Artifact 5 - Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant - Jose Antonio Vargas

Courtesy of The New York Times

Reyna's story in The Distance Between Us is not the only story of greater opportunities and a greater life in the United States. Although there are many undocumented immigrants who are not as fortunate as Reyna, many have become fairly successful and are living the "American dream." The article, My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant, is one of those success stories.

In 1993, at age twelve, Jose Antonio Vargas boarded an airplane that took him all the way from his home in the Philippines to the United States. Once here, he lived with his grandmother and grandfather, thousands of miles away from his mother and siblings. After settling in California, Jose started sixth grade and instantly discovered his passion for language. He has now graduated high school and college, as well as launched a career for himself as a journalist. However, those achievements did not come easy. Every great journey involves overcoming bumps in the road. In the words of Jose, "he was living in a different kind of reality, in constant fear of being found out." Being an undocumented immigrant means you don't have the basic documents needed for simple tasks like obtaining a driver's license or applying for a job, which Jose soon found out for himself.

In order to get over to and stay in the United States, Jose used a fake name, a fake passport, a fake student visa, a fake Social Security number, and a fake green card and he learned that he had to be extremely careful when showing people the fake documents or they would find out that he was in the country illegally. When he first tried getting a driver's permit, the woman at the D.M.V. knew the green card was fake. He had to deny many trips outside of the country because he did not have a valid passport and did not want to raise any questions. He also had to turn down several internships he was offered because the companies needed paperwork he did not have. The biggest obstacle for Jose, though, was not the fact that he didn't have the right papers, it was the fact that he had fake ones. Using the fake documents made him feel insanely guilty. In fact, the guilt and fear of being found out often held him back from living his full American dream. Jose said himself, "he thought of himself American and considered American his country, but his country didn't think of him as one of its own." All Jose, along with the 11 million other undocumented immigrants, wanted and still want is to belong.

Reyna, too, was treated differently as an immigrant. Often times, she would separate herself from the crowd, or others would do that for her. She was put in a separate group at school when she first came to the United States because she couldn't speak English, and all she wanted was to be with the rest of the kids. She desperately wanted to belong in her new home.

When she was beginning college, Reyna finally realized that there was some good in being an immigrant an not always fitting in. With the help of Diana, she was introduced to Latin writers whom she could relate to. Those writers helped her realize that her stories were worth sharing. Years later, Reyna Grande has published several award-winning novels and has created a successful writing career for herself. Despite all of the struggle she went through in her first few years in the United States, she is living the American dream, proving that the Untied States can be a place of new beginnings and endless opportunities for immigrants if they choose to make it that way.

Artifact 4 - Education for Immigrant Students

Public Education for Immigrant Students

Courtesy of American Immigration Council

Any student in the United States who wishes to obtain a public education is free to do so, according to the Constitution. This is the reason why so many immigrants immigrate to the United States; to provide a better future for their children by allowing them to acquire a free, quality education. However, that may not be the case for long. Some states are trying to ban undocumented children from attending public schools.

Receiving an education is the best way to succeed as a citizen of the United States. Denying a child of an education is more than just taking away their chance to learn their ABC's and multiplication tables. It is taking away their ability to contribute to our society's progress in the future.

In 1975, the Texas legislature entitled its school districts to deny any foreign-born children an education in the public schools if they were not "legally admitted" into the United States. In order to enroll, the children had to provide documentation that showed they were lawfully present in the country, or they would be denied. When several foreign-born children had no way of proving that they were "legally admitted," they filed a lawsuit called Plyler v. Doe that was eventually taken to the Supreme Court in 1989. The Court ruled that the states had no reason to deny undocumented children of a public education based on their immigration status due to the fact that it would only harm the children and our society as a whole.

The Plyler ruling meant that if public schools were providing a free education for U.S. citizens and "legally admitted" foreign-born children, they had to provide the same, free education for undocumented children, as well. However, since the Supreme Court ruling, several states have tried to deny undocumented children an education in spite of Plyler. In 1994, Proposition 187 was passed in California, which prohibited schools from enrolling any student who was not lawfully present in the United States and required them to report the situation to authorities if it came up. In 2006, an Illinois school district refused to enroll a student who had overstayed his tourist visa. In 2011, the Alabama legislature issued a measure that obliged schools districts to specify the immigration status of newly enrolled students. All of these actions violate Plyler and could be considered unconstitutional. If schools continue to circumvent Plyler, all of the students, both undocumented children and U.S. citizens, will be affected. Trust issues between students and school staff members, racial profiling, bullying, and high rates of absences have already emerged and will continued to increase. Is that what is in our country's future in education?

In The Distance Between Us, Papi expected all three of his children to do their very best in school without any excuses. Reyna, who especially wanted to make her father proud, worked very hard and it paid off. After coming in second, or even third, when it came to school achievements in the family due to her youth, she felt that she really needed to go far in order to make her father as proud as he was for his other children. She said, "she felt she owed him something, as if there was a debt that needed to be repaid" (Grande 173). Reyna became the first person in her entire family to finish college and her persistence and ability to overcome diversity helped her become a wonderful, award-winning author.

Imagine if Reyna, Mago, and Carlos weren't able to receive the education they did. Certainly, they wouldn't have been near as successful as they were, especially Reyna. Would they have stayed in the United States at all if they weren't able to? It really goes to show that educating immigrants, documented or not, will only be of use to our society. After all, they're already in the United States and desperately want to stay here, so we might as well make the best of it and create hard-working students that will strive in the future. Look at Reyna Grande. If she were denied an education when she first came to the United States, our country would have one less inspiring author. 

Artifact 3 - What Happens to the Kids?

Parents Deported, What Happens to US-born Kids?

Courtesy of The Associated Press

Living in the United States as an undocumented immigrant is extremely risky. They live in constant fear of being deported back to their home country. After all, the reason they are in the United States in the first place is because they wanted to have a better life than they had back home. How is that supposed to happen if they are sent straight back? The answer is simple: they can't. Having a family member deported after working so hard to get to the United States ruins families.

The article, Parents Deported, What Happens to US-born Kids? tells the story of how several undocumented immigrants are deported. To make things worse, their children are American citizens, therefore, they can't go with them. These families go into desperate measures in order to stay together.

Alexis, Steve, Evelin, and their father Rony Molina found themselves without a mother and wife after, "she went to get her papers and never came back," according to Alexis. Sandra Molina had been deported back to Guatemala, leaving her children and husband, who were all U.S. citizens, in the United States. 

Janna Hakim and her siblings found themselves in a similar situation. Their healthy, stable life in New York came to a sudden stop when they found out that their mother was living in the United States illegally and was being deported. 

Amelia Reyes-Jimenez found herself separated from her blind and paralyzed son after she was arrested and deported for leaving him alone at home. 

Encarnacion Bail Romero lost her baby boy when arrested during an ICE raid of a chicken plant. 

When Felipe Montes was deported, his three children were left in the United States under the care of their mentally-ill mother.

All of these families have gone through the inevitable. What was supposed to be a better life for them was turned into something much worse. Is keeping the American children in the United States, separated from their parents really the best option? Shouldn't they have a say in the situation? Many parents, including these mentioned, have fought in court to try to win back the parental rights that they lost so abruptly. However, all of them were denied. Separating families who are just barely getting by in the United States and making their lives worse seems inappropriate to many people, but the ICE claims that not deporting them will only give the impression that it is okay for other families to do the same things. President Obama's opinion on the issue was that tearing families apart was wrong, therefore, they should just focus on the undocumented immigrants who are criminals. This suggestion, though, has not been carried out by ICE officers yet. Families are continuing to be torn apart by force. 

Reyna, Mago, and Carlos were separated from their parents as well in The Distance Between Us, but by choice instead of force. They were left under the care of several different relatives in Mexico while their parents were in Los Angeles, trying to find a better way to provide for their children. They had been separated from their father for eight years before he came back and within those eight years, their mother left too. Reyna, who was very young when her father left, only knew him from a picture that she called "the man behind the glass." However, she could remember her mother just fine. Reyna, Mago, and Carlos all had moments where they felt abandoned, resentful of their parents for leaving them behind, and worried that their parents would forget all about them and start a new life on their own. 

When Reyna and her siblings got the chance to return to the United States with their father, they had to be separated from their loved ones once again, but it was their own choice that time. Going to "El Otro Lado" meant they would be with their father, who they had been away from for so long, but they would have to leave their mother and sister, who Reyna could not imagine her life without. 

Due to the fact that Reyna's family was torn apart by the choices they made, it isn't the same as the families who were forced apart by deportation, but the emotions involved are very much the same. Both the children and the parents feel full of regret, abandonment, failure, and eternal sadness.

In the book, Reyna said, "Immigration took a toll on us all" (Grande 207). Many, if not all, of the children left behind by their deported parents can probably relate to this statement. Immigration is not easy. The risks and consequences not only affect the migrants themselves, but the people around them, too.

Artifact 2 - Tracking the Treacherous Journey

Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border

Courtesy of ABC News

Making the journey to the United States and crossing the border is a daunting task, but for some families, it is their best or only option. Reyna's journey across the US-Mexico border in The Distance Between Us and many other families' journeys and statistics mentioned in the video, Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border show that it is far from easy, but it must be done. 

The video focuses on the various people who have attempted to or successfully crossed the Rio Grande, the river that marks the border between Mexico and Texas. These people must be willing to face very dangerous conditions including open sewage, debris, harsh currents, and harmful water inhabitants, not to mention the increasing number of broader patrol agents carrying menacing firearms. As one of the officers claimed, "the second they step out of their house, it is a very dangerous journey for them to cross." Crossing the Rio Grande would be a treacherous mission for any adult to take on, let alone a child, yet thousands of adults and children have survived the crossing, although, not everyone is so lucky. 

In the video, Jorge Ramos and his crew decided to step in the shoes of the undocumented immigrants who attempt to cross the river. Under the supervision of several patrol officers, him and several crew members undertook the challenge of crossing the Rio Grande to its Mexican side and back. He then saw first-hand how difficult it was for immigrant families to sneak across the border in this manner. Ramos also interviewed a recent crosser in the video, a fifteen-year-old boy from Honduras. Back in Honduras, the boy and his friend were forced to join the gangs, but after refusing, his friend was killed. The boy knew then that it was not safe for him anymore, so he escaped from his violent hometown and worked his way up and over the border. The immigration attorney that Ramos spoke to explains that he still faces deportation and if that were to happen, he would most likely be killed.

In The Distance Between Us, Reyna's long-lost father returns from "El Otro Lado" to invite his children to cross the United States border and return with him. All three accepted, although didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. In their minds, all they could think about was the beautiful, safe place they knew as “El Otro Lado.” Their first and second attempts across the border were unsuccessful due to sickness, aches, and the fact that Reyna’s youth made it harder for her to keep up with her older sister, older brother, and father. She admitted that the journey was not easy. After all, that is the job of border patrol officers- to make it hard on undocumented, illegal immigrants who are attempting to cross their border. Even though Reyna and her family were able to cross the border, there were still many risks involved with staying in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Like the boy in the Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border video, there was a chance that they could be deported all the way back to Mexico. All of these risks, though, were worth it for them. The chance of having a better life was too big of an opportunity to pass up, even if the journey took a strong physical and emotional toll on all of them. 

No journey across the United States border can be easy, which is proved by many stories, including Reyna’s in The Distance Between Us and those told in the video, Tracking the Treacherous Journey Across the US-Mexico Border.

Artifact 1 - The Heartache of an Immigrant Family

The Heartache of an Immigrant Family

Courtesy of The New York Times

Many foreign families see the United States as a place of new beginnings, although not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a hopeful experience after immigrating. The Distance Between Us and the article entitled The Heartache of an Immigrant Family reveal the struggles that people have gone through and continue to go through as immigrants in the United States. 

The Heartache of an Immigrant Family tells the story of a boy who was directly affected by immigration. This boy, Luis Enrique Motiño Pineda, lived in Honduras with his sister and mother as a young child. Enrique's mother, Lourdes Pineda, dealt with hardship and poverty by selling food and clothing door to door, although found it barely provided for her family. In hopes of providing her children with a better life, she made the sacrificial decision to make the journey to the United States, leaving her two children behind in Honduras not only separated from her, but each other. After years of living under the care of numerous relatives, Enrique set out to find his mother at the age of sixteen. Just like his mother, Enrique made sacrifices of his own and left people that he loved behind. The journey was not at all easy for him, but he was able to create a life in the United States that included a home for him and his family, who eventually joined him. What Enrique discovered, though, was that the struggle of immigrating would never truly end. He faced even more separation from the ones he loved. 

Reyna, Mago, and Carlos in The Distance Between Us had a similar childhood to that of Enrique and his sister. They, too, were left behind by their parents who dreamed of a better life in "El Otro Lado." As The Heartache of an Immigrant Family mentions, migrating to the United States was beneficial because the parents could send some of the wealth they earned to their children back home. However, it was also consequential because the children often felt abandoned and resentful of their parents and would turn to other ways of receiving the love they felt they missed out on. In The Distance Between Us, Reyna would often ask herself question like, "Does she miss me?" (Grande 182) and would have to try to convince herself that, "her parents left her because they loved her too much, not because they didn't love her enough," (Grande 22) even if she didn't always believe it. Most likely, Enrique felt these feelings too, just like all of the other children who were left by their ambitious parents.

Also like Enrique, Reyna and her siblings didn't necessarily have the easiest lifestyle in the United States, despite the fact that it was better than what they came from. For example, Reyna and her family had trouble finding jobs and getting the quality care they needed. They were able to fight through the struggle, though, by taking baby steps toward their final goal: a beautiful, safe life in the United States. Fortunately, Reyna's persistence and driven attitude helped her become the great writer she is today, unlike Enrique, who had a less fortunate outcome. 

Compared to the life she was used to back in Iguala, Mexico, Reyna thought of herself as lucky. However, compared to the lives of people who were U.S.-born, her life in the United States was still rather troublesome. Does this mean that immigrants will never have the same opportunities as citizens? The government hasn't been able to sort it all out yet, but will they?