Immigration

Roberto Hernandez

Sociology-1301-10D1

04/20/14

A great portion of the United States is built upon immigrants. People come to this country for a "better life." A life of opportunities and freedom. I lived in Mexico for the first13 years of my life. As a child, I remember watching American shows that were translated into Spanish. I always dreamed and pictured myself attending a school with lockers and a gym class just like the ones on TV. It never occurred to me to see myself in this country doing everything that I dreamed of. Being able to go to places that I thought was once impossible for me to see. Being able to have an education; a future. All of this was made possible because of my uncle. If it wasn't for him, my parents, grandparents, and I would not be living here in the land of opportunities. Because of my uncle, my dad was able to work here as a lawful permanent resident. Meaning, he is a foreign national given the privilege of permanently living and working in the United States. In order for this to unfold, the immigrant has to have a relative whom is already living in the United States who is willing to sponsor them and prove that they have enough income to support them and/or their family. With this, of course there are many steps that follow. To begin, the USCIS must approve an immigrant visa petition filed by the sponsor (my uncle) for the immigrant. Then, they would need to demonstrate income and take total responsibility by completing and signing an Affidavit of support document. Once these steps are completed, the immigrant is able to apply for a visa which will allow them to stay in the United States as a permanent resident. Which is what my father did. As much as I was grateful to my uncle for giving us an opportunity to better our lives, I must admit, I was also distraught. Being foreign in an alien country was not an easy task. Knowing I had to leave all of my friends and family behind did not help my situation any but that was the least of my worries. I struggled throughout the years having to learn a whole different language. Not to mention, a language that changes every year. Learning English was one of the most difficult tasks I have ever been through. Although, I have accomplished learning how to speak, read, and write it, I still have a lot to learn. Just like everything else, practice makes perfect. Being away from my family in Mexico was tough. My aunts and cousins would visit us about twice a year. I enjoyed having them come visit us unexpectedly because that gave me an opportunity to show them around and have a good time while they were here. As the years progressed, they visited us less and less. It became difficult for them to come to the United States due to the increasing number of immigrants crossing the border illegally. Border patrol became stricter , even if you a had Visa. Coming to the United States to visit family members wasn't as easy-going as it used to be so my family decided to avoid the hassle and minimized their visits to about just once a year or every other year.

http://publicreligion.org/research/2013/03/2013-religion-values-immigration-survey/ http://www.uscis.gov/ http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigration-and-united-states-recession-affects-flows-prospects-reform http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/immigration http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/immigrant-population-shows-signs-of-growth-estimates-show.html?_r=0 http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/types/family.html