How Immigrants Land in Poverty
How Immigrants Land in Poverty
Poverty is something no one wants to go through and many people think everyone who is poor chooses that life for themselves by turning to drugs but that's not the case. The majority of people living in the streets have a background story that leads them to that life. Immigration is one of the main causes that impact poverty among individuals’ families and societies because of the possible lack of education, language barrier, and lower wages. One positive outcome from this could be when immigrants have kids in the U.S. they create opportunities for them that they never had.
In "What is poverty?" The government of New Brunswick states, “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is a lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.” Many factors contribute to this but most aren't because of drugs. Yes, studies have shown that poverty may lead to drugs or mental disorders but poverty isn't always associated with that. For example, we have immigration. Many immigrants come to the United States with minimal money which is not enough to live in this economy. Furthermore, most immigrants don't speak English but understand very little. Immigrants have to start from the bottom and build to the top from scratch to create opportunities for their families and future generations.
Immigration can be very scary and risky for people coming to the U.S. illegally. In Why migrants risk it all, The International Organization for Migration (IOM) talks about the major risks immigrants could go through while coming to the U.S. IOM states, “People who migrate irregularly from Central America to North America must face dangerous river and desert crossings, remote terrain and unsafe forms of transport to reach their destinations, such as traveling on top of freight trains over long journeys or inside overcrowded trucks. They may also be exposed to different forms of violence including being robbed, extorted, assaulted trafficked, and even killed.” Most of these things are horrible to imagine and can cause extreme trauma. Many immigrants come to the U.S. at a young age. For example, my father came to the United States at the age of 17 while my mom came at the age of 21 and unfortunately couldn’t graduate college. Because of this, most immigrants lack education making it harder for them to get jobs and to even sustain them. This can lead to depression which could later lead to a drug addiction.
In Understanding the Relationship Between Poverty and Addiction, Dana Hinders states, “Poverty decreases self-esteem. In a culture that values material possessions and financial success, being poor can feel like a moral failing. This can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, and diminished self-worth.” This creates an idea of what it could be like to be in poverty as an immigrant or a citizen. Not only is this risky for them but also for their family. If any immigrant falls into addiction because of the depression caused by poverty, they are at risk of being held in a detention center before trial or being deported. If they are deported their children can also be at risk by being separated into different households if CPS is involved.
The language barrier between immigrants and U.S. citizens is a major problem that could also be a cause of poverty as immigrants will find it difficult to do interviews or maintain jobs. Without being able to communicate with others, a person will not be able to do the basic things that you would normally do. Shopping, going to the bank, going out in public, attending appointments, and so much more will be hard without knowing the English language. Most immigrants know at least some words or simple phrases but surely many don't have the language proficiency to live their day-to-day lives without having trouble communicating with someone. Despite these difficulties, immigrant children pick up the English language very quickly. For example, when my cousins first arrived in the United States from El Salvador, they didn't know English but only a few words. Once they stayed here for a couple of months they began speaking English and understanding the kids from their school. However, their parents had the most difficulty learning English despite working with native speakers.
Lower wages are also a cause of poverty among individuals as well as immigrants. Many immigrants receive lower paying wages than their peers who are citizens. In Can immigrants ever earn as much as native workers? Zhen Huang and Kathryn H. Anderson state, “Immigrants earn less than natives when they enter a new country, but their wages grow over time. The wages of first-generation immigrants in high-income countries are close to native wages after 20−30 years in the host country. But some immigrant groups never reach parity with natives.” This highlights the importance of hard-working immigrants and how over time they can start to earn the same or even more than a native.
My father who was an immigrant but now a citizen used to earn very little when he came to the United States. It wasn't until plenty of hours of dedication that he started rising and making way more money than he did before. He started working for Saltgrass and decided to stick with that job for about 20 years. His time there paid off and he was well-known and respected by all of his co-workers. He became a general manager and was able to meet the CEO of the restaurant. My mother has a similar story. She got her first job working for a lawyer and has made much money despite her not having a degree. She worked hard for what she had and this highlights the hard work some immigrants will have to do to achieve their goal.
My grandma is an example of what it means to start from the bottom. Adding on to the low-paying wages immigrants receive, my grandma was one of those who unfortunately couldn’t have a higher salary throughout the years. Despite this, she never lost hope. My grandma was a hard worker and would never like to relax. Growing up I would always go with her to “la pulga”, also known as the flea market, and help her out in her clothing business. In addition to having one job for the week, she also had a separate one where she would make clothes or fix them for her clients. Coming to the U.S. was hard for her especially because she was a single mom with three children. She had many talents, and she was missed by many after her passing. Without her and my mother, I wouldn’t be experiencing the great opportunities that have shaped the way I see and feel about the world. The impact this will have on our future generations will be something I will take advantage of to bring pride to my hard-working, determined, and courageous family.
Seeing how poverty can impact individuals to a certain extent is what makes me work hard for my family as they went through poverty growing up as well. I’m grateful I always had the resources needed to live a substantial life. However, my family and other individuals like immigrants, don’t have these resources available and it’s up to us to bring awareness and to create fundraisers for the betterment of the immigrant community. Immigration is a major factor in poverty in families, communities, and people due to potential educational gaps, language barriers, and lower salaries. It is great to see these problems decrease and improve as a community.
Writing this essay was heavily inspired by personal experiences and coming from an immigrant family. I felt the need to focus on this because the majority of people don't know how hard it is for an immigrant family to build from the bottom. Many factors influence their experience with poverty. My writing process was quite simple. I know what to mainly talk about because I went through it and I also made sure to provide my family's personal experience immigrating to the U.S. I used imagery throughout my essay because I wanted the reader to visualize what it is like being an immigrant. I structured my essay to begin with factual information. Then I talked about the importance of these facts and how they can impact individuals. Lastly, I provided a personal story for the reader to experience a true story behind this topic. I explored the theme of poverty and how immigrants often land in it. This could give us insight and help us have more compassion for others. My family inspired me to talk about this and the Latino community themselves. I grew up in a diverse Latino community and as a little kid, I noticed the struggles they went through.