Immigration to the USA - Essay Example

Immigration Reasons Why People Immigrate into the US There is no doubt about the status of the United s being among the world’s most developed countries. Famously referred in the US to as the American dream, the provision of basic human needs and guarantees for basic rights and freedoms by the government for every American is the model of life opportunities for every global citizen. Human rights protection by the government and civil institutions under the prevailing democratic environment make the country an ideal setting to live in when compared to several developing countries. This is the reason why several thousand Central Americans and Mexicans use either legal or illegal channels for a better life in the US (Nazario 5). Despite the fact that the force to search for better fortunes across the borders is too powerful to resist, it is not always gratifying since problems also exist in the US for the immigrants. To illustrate this, Nazario (12) reckons that Enrique decides to travel to the US since his mother’s expectations of changing their life are foiled with time, to an extent that she even stops calling home. Life in third world countries around the world, particularly those in South America, Central America and neighboring Mexico is difficult due to underdevelopment. The difficult conditions at home for the immigrants make the case for immigration powerful such that not even immigration laws can stand in the quest for a better life across the border. Lack of proper services in home countries of the immigrating population when or poor service delivery when compared to the US triggers survival interests for instance when involving food and medical services. As an illustration, child protection services are poor or inexistent such that children struggle to look for their parents who leave them behind. “What kind of desperation, I wondered, pushes children as young as seven year old to set out, alone through such a hostile landscape…” (Nazario xiii) Other services such as safety and security as well as justice are not as advanced in the third world setting, which compel movement in search of delivery of such in the US (Brick and Rosenblun 5). Several immigrants seek to reunite with their family members such as children in search of their parents who leave them and immigrate to the US never to return home. Under the circumstances of family reunion reasons, blood ties form a very strong force propelling immigrants to cross over the borders despite strict legal regulations. The seriousness of some of the above risks to living a normal life as a human being triggers the spirited willingness to cross the border into the US even at the risk of losing money and life. The promise of living the American dream where a relative ideal setting of life exists could force suffering individuals to concentrate their energies to achieve that and assist their families. By saying “she can barely afford food for him and his sister, Belky, who is seven…,” the author shows how compelling life is causing mothers to set for the immigration journey in search of food for their children (Nazario 4). Individuals seeking to enter into the US at the above mentioned costs face a myriad challenges which they must overcome to have a successful realization of living the American dream. In view of the fact that typical poverty-stricken third world setting compels the immigrants to decide to risk their lives for the immigration, the journey to the US is not conventional. Most of the immigrants do not have money to support their entire journey and a dangerous walk may offer the alternative. The picture painted by Enrique’s quest to travel to meet up with his mother in the US through literally clawing his weight onto freight trains is disheartening. Apart from the risky travelling means that expose the immigrants to accidents, there are life threatening illegal gangs, bandits, and corrupt police officials. Risks of facing robbers not only pose a threat to the loss of resources to sustain the immigrants in their journey but also to loss of life. The interaction with hostile police manning the borders is perhaps one of the most unjust encounters at the hands of the law enforcement agencies since frisking and robbing form part of their corrupt mode of working (Nazario 62). Instead of the police assisting the authorities in rectifying the humanitarian situation and social challenges that the immigrants are running away from, they add to their misery by roughing them up, assaulting, killing, fleecing, and deporting. Due to the spirited urge to move to the “promised land”, the immigrants would rather resort to tactics that would enable them escape the police mistreatment, usually landing into more trouble. The hostile weather conditions during the journey poses serious risks to the health of the immigrants, bearing in mind that the majority of the immigrants are children. In view of the challenges faced by the immigrants, the authorities should be compelled to assist eliminate the humanitarian scenes from which the immigrants run from. Challenges facing immigrants may force them to abandon their quest and retire to the difficult life that they were initially trying to escape. Several attempts only increase the risk of being hurt by the challenges or even losing lives. The challenges even get stronger when immigrants reach the US, from where thoughts of the loved ones left behind constantly disturb them, making it psychologically difficult to settle. “His mother seldom calls. One year she does not call at all,..” (Nazario 12). Migrant support networks ought to provide necessary humanitarian assistance to people moving across borders for various reasons. Due to the difficulties of life from the immigrants’ homeland, it is only humane to allow people movement for purposes of survival. In view of the need to control movement of persons and prevent transfer of humanitarian crises from one region to the other across the borders, authorities have to set up monitoring facilities to identify such parameters. Generally, people migrate on a particular pattern in terms of precipitating factors and periods, which need to be identified and monitored closely (MPI para.1). Migrant support networks are located along the migratory hotspots in order to provide surveillance necessary to spot humanitarian crises and assist in control of the situation. The migrant support networks function through close cooperation with stakeholders and immigration institutions to facilitate appropriate movement. Immigration officials at the border work closely with the police in order to provide the required order in movement across the borders. When there are immigration challenges and crises causing mass movements, the authorities may not manage the arising humanitarian risks (Brick and Rosenblun 8). Smugglers may take advantage of the situation where they charge illegal fees and sneak people across the borders. Taking advantage of the poor immigrants by demanding money for such favors results into risks of human trafficking and modern day slavery. Local communities who are aware of the fate of the immigrant groups en route to their country of destination provide support to enable them reach their target countries (Nazario 102). Despite the challenges faced by the immigrant groups, the presence of appropriate support network centers may not offer appropriate assistance since illegal businesses of smuggling people at a fee circumvents the laid down procedures. The most prominent theme of social consequence of immigration to the migrant family members is untold psychological disjunction. Single mothers seeking for alternative routes to fend for their families in a short cut that ends up as a longer version of the journey proves to be a complicated social vice. Exposing children to the difficult task of searching for their parents who ought to be near them and provide them with parental nurturing seems to be dislocated social priority among the migrant communities. Instead of offering the financial support to the families left back at home, migrants attract the danger of children following them through dangerous means ending in a sad situation than before. Protection of families and children through provision of appropriate resources is the main way to prevent unnecessary and risky movements. To illustrate the danger facing the family, Nazario (10) reports of loss of love between the children and the spouse left to take care of them after one departs in search of greener pastures. “His father begins a new family. Enrique sees him rarely, usually by chance. In time, Enrique’s love turns contempt. “He doesn’t love me. He loves the children he has with his wife,” he tells Belky. “I don’t have a dad”.” I agree with the author’s position since the broken families propel the cyclic migrant behavior that finally exposes the parents and children to unending suffering. The most disturbing picture painted by Nazario is the risk that children face when immigration fails to deliver expectations for improvement of conditions of life. Unaccompanied minors in international immigration not only present a challenge to children rights but also to the future of immigration policy. Juvenile immigration into the US composes of 75 percent being boys from El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico (Levinson para.15). Underage offenders of this nature ought to be assisted to settle and develop by their countries to achieve their dreams instead of facing the disorienting ordeals involved in the tough journeys. Human trafficking and other human rights abuses such as child labor cannot be controlled with numerous cases of child migration. I hold the opinion of the author with regard to the preventable nature of the dangers faced by juvenile immigrants at the family level. Proper political leadership and distribution of resources that are conspicuously missing in the affected migration flow areas could be the solution to preventing children suffering. Provision of asylum to minors in search of their parents should be provided to reduce the suffering. Similar treatment of adults and children seeking immigration and asylum is unfair to children who require protection from the authorities. Family laws should be upheld by immigration policies which seem to contradict protection of children best interests (Levinson para.24). Works Cited Brick, Kate. & Rosenblun, R. Mark. “US Immigration Policy and Mexican/ Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now,” 2011. Web. 9 May 2012 http://www.migrationpolicy.org/regionalstudygroup/ Levinson, Amanda “Unaccompanied Immigrant Children: A Growing Phenomenon with Few Easy Solutions,” 2011, Web. 9 May 2012 http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=823 MPI “US Immigration Policy and Mexican/ Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now,” 1 August 2011, Web. 9 May 2012 http://oppenheimer.mcgill.ca/US-Immigration-Policy-and-Mexican,2993 Nazario, Sonia. Enrique’s journey: The story of a boy’s dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother, New York, NY: Random House Trade Paperbacks. 2006. Print. Read More