A Honduran Immigrant - Essay Example

A Honduran ImmigrantAstonishing as it may seem to a casual reader of this book, that it is actually a true story that was written by the award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario. In this book Nazario goes on to recount “the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.”Nazario uses her book and its portrayal of actual events to describe the poverty as well as the despair that makes people risk everything to illegally immigrate to the United States from Central and Latin America.

In her book Nazario contends that it is desperation as much as poverty that causes parents to leave their homes to find low paid and frequently illegal work in the United States, to quote one review directly;“When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children, leaves Honduras to work in the United States. The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique so he can eat better and go to school past the third grade”.The book demonstrates the bitter and sad reality that the poverty that drives people to illegally enter the United States to find work separates families from each other for many years.

Lourdes like many millions of other parents separated from their children by the desperate need for money to survive promises Enrique she will return quickly. Lourdes like significant numbers of fellow illegal immigrants finds it hard to get by in America, let alone make enough money to either return home, or pay for their families to join them in the United States. Critics of the present immigration policy claim that it is far too restrictive, as well as being unfair. American immigration policy is unfair as it often leads to the separation of families upon a long-term basis.

Enrique begs for his mother to come back. The following is a sound description of the despair many separated families have to endure; “Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled. When she calls, Lourdes tells him to be patient. Enrique despairs of ever seeing her again.” Nazario uses her book to contend that whilst illegal immigrants believe that they will only be temporarily separated from their loved ones reality is less appealing for them;“Enrique sets off alone from Tegucigalpa, with little more than a slip of paper bearing his mother’s North Carolina telephone number.

Enrique like many thousands of his contemporaries are faced with the choice of enduring continued separation, or making a dangerous trip to the United States; “He travels through hardship and dangers to find his mother, lost in the far mysteries of the north.” The trip from Central and Latin America into the United States for those previously left behind to reunite with loved ones can be highly dangerous, if not fatal in many cases;“Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them… they must jump onto and off the moving boxcars they call El Tren de la Muerte–The Train of Death.

Enrique pushes forward using his wit, courage, and hope–and the kindness of strangers. The restrictive immigration policy followed by the United States is arguably dangerous to the families and the individuals that wish to enter the country illegally via the borders with Canada as well as Mexico. For illegal immigrants from a Hispanic background the general preference is to illegally enter the country from Mexico.Thus in conclusion the restrictive immigration policy followed by the United States is arguably dangerous to the families and the individuals that wish to enter the country illegally via the borders with Canada as well as Mexico.

For illegal immigrants from a Hispanic background the general preference is to illegally enter the country from Mexico. Contemporary critics of the present United States immigration policy argue that it is far too restrictive, as well as being unfair. American immigration policy is considered unfair as it often leads to the separation of families upon a long-term basis, whilst not preventing illegal immigration anyway.