Sujavena Boonyindee
Professor Batty
English 28
Migrating Pains
There are many reasons and causes that make people migrate from one place to another,
whether it is near their hometown or far away on the other side of the word. Whether it is a
whole family migration or just a member of a family migrating the effects are on everybody in
the whole family. Once they are trying to settle down in a new place, they will have to adapt to
the new environment. Some people have difficulties to adjust themselves; some find it is easy to
blend in. The family might feel insecure due to the fact that when moving, they left the support
system of the extended family behind. They will have nobody to learn from, nor will they have
support when they face hardships. Furthermore, the well-being of the family is ensured by the
head of the family having a stable income. However, if searching for jobs is not successful, this
can cause trouble with financial difficulties and stress, not only to just the need of the family but
also to the whole family as well. Thus, the roles and responsibilities among family members
might change from what they used to. For example, to be able to support the whole family
financially, both parents might have to work take turn taking care of the children, and children
might have to take care of some housework that they did not need to do back home.
well as the destination ones. Immigrants who reside in the new country begin to create new
family life not only new life style is influenced but also past cultural customs and the ways of the
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new country. The impacts may take many forms, whatever it is an entire nuclear family
separating from extended family in the source country or a parent or child migrating alone with
dependents left behind. Do these immigrants really have to give up their home culture to be able
to live happily in the mainstream? Such families are examples of ingeneration or bicultural
adjustment rather than giving up ones home culture to adopt the ways of the dominant culture.
Integrated or bicultural families are possible if there are sufficient numbers in the ethnic
community, if immigration continues from the country of origin, and if the ethnic community has
links with the country of origin (Kibria 1997). Therefore, if there are enough immigrants that
share the same culture; it will help them to keep their roots, identity, and pride of the home
culture. To my experience, there are places like China Town, Armenian Town, or Thai Town in
Hollywood, for the Thai community which I am more accustomed to. We gather and celebrate
Thai holidays, festivals, and events relating to Thai customs. There are also other ethnic groups
Diversity of different ethic immigrants might also leads them to face discrimination due
to different perception of human rights. Even though human rights are the basic rights and
freedom to which all humans are entitled-whether they are immigrants or not (Human
Rights/Immigrant Rights Fact Sheet); people are obligated to respect the human rights of
others, regardless of their nation, location, religion, ethnic, origin or any other status.
human rights abuses because they are often removed from their communities and support
networks (Human Rights/Immigrant Rights Fact Sheet). It is common that people are
prejudice and discriminate against other people of different backgrounds, especially different
ethnic origins. As for the whole family, immigrating is a major family transition and life change.
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Some find this burdensome that results in stress for the whole family. For example, in English
speaking countries, non-English speaking immigrants have to learn a new language in order to
live comfortably. For better quality of life, improvement of English acquisition and educational
In halting Spanish, Yolanda reports on the sisters. When she reverts to English, she is
scolded, En espaol! The more she practices, the sooner shell be back into her native
tongue, the aunts insist. Yes, and when she returns to the States, shell find herself suddenly
going blank over some word in English or, like her mother, mixing up some common phase
(Alvarez 7). Language is the most important thing to learn when immigrating to a country that
uses different language than ones native tongue. From the quote, it shows that Yolanda and her
mother had a minor conflict communicating in both languages, when they had to switch between
the two. Throughout the book, language has an important part affecting each character in
different ways including communication skills or cultural perspective. For example, when
Yolanda feels that her husband, John, could not connect with her soulfully due to his difficulties
in understanding Spanish language, Dominican culture, and heritage. She also had mental
breakdown that she was not able to communicate due to her fragmented sense of identity.
Like all families, immigrant families are diverse, complex, and have strengths and
challenges. The process of migration itself is often traumatic and not uniform (Child Welfare
Information Gateway). Each family faces its own challenges, and has different circumstances
immigrating. Even each member in the family also confronts their own conflicts either among
each other or to the outside community. Since immigrants are from different cultures, they have
to adapt themselves to the new mainstream. Some may decide to give up their own culture
completely, some may stick to their own roots, and some may be able to live comfortably in
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between. The older generations might have a stronger value in their own cultures that they are
proud of, and have an honor to keep their identity. Contrary to that, the younger generation like
little kids might find themselves more comfortable when they just ignore their own culture and
follow along with the mainstream due to being bullied or made fun of being different than others.
Another example is most people who live in America are considered as Melting Pot, which
means there are many components in culture, such as racial, religious, and definitely culture.
Like young Mexicans-Americans tend to abandon their cultural because they want to live as
Americans.
To help immigrants with their transition at ease, learning the new language is a priority.
So that there will be less conflict communicating to each other. Once they are fluent in the new
language, they can pursue higher education and obtain better job opportunities. There are many
things new immigrants can and should do to learn English so they are able to integrate better into
the new country. Learning new languages and new customs will help them, their families and
their community to adjust to a new lifestyle. They will be able to obtain a good employment so
they will feel better about their new home. To maintain their cultural identity is also important,
so that they can maintain their self-respect, and keep their family ties. Educating others about
Works Cited
Kibria, N. (1997). "The Concept of 'Bicultural Families' and Its Implications for Research on
Immigrant and Ethnic Families." In Immigration and the Family. Research and Policy on
U.S. Immigrants, ed. A. Booth, A. C. Crouter, and N. Landale. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Literature. Center for Research on Child Wellbeing Working Paper #98-03. 3-5
Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Algonquin Books, 2010.
Human Rights / Immigrant Rights - Fact Sheet | OneAmerica. Human Rights / Immigrant
sheet
populations/immigration/understandingimm/strengths-and-challenges-of-immigrant-
families/