Assimilation to American Ways

 Artifact #3

There are many, many aspects of immigration today: political, economic, social, cultural.  They all blend together, and that is why immigration is so controversial and so, to be honest, confusing.  There are so many sides to the story.  The article "The Next Immigration Challenge" does not focus on if we should or should not allow illegal immigration, or how we should deal with it, but on how the immigrants already in our country are treated and become a part of our country.  An important aspect of immigration that we don't really consider in this "border crisis" is assimilation.

Today, most of our government money and effort goes to the border itself, keeping illegal immigrants out and deporting those who have made it into our country.  On the other hand, less than .1% of the Department of Homeland Security's budget is being spent on assimilation of immigrants.  Shouldn't assimilation be a bigger focus than the border itself?  Would it really be so bad that we have so many illegal immigrants if they could better assimilate?

According to the article, immigrants are making progress when it comes to assimilation.  While only about 30% of adult immigrants have graduated high school, their children will have much higher graduation rates.  (Isn't that why they immigrated, after all?)  Also, the rates of immigrant home ownership has gone up.  In 2000, only about 20% of Latino immigrants owned homes.  By 2030, this number is expected to go up to 69%.

So why is assimilation so important?  There are many ways to look at it.  In order for immigrants to become more of a help than a burden, they must learn English so they can properly participate in our culture and economy.  They need to learn American ways because America is their new home.  It is important for immigrants to assimilate so they can truly become one of us and care about our country.

As Reyna grew up in the United States, her family began to assimilate to American ways.  Her sister Mago was the most extreme case.  She spent all her money on new clothes so she wouldn't look poor. She avoided having other ESL kids as friends.  She even changed her name.  "[Mago] claimed that her teachers had trouble saying her real name, Magloria, and her history teacher had started calling her Maggie.  So now she was known as Maggie everywhere but at home" (Grande 210).  Mago fully embraces the Untied States and makes it her home.  Later, when she visits Mexico, she looks at her old home with disdain.  She truly became American.

However, there is another side to the story.  Not all immigrants want to become American.  They want to stay who they are and not erase their entire history just so that they can become "proper" members of a new, foreign country.  There are different levels of willingness to assimilate.  Reyna embraces the United States and makes an effort to become part of the country.  She works hard in school and becomes the first person in her family to graduate from college.  However, she is not willing to leave her past in Mexico behind.  She and her brother Carlos both are friends with other ESL children, and they don't make such an effort to erase their home country from their past.  "Carlos was in regular English, too, but he liked the ESL kids, and those were the friends he had at Franklin.  I was following his lead.  I was not ashamed, as Mago was, of people knowing where I came from" (Grande 246).  Reyna acts "American" but acknowledges her Mexican part as well.  "Unlike me, [Mago] had no accent when she spoke English.  Now I knew why that was.  Even in her speech, she was trying to erase Mexico completely.  I didn't know if I ever could.  Or wanted to" (Grande 282).

In the end, I think it's very important that immigrants, legal and illegal alike, make an effort to get along in American society.  It is almost rude for immigrants to come here and not even try to learn English.  However, they shouldn't have to leave their entire past behind if they don't want to.  I don't think it's fair for us to expect immigrants to change who they are for the sake of our country, but I do think it's fair for us to expect them to try to welcome American values and ways of life.

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