan (2006). Family, Ethnicity, and Immigrant Youths' Educational Achievements. Journal of Family Issues, Dec; 27: 1633 - 1667. Anderson, Mette (2003). Immigrant youth and the dynamics of marginalization. Young, Feb; 11: 74 - 89. Eisenman, David P., Gelberg, Lillian, Liu, Honghu and Shapiro, Martin F. (2003). Mental Health and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Adult Latino Primary Care Patients Living in the United States With Previous Exposure to Political Violence. JAMA, Aug; 290: 627 - 634. Ellis, Mark and Wright, Richard ( 2005). Spatial Demography Special Feature: Assimilation and differences between the settlement patterns of individual immigrants and immigrant households. PNAS, Oct; 102: 15325 - 15330. Fairchild, Amy L. (2004). 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