By Jazmin Perez
What is immigration? Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Some people see immigration as a threat to the country, they view the people coming in as illegal, unwanted, and they always like to mention “they come here to steal our jobs, they come here to steal, they come here to do crimes.", but people don't ever sit there and think, "Why do these people come to our country? Is it because of fear, hope, and/or opportunities?" People are so quick to think the worst of everyone. They are always so judgmental towards everyone but themselves.
Imagine being in a place you love, the place you grew up in, and even though you love to wake up to the beautiful sunrise, the breeze in your face, while smelling the beautiful outdoor smells in your city or village, outside your home you are living in fear because of everything that goes on outside your home. What some people here in the US don't see are all the gangs, abusive men/women, rapists, and all the other bad organizations. Some people walk out of their homes scared, terrified, that they won't make it back home, that they will be killed or even go missing.
One example I can give is this lady my mom knows, she came to the border asking for help, asking for asylum. In her neighborhood she felt scared to even walk outside on a pure day and the main reason for her fears was her husband's ex wife. The ex wife will threaten the lady my mom knew, she would always tell her that she was going to hurt and kill her for taking her husband. The lady grew fear that she would go outside feeling like she was a target, she felt like all eyes were on her. The ex wife had friends that were a part of some cartels in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and if you ever watch the terrible stuff that they do to all the innocent people it's so disgusting. All she came here for was her own safety. She wanted to feel that beautiful breeze you get when you go outside and start your morning, she wanted to feel like she was free like if she was protected by a beautiful angel.
Another example I can give is kidnapping. Mexico is one of the main places for kidnapping and human trafficking . Imagine you are with your parents walking around in a cold December afternoon, feeling all the cold air, while drinking a warm hot cocoa, and just feeling the steam of it warm up your face. Imagine the last thing you see is your mom screaming "let her go", while she's staring straight at you and all you see is a face of terror as her beautiful bright green eyes water while tears are pouring down . Crying and shouting "help , help, help !!!" . Meanwhile, you are being taken into a white van smelling all the bad odors the people carry . All you can see is 3 big men surrounding you while covering their faces with a towel . You don't even process the time you were outside dancing with the flowers drinking up you hot cocoa. The next second you feel some cold stone hands while feeling the warm feeling of the hot cocoa that is racing down your arm and leg while being snatched from your mom's hand and rushed into a dark hole where you start feeling fear. You realized that your no longer in the beautiful place that you are now in a fear house. “Help , help , help”, shouldn’t be the last words a mother hears while walking her daughter through the park. Not all people come here to steal , hurt , and take away jobs, they are here for safety, and it's their only hope.
I wrote this story because there are a lot of people who get judged and a lot of them don't have other options but to leave their home place . Also, I come from a Mexican family and a lot of this sometimes does issue and include my family .
In the story “Seeking for Help" , Jazmin Perez draws attention to the main reasons why many people immigrate from their home place to the U.S for safety and help .
The author begins her story by using anaphora "they come , they come , they come", to highlight what some Americans feel towards the people who are here illegally . In the following sentences the author states how she feels and gives some examples on why people come to the U.S .
For example , in the story the author tells a really personal story that did happen not so long . She states the main reasons why the lady decided to run away from fear . She also added the following sentence "she would go outside feeling like she was the target" , in order for the reader to feel and read how serious the situation got .
In the following sentence the author uses very sensory details in order for the reader to imagine and just feel like they were right next to her, “whiles she's staring straight at you and all you see is her bright beautiful green eyes water while tears are pouring " , with that she gives you the image right to your head . Jazmin also uses epizeuxis in order for the author to feel the pain and to hear the story by just simply reading it . The author uses “help , help , help !!!" to show how desperate and hurt the mother was in getting help, I could just hear the loud screams .
Jazmin finishes the story by restating the epizeuxis "help , help help" , and by stating the main idea of the story in order for the reader to fully understand and truly feel the emotion throughout the story .
I liked how you are talking about something that happens in the real word and put details into it. As I was reading, I was picturing the story in my head and I can't imagine something like that happening. People don't know that people immigrating to the US do it other because of fear or for a better future. I like when you pointed out that people say "they're here to steal peoples job" , but that not true because i once heard that they get the jobs other people are lazy to do.
--Jazmin Perez