For the Immigrants Who Seek a Better Life in the Uniteds States: Is The American Dream Still Worth It?
I remember the shock and anger I felt when my parents talked about the many racist experiences they’ve had. Racism has often been a difficulty that they have faced, a specific incident occurred 23 years ago when my mother was giving birth to my older brother. It was in October, just a month after 9/11, she’d had a difficult pregnancy, and this was her first child. Her nerves, excitement, stress, and pain were all through the roof. My father and both sides of their family were excited to meet the new addition. But these moments of joy were ruined, due to a racist nurse. This nurse was not only rude, inattentive, and rough, but she accused my mother of being addicted to substances for three months simply because my mother was a “bit out of it” due to the late epidural, and her almost bleeding to death during labor. This nurse went as far as calling a social worker to take their child away. The child they had almost lost, and the child my mother had almost died birthing. The same child they were so afraid to have after they watched the towers fall on live TV. My parents at the time had a language barrier and had a hard time defending themselves. In fact, it was my father ‘s younger sister and my mother’s doctor who defended them. My mother remembers the doctor yelling “nobody treats, my patients like this.” The social worker ended up realizing that my mother was not suffering from an addiction but rather from a racist nurse and left, but the racism never really stopped. They face it every day doing normal everyday activities. But now they don’t need others to defend them, they can do it themselves, my mother even says, Cuando me enojo, asta inglés hablo, which translates to “When I’m angry, I even speak English.”
Why do immigrants subject themselves to the challenges associate with immigrating to the United States? For the “American Dream”, which is the belief that everyone finds success in the United States. Many immigrants from all over the world come to the U.S. hoping to achieve this dream. In fact, an article published by Pew Research Center says, “the U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 47.8 million in 2023 (..) making Immigrants account for 14.3% of the U.S. population” (Moslimani and Passel). Although many immigrants encounter a plethora of problems and difficulties in chasing their “American Dream,” they are a driving force for the growth of the United States.
Fig.2. This image shows a typical Mexican restaurant, owned by Latino immigrants. Restaurants like this provide important revenue for the U.S. economy.
In the op-ed article “Latinos Aren't Burdens on Society. We're Engines of Progress,” Marie Arana not only explores the many contributions made by Latinos in favor of the U.S., but also the continued discrimination they face due to lack of proper representation. Arana begins the article by saying that people view the migrants crossing the Rio Grande as an invasion instead of engines of progress, despite everything they contribute to America. Arana argues that Latinos make up the largest percentage out of all the minorities who currently serve in the marines and that many important U.S. historical figures have been Hispanic or Latinos, yet very little of this history is taught in American public schools. The article continues by examining the impact made by Latinos in the U.S. economy, stating that Latinos have housecleaning businesses, construction companies, gardening businesses, trucking enterprises, beauty shops, ethnic markets and restaurants, food stands or work for major corporations. Arana shares an example of a Latino couple who achieved the American Dream after flying into Washington from their home countries and working from the bottom-up until eventually opening a restaurant, now they own six establishments and one of them even has a Michelin star. In addition, the article continues by saying that Hispanics were responsible for 73 percent of the growth in the U.S. labor force between 2010 and 2020, Latino businesses generate about $3.2 trillion for the U.S. economy and that if Latinos in the United States were their own separate nation, they would represent the fifth-largest G.D.P. in the world, this fact is also supported by a study conducted by UCLA researchers and colleagues. However, despite this a 2021 poll found that Americans of all backgrounds believe that there is more than two times as high a number of undocumented Latinos then there actually is. The article ends by stating that the reason for the negative view of Latinos is not just racism but invisibility, as Latinos are often overlooked and erased from school curriculums, from the media and from history.
Fig.3. A camp like shelter for immigrants awaiting asylum to the U.S. in Tijuana, Mexico.
Millions of Latino immigrants fight every single day to obtain the American Dream, yet most never do. Latinos are just one group of immigrants who come to the U.S. in search of this seemingly perfect dream that has proven time and time again to be far from perfect. Why do they face the difficulties of chasing this dream? They do it with the hope of achieving a better and successful life for themselves and their descendants. Often, they are trying to escape violence, poverty, corruption, crime and other hardships. However, they quickly discover that obtaining the American Dream is neither easy nor always worth it. Unfortunately, some don't even get the chance to arrive to the U.S. and seek asylum before their dream is permanently crushed. An associate producer for NPR news wrote in an article, "But for those who can't be identified, their journey from faraway places across Central and South America ends with their anonymous bodies dropped into mass graves in a dusty field on the outskirts of Tijuana, with no trace for their families to ever find"(Quiroz). Those who do survive the journey face the reality of waiting months or years for their asylum applications to be granted, yet most never are. For those who are granted asylum, life is still far from perfect, the majority will face discrimination and hardship simply to obtain the bare necessities. However, because of social media and other mass communication methods, this reality is no longer a secret, and most modern-day immigrants come to the U.S. simply looking for these bare necessities that they lack. Most find them a small house, a decent job and a relatively safe environment for their families but not before they face an intense struggle and many hardships. This quote is just one way to put their less than perfect experiences chasing the American Deam into perspective for those who chase it in other ways. It also shows that the American Dream is not as perfect as some people think it is.
But what is the American Dream? It is the belief that the U.S. is a land of opportunities where anyone who works hard can succeed and live well. It can also be described as a beacon of hope that many immigrants follow in hopes of achieving a better life. Many immigrants or at least their descendants have achieved the American Dream like José M. Hernández who is a Mexican American astronaut, Steve Chen who was the Co-founder of YouTube, Gloria Estefan who fled to the US during the Cuban Revolution with her family and is now called "The Queen of Latin Pop", and even Walt Disney's father who was an immigrant that " worked tirelessly as a farmer, chasing the American dream of building a better life"( Sohngen 16). However, most immigrants who arrive to the U.S. hoping to achieve the American Dream, as stated above, don’t. They fight tirelessly to overcome discrimination and hardships, just to obtain the bare necessities or a little more. I always remember all the hardships my own immigrant parents faced to give me and my brother a better life than the one they had growing up. From discrimination, racists remarks, working hard and physically demanding jobs, language and cultural barriers, financial difficulties and difficulties related to raising children in a foreign country. My parents are far from the only immigrants to face these difficulties, most immigrants face them on a day-to-day basis. As stated above, some immigrants even die on the journey to the U.S., others never obtain proper documentation and are forced to live in fear or give everything they have like their strength, time, energy and lives just for the bare minimum. This is why when discussing whether the American Dream is real or worth it, context is extremely important. For some, the American Dream is a wonderful reality and for others who have not achieved it, it's a distorted dream and a gamble. That's the reason why analyzing the individual context of every person's story helps us understand what the American Dream means to them. This is why to some the "American Dream" is just that, a dream, an ideal that some people get, and others never do.
Like every afternoon I sit on the dining room table to do my homework while my mother like always runs around washing dishes, clothes and anything else that needs cleaning. It’s our routine, every Thursday, her day off from work. I guess in a way it’s how we try to spend time together without neglecting other responsibilities. I type away comforted by the sound of the dish washer, the buttons of the washing machine and my mothers’ footsteps coming and going. When she comes near, we talk about life, exciting news, something stupid somebody did or anything that bothers us. It’s our routine since I was in high school.
As my mother’s footsteps approached, I asked, “What are you most grateful about achieving in the United States?”
My mother whose name is Veronica Suarez, looked at me taken aback, not expecting the question but she responded, “Mi familia.” My parents have often commented that if they hadn’t immigrated to the U.S. and eventually to Palm Desert, California, they would have never met. Two young people, one from Mexicali and the other from Guadalajara, Jalisco, two opposite ends of a country, meeting each other in “El Norte” back in the late 90’s, in church of all places. Before I can ask a second question, my mother grabs the keys and leaves to bring in the trash cans from the street, the ones my brother should have brought in before work but didn’t.
As I waited for her to return, I thought about how she came to the U.S., I know my father’s tale almost by heart, an exciting adventure full of sacrifice, hard work and the kindness of strangers. But my mother rarely talks about her own immigration story. She often says, Cuando tu papa habla, vuelve a vivir lo, which translates to “When your father tells a story, he relives it.” But my mother tends to leave things in the past.
When she returned, I asked her, “What was the process to immigrate to the U.S. like for you?” She thought for a moment before responding, Duramos desde las 2am a las 7am afuera en temperaturas bien frías, porque tu abuelito pensaba que si llegábamos temprano nos iría mejor. Y cuando nos dejaron entrar, tuvimos que espeprar hasta las 3 pm, sin comer o tomar agua, which translates to “We were there from 2 am to 7am waiting outside in the freezing cold because your grandpa thought that if we got there early it would go better.” She continued with “When they let us in, we still had to wait until around 3pm, without eating or drinking water.” My mother added that they had to travel to Juarez, Chihuahua by bus which is a long and dangerous journey to make due to armed robberies, carjackings and other violent crimes carried out on the roads. We looked up how far Juarez is from Mexicali and it's about 694.7miles which by bus, in 1995, and with no highways/freeway's probable took a full day of traveling. My mother also recalls the fear and anxiety she felt while standing outside the consulate due to the high rate of violent crimes carried out in that area, especially towards people who visited the consulate since they tended to carry large amounts of money.
My mother left again to go get the mail but when she returned, I asked, “What was the hardest thing to adapt to?” Without hesitation, she replied, El Idioma, pude aprender el sistema financiero, la cultura y lidiar con las acciones de los demás pero la pronunciación siempre me a hecho batallar, which translates to "The language, I was able to learn the financial system, the culture and deal with the actions of others but pronunciation has always made me struggle."
Overall, my mother never stopped working, at least not long enough for me to notice a change in her eyes or her facial expressions, but I could tell her happiness through her tone when she talked about her family, her reminiscing tone when discussing her journey to the U.S., and her frustrated tone when expressing her struggles with the language. In the end, my mother has always been her loudest critic and her quietest supporter but her story as an immigrant is a testament not only to her resilience but to the experiences that immigrants face working towards a better life.
No mother should have to face racism during or after their child's birth, no one should have to give up their education because of a lack of resources, no one should have to endure a dangerous journey just to look for a better life, no one should have to face discrimination on their journey to success. But my mother did, as do most immigrants to the United States. So many of the truly horrible struggles that immigrants face, are unnecessary add-on's by cruel people. What my mother went through in that hospital was cruel, unnecessary and a blinding example of the hardships that immigrants face. But this didn't stop her, it impulsed her. Her life has never been easy and being an immigrant didn't change that, but the U.S. did give her many opportunities and blessings that Mexico didn't. Like her home, her family, her life. Maybe Mexico never had the chance to give her this, but it doesn't matter now. She's spent more than half of her life here and despite everything, she wouldn't change her decision to follow her family to the U.S., but other immigrants might. The difficulties that most immigrants face in chasing their "American Dream" don't often equal what they succeed. They struggle so much and get so little in return. From a dangerous journey, uncertainties, living in constant fear, work discrimination, language and cultural barriers, lack of resource and racism or discrimination, many would argue that the "American Dream" is long dead. And maybe their right or maybe their wrong but one thing is for certain, the "American Dream" is no true dream. It's a long and hard gamble for a better life. Regardless, they have contributed in great ways to the economy, history, culture and advancement of the United States. My mother still doesn't stop moving, she's always busy. She keeps the house spotless, and her family cared for. She hears the sounds of the washing machine and the dishwasher all day every day, at home and at work. But she is not ashamed, she has a talent for technology, what she imagines- she creates. We might not always have the money to buy it, but she has the ingenuity to create it. My mother, like many others will continue to pick up their work tools and power through so that maybe, just maybe, their children don't have to.
Works Cited
Arana, Marie. "Latinos Aren't Burdens on Society. we’re Engines of Progress.: [Op-Ed]." New York Times, Mar 21, 2024. ProQuest, https://collegeofthedesert.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/latinos-arent-burdens-on-society-were-engines/docview/2970130660/se-2Links to an external site.. Accessed 12 Sept 2024.
Joint Economic Committee, United States. “Immigrants Are Vital to the U.S. Economy.” Immigrants Are Vital to the U.S. Economy - Immigrants Are Vital to the U.S. Economy - United States Joint Economic Committee, 26 Apr. 2021, www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2021/4/immigrants-are-vital-to-the-u-s-economy. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Moriarty, Andrew. “Immigration Benefits All Americans and Strengthens the Economy.” FWD.Us, 14 Mar. 2024, www.fwd.us/news/americans-and-immigration/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
Moslimani, Mohamad, and Jeffrey S. Passel. “What the Data Says about Immigrants in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 27 Sept. 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/27/key-findings-about-us-immigrants/#:~:text=In%202022,%20Mexico%20was%20the%20top%20country%20of. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
Newsroom, UCLA. “Latinos in the U.S. Have the Fifth-Largest GDP in the World.” UCLA, UCLA, 14 Sept. 2023, newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/us-latinos-have-fifth-largest-gdp-in-world. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
Quiroz, Lilly. “Is the American Dream Worth the Risk? These Migrants Hope So.” NPR, NPR, 24 Sept. 2022, www.npr.org/2022/09/24/1123867466/migrants-marthas-vineyard-migration-border-us-american-dream. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
Suarez, Veronica. Personal interview with the author. 3 Oct. 2024.
Tepper, Taylor. “What Is the American Dream-and Can You Afford It?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Aug. 2024, www.forbes.com/advisor/personal-finance/what-is-the-american-dream/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.
United Way NCA. “Discrimination against Immigrants & Xenophobia Examples.” United Way NCA, 13 June 2023, unitedwaynca.org/blog/discrimination-against-immigrants/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
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