Week 2

The book we read this week, Children of Immigration, was very eye openning. The majority of the things I thought about I knew about immigration came from the media. Most of us know that we cannot believe everything we read or see in the media and this book definitely illustrated that. It is important to understand that most immigrants are not illegal because many people do not understand this. This also depends on where you live and your interactions with immigrants in that area. I lived in Arizona for 3 years and immigrants were viewed very differently there than they are here. For one, in Arizona it is rare to hear the word immigrant without illegal in the same sentence. Immigration is a very controversial issue out there due to it being a Mexico border state.

I went to Arizona State and actually did a project on illegal immigrant students while I was there. Interestingly enough, my group found out that there is actually an option on the application for illegal immigrants. Also the president of the University admitted that there are illegal immigrant students and that they are welcome to the University because they are known for getting good grades and boosting the school. He also stated that although they cannot receive financial aid, he helps these students find scholarships so they can afford to attend the University. I was so surprised by all of this at the time but when I read this book it touched on some of this. What I found to be the most surprising in this book is how motivated immigrant children are. We hear so often on the news that these children are involved in crime and drop out of school but this book showed just the opposite. Most of the children they talked to said school is the most important and that they like it and want to succeed. This shows the positive side we normally don't see and I find it refreshing. When I hear these things I understand why my old school would open to accepting these students and helping them achieve their goals that might otherwise not be possible.

One other issue that was discussed in this book that I have seen in the media is that immigrants "steal" jobs from Americans. This is a big area of controversy as they discussed in the book. Personally, I think that immigrants take hard labor jobs that most Americans are not willing to do for such low pay. Also, I believe that if these jobs are not done by immigrants in this country then they will be outsourced as many companys have already. In these cases then people from another country end up doing the work either way. Most people do not think of it that way but that is the reality today in this country. The economists that the book spoke about also felt that it was not a bad thing to have immigrants working in the US. Not all people feel this way and of course their are strong claims on each side of the argument but I feel that this book really tried to point out the positives about immigrants being here and the negativity they suffer. Overall, I liked the book and the stories about the different immigrant children.