Humans rarely change their ways; they stay in their own worlds and always interact with the same types of people. Unfortunately, this habit often creates unseen barriers that divide and alienate human beings from one another. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway, Urrea provides a personal perspective to immigration by telling the story of 26 illegal immigrants, known as the Wellton 26, who are abandoned as they cross the Mexico-U.S. border. Through their story, Urrea proves there are invisible borders among people that create prejudice, such as language, ethnicity, and economic status. By reading The Devil’s Highway, it is clear that these barriers must be broken down to ensure harmony within society. The Wellton 26’s lives in Veracruz, Mexico, are the opposite of life in United States. Unlike most areas of the U.S., the citizens of Veracruz live in an “economy of hunger” (Urrea 45). Families must rely on themselves, with little to no help from the government, and their economic status is far below …show more content…
Very few, if any, immigrants have the chance to learn English before traveling to the U.S. Because of this barrier, it is nearly impossible for organizations such as the Border Patrol to warn, aid, and communicate with them as they travel to the U.S. Although there are helpful signs along the border, they are written in English and are therefore indecipherable. Furthermore, the language border hinders an immigrant’s ability to survive in American society once they arrive. English is the written and spoken language in almost every city, thwarting immigrants’ opportunity to find jobs and interact with others. As they struggle to communicate, they become ostracized and do not fit in. Language is a part of one’s identity, and because the men do not speak the same language as the majority, they are not seen as a part of the culture or
The book “Harvest of Empire” (chap. 11 ) States that “Immigration policy has provoked fierce public debate in the United States for more than twenty years.” However, when this theme is touched, so many mixed emotions are heard, felt, even seen, and this is because this issue deals with everything from consideration for another human being to the country’s safety.
The book, The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, is based on the true story of the Yuma-14 or Wellstone 26, who were Mexicans that crossed the American border and died while doing so. This novel goes through not only the story of the Yuma-14 but the background of what happened before their journey and after their deaths, as well as the mentalities of the Border Patrol agents. It gives you the complete picture of what had happened. The Devil’s Highway starts off with a brief background about what happened.
In addition, the vocational services set standards and guidelines throughout the workplace to provide services for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students. “Our society is full of people whose contributions and desires to integrate often go unnoticed and unfulfilled. ()” “Ignorance is Bliss.” The lack of knowledge from ignoring what the world has to offer to you is hindering our society today. These immigrants play a vital role in American society and the economy, but we have yet to fully understand or implement a plan to accommodate their needs for them to achieve success as a U.S. citizen.
This shows us that the language barrier can not only have an effect on the immigrant themselves but also their children. Furthermore there are situations where the immigrants affect the country both positively and
Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.
Introduction Informative, contemplative, and different are three words to describe “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” by Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco and Carola Suárez-Orozco from Rereading America. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” talks about unauthorized immigration. More specifically, this source talks about the other side of the issue of unauthorized immigrants; the human face of it all. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” depicts the monster from one of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s thesis in the article, “Monster Culture (7 Theses).” The monster seen in the source “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” is the one that Cohen talks about in his fourth thesis, “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference.”
Challenges and hardships encountered by foreigners immigrating into the United States are demonstrated through Jake’s experiences with the Shimerdas, the Russians, and other foreigners. Due to the Shimerdas limited capacity to speak, read, write, and understand
This book shows the saddening truth of why the poor typically stay poor and the many, many obstacles that must be overcome just to “get ahead”. As mentioned above, the families in this book were largely affected by social, economic, and cultural barriers. Barriers of all three structural blocks, can include, but are not limited to, low wages, safe housing, education, job training, language barriers, and religious beliefs. Early in the book, Shipler writes about corrupt public administration, such as banks, check cashing facilities, and tax preparers. These are a few examples of structural economic barriers that families encountered.
How do immigrants struggle coming to america? Learning the language and having difficulty speaking english, having trouble communicating. In The latin Deli: An Ars Poetica it identifies the issue of speaking a different language. The poem states "all wanting comfort of spoken spanish. " Securing work is another issue either because of illegal immigration, the job only hiring people with experience in the united states or because of the language barrier.
Throughout history, humans have always been afraid of anything and anyone unlike their culture. Even in the twenty-first century, there is heated debate surrounding illegal immigration in America; some believe that illegal immigrants from Mexico are stealing jobs and harming the economy. These irrational fears are discussed in Luis Alberto Urrea’s book, “The Devil’s Highway,” which tells the true story of 26 illegal immigrants who are abandoned after crossing the U.S. border. Through this true story, Urrea shows the mistreatment of illegal immigrants, and his use of historical examples reveals that immigrants have always been subject to prejudice and persecution in the United States.
11.5 million immigrants come into the United States every year. 13.5% of United States population are migrants that leave everything behind and their family to get there, and only 28% of foreign immigrants from Mexico make it to the United States every year. Additionally 64.5% of hondurans are living in poverty, according to The Immigration Policy Institute. Sonia Nazario demonstrates how the matter of immigration affects family values, causes discriminacion and more drug use. Many cultures around the world have different ideas about all of these subjects.
Firoozeh writes about her life as an Iranian immigrant to America. Her family is treated with kindness by neighbors when they come to live in America and get lost on their way home from school: “…the woman and her daughter walked us all the way to our front porch and even helped my mother unlock the unfamiliar door,” (Dumas, 7). Firoozeh and her mother are not discriminated against because they are immigrants who don’t speak English, the Americans help them despite their differences. Had the neighbors not been helpful and patient, Firoozeh’s journey home would have been somewhat traumatic and daunting. While this a rather specific isolated example, it can serve as an analogy for all immigrants’ experience.
For many new immigrants coming to America, it is difficult to adjust into the new society. Many come to America without the basic knowledge of English, the new immigrants do not have the ability assimilate to American society because of the lack of possible communication between the immigrant and an native. Non-English speaking immigrants that come to America face harsh challenges when trying to assimilate to U.S. society because immigrants are often segregated into ethnic communities away from natives, Americans do not know basics of words of other well known languages, and the lack of government funding education programs. Assimilation into a new society is difficult enough, but when the society pushes any new immigrants to separate part
But even when they didn’t learn English themselves, their children grew up speaking it. Thousands of first-generation Americans still strive to learn English, but others face reduced educational and career opportunities because they have not mastered this basic skill they need to get ahead. According to the 1990 census, 40 percent of the Hispanics born in the United States do not graduate from high school, and the Department of Education says that a lack of proficiency in English is an important factor in the drop-out rate. People and agencies that favor providing services only in foreign languages want to help people who do not speak English, but they may be doing these people a disservice by condemning them to a linguistic ghetto from which they cannot easily escape.
was an animal.” (Ryan, P.g 2) With Compadrazgo it is assumed that if Marcos’s father had been related to his boss these cruel actions would never that taken place. In a country where family ties dominate education and experience, there 's no room for advancement thus giving the residences who fall victim only one option. Leave.