Author: Argelia Treadwell (Page 1 of 5)

In my previous research paper i choose to write about immigration and the different reasons people decided to come to America, the struggles they go through in doing so and the inhumane detention facilities they are held in if immigration detains them. I explained the various reasons come to America not just being in look of the American dream, but due to poverty and fear of the violent crimes in their countries. Poverty being so bad they can’t find jobs to provide for their families and crimes being so server between gangs and cartels that it is killing innocent people in the process. I also elaborated on the detention facilities which immigrants are held. I remember reading this article in The Atlantic called “ A Crime by Any Name” and the author describing in so much details the detention facilities and how inhumane they were. He spoke about the cells being so overcrowded it is difficult to move in any direction. The cells are so cramped the detainees could not lie down to sleep. The cells that are designed for 125 people are packed with 900 immigrants. Something else that really stood out to me that he mentioned in his article was the condition of the food. The food being so horrendous, its either raw or too foul to be eaten so most detainees starve, but it’s not just the food it’s also the water. The author describes the water as a black color. I find this so appalling that we could have people living in these conditions. Not just adults but children enduring these conditions, not being able to have a decent childhood because stuff like this can leave a huge mental scar on kids. It’s sad that parents come in hopes of providing a better life for their kid their instead come to America and are pulled apart from their children the very reason for them coming here.

I wrote this paper in hope that people that feel like immigrants are criminals and should just come here legally, could understand that it’s not that easy and could see the struggle immigrants go through. I also choose to write this paper because I resonate with this subject even though i myself am not an immigrant my parents were, and they endured a lot of hardship to come to America and provided a better life for me and my siblings. I believe this is a topic which should be spoken about more. It’s 2020 we went through a lot this year and I believe it’s time for a change it’s time we stop thinking that immigrants are just here to take “ American “ jobs and are “ criminals” and we start realizing they don’t have it that easy. They come to America and work jobs that are hard manual jobs and don’t get paid fairly they endure the language barrier and must pay for healthcare which is very expensive all to try to provide a better life for their kids.

Interview with Paula Ruiz 40 years old 

Interview with April Lorenzo 50 years old

I will be translating April’s Interview due to it being in Spanish. It was very hard for me to go to school when I came to America due to me being 15 years old. I didn’t understand the langue nor had any family or friends in America. Due to all of this I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school since I had work to place a roof over my head. I also needed to work to send my mother money since it was the reason for me coming to America in the first place. I would have loved my circumstances to have been different and would have loved to have had the opportunity to go to school. Being here I also found the language barrier to be very difficult on immigrants. It’s difficult to go outside and communicate with people. You isolate yourself. The couple of times that I can recall going out when I first came to America and someone spoke to me in English, I would always stay quiet. Thinking back the person speaking to me thought I was crazy for not responding and looking confused. When I first came to this country, I was living in Texas which is near the border. I remember having a huge fear of going out not just because of the language barrier and people not understanding me but because I feared Ice. I was scared I would go out and immigration would catch me. I feared that if they caught me all the struggle I went through to come to this country, get a job and send money to my family would all have been for nothing. I remember the couple of times I did go out I would look everywhere and assume anyone could be immigration coming to get me. It was a fear I lived with for multiple years. I can state it is a huge difference being an immigrant and being a U.S Citizen. Being a Citizen, you have a lot more opportunities. I state that when I was an immigrant, I didn’t have the same opportunities as I did now. Starting with medical care, I realize now that they have provided a lot more help for immigrants when it comes to medical care. Years prior though they did not provide as much help. Whenever I would get sick or whenever one of my family members would get sick, we just stayed home and took Tylenol, drank tea or tried to cure ourselves with home remedies and hoped it was nothing serious and that we would be fine soon enough. We didn’t go to the hospital because we could not afford the medical bill. I also realize now that it was also for lack of information because we didn’t know that we were able to go to the emergency room and we would get seen by a doctor with or without medical care. I also thought what if I go to the hospital and because I’m illegal they call immigration. I can state my work experience in America before having papers was not the best. Jobs take advantage of you when you are an immigrant. They take advantage because they know we have the necessity to work and provide for our families. They choose to pay us under minimum wage. I had a lot of jobs that at the time when I was working them which was years ago minimum wage was $4.50, some jobs would pay me $3.00 and some even $2.00. The truth is that jobs really abuse the fact that you are an immigrant. Never when I was working as an immigrant do I remember getting paid sick pay or holidays. Not just that but I don’t remember getting a half of hour of lunch either which I know now is mandatory. I remember I worked jobs that I only got 5 minutes to eat lunch. You see a lot of unfairness when you work as an immigrant, they give you more work but don’t give you a raise, they always tell you if you like it good and if you don’t leave. Since you need the money you stay and take it. I can tell you due to necessity I worked those jobs being underpaid as many of us do, because we need the money. I know a lot of U.S Citizen state that immigrants come to America to take American jobs. I can state that is not true we come here because we have the necessity of coming here, because a lot us are poor in our country and we are trying to get out of poverty. When it comes to jobs, I also feel that we take jobs that Americans usually don’t want to work due to us have necessity like hard physical jobs. I can also say that there is a big difference when you work, and you are a U.S Citizen because jobs know they can’t underpay you. You get holiday and sick days paid. It’s harder for jobs to take advantage of you because they know that you can go fight for your rights. I also know now which I didn’t know before that as an immigrant you can fight for your rights when you are being underpaid. But us as immigrants we always have the fear of getting deported. The first things bosses tell you when you try to speak back is, I’m going to call immigration, so you always live with that fear and never decided to fight for the rights you are entitled to. The sad truth is I know even now there is still a lot of immigrants out there still being taken advantage by their bosses because they are afraid of what will happen to them if they stand up to them. What I would like to say is that regardless of everything I went through, I am very grateful to this country. Thankfully, I am now a citizen and I know this country opens the doors to a lot of great opportunities when you are a citizen. Sadly, though not everyone is as lucky to be able to become a citizen since not everyone has the same circumstances it may be harder for others or impossible. My hopes are that one days the laws for immigrants change and they give people more of a chance to become a U.S Citizen especially for those who are here paying their taxes and are hardworking individuals.

Interview with Jennifer Cortez 

I will be translating the interview due to it being in Spanish. I came when I was 19 years old, the truth it was very hard being in America and not speaking the language. Not speaking English is a huge barrier to being able to have a good job in this country. It is also very hard to communicate with other individuals. I believe being an immigrant closes the door for you to get an education. Especially because a lot of us don’t come with the mindset of coming here to get an education but in look of finding a job and sending money to our families that we left back home. I express great sadness to everything that is going on right now due to the trump administration. It is sad to see families being ripped apart. I feel that not being a citizen makes it very hard for you to progress in this country. Which also causes you not to be able to have a good paying job and affects your finances. It also affects you when it comes to medical care. I can say being an immigrant affects you in many ways. 

Artistic Statement

After writing my first research paper of immigration I choose to change the genre to interviews. I chose interviews because I believe seeing people’s faces conveys a deep message. I believe hearing a person tell you about their struggles as an immigrant is more powerful than just having me write about it. The videos expressed everything I wrote about in my previous research paper. It explains about the financial burden you have if you decided to seek medical care. It also elaborates on the struggle’s immigrants go through in America, the language barrier that can affect many immigrants. It also expresses the great difference in being an immigrant and becoming a U.S Citizen. The videos explain how much benefits you receive from becoming a citizen. I’m hoping to be able to reach the intended audience i wanted and be able to express everything i wanted to them through my interviews. I’ve chosen this specific audience in hopes of changing their view on immigrants. I believe something I would have done different if i was able to would have been interviewing some people at detention facilities, I feel like their stories would have impacted a lot of readers.

My proposed topic for unit 3 is interview videos on immigration. I picked this because i feel like it will best be suited to convey what i want to express about immigration. My targeted audience is the people that believe immigrants shouldn’t be here to show them the struggle and inhumane situations immigrants go through to provide a better life for themselves and there family and hopefully change there mind on the way they feel.

In this article the author speaks about a album she found in her neighborhood. She was very intrigued since it was from a black family in the 1950’s. She did research to try and find the owners of the album and after much searching she found a relative of the owner of the album. She found out there names they were Etta Mae and her husband Isaiah Taylor.  The author learns a lot of information about Etta, and Ike and there relatives and friends and also learns about the way Lincoln heights was back in the day. I believe the author did a great job painting a picture of the way Lincoln heights was before and showing a black family in the 1950’s. One question i would ask the author is, If you were to pick another genre to reach your audience about this photo album what would it be?