I have to say that I was touched when I saw the picture in our textbook of Mexican-American children at a protest to legalize their parents. Though, that was not something that I worried about growing up as a child, but I could see myself in them. I was actually born in Mexico to a mother who is a United States citizen and a father who was a Mexican citizen. When my sister and I got to be at the age of starting school, my mother decided that she wanted us to start in the United States. She found that there was not much regulation in the Mexican Public school system, and saw a lot of children dropping out at a startling young age. She wanted a better education for her children.
Since my mother is a United States citizen that gave my sister and I, United States citizenship by Naturalization. My sister and I have dual citizenship. My father in the other hand, had to get a Work VISA right away. He worked hard, paid his taxes, and was in the United States legally with his Work Visa. He was also starting on the process of getting his United States citizenship. The process was long and expensive, but six years later he stood in a court house and was proclaimed a United States citizen.
I believe that most Mexican families are like our family. They want a better life for their family, and a better education for their children. Some families are not as fortunate as my father was in getting his citizenship, so they are here undocumented. I can't image having to live, constantly looking over my shoulder, just so I can put food on the table for my family or for my children to get a better education.
I don't really have an opinion on amnesty for these undocumented families, but this blog has really got me thinking about it. I will continue to read articles on these issues and try to see both sides when an open mind.
I completely agree with your blog post. I can still remember when my mother became an American Citizen when I was 10 years old. My mother set a good example of goal setting, the importance of having a good work ethic and when to recognize and take advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself. I was raised in a rural town that was mostly caucasians, with me being the only hispanic in school, but around my teenage years, my town had an influx of people from different countries and nationalities that opened my town to different views and customs. My mother made it very clear to me at a young age that people in my town were always going to be watching me and seeing how I conducted myself and that my actions would be what some people in my town would judge my race on.While the majority of the new people where positive and hardworking, they were a few children around my age group that had no courtesy and respect for other people, which in turn opened the door for stereotyping and hostilities based on nationalities. It sounds like your father, like my mother, was very grateful for the opportunities that this country provided him. I just wish that more people that came here would be more appreciative of our nation and stop casting a negative image for an entire race. I believe there should be a law that allows people from Mexico and Central America to obtain their citizenship if they serve a certain amount of years in the military, granted they meet the proper background check. I know this may sound crazy, but I believe that Mexico will be part of the United States late in my lifetime. People may think that is crazy, but look what made up the United States back in the 1800's. Try telling the people of Hawaii and Alaska that they would be considered part of America back then.
ReplyDeleteBottom-line, immigration made this country and with the proper background checks and accountability, that spirit of allowing someone to work hard for the American Dream should be allowed.