Immigrants In Enrique's Journey

The United States is a unique country, Americans have many rights and freedoms, protection from the American government, but most of all America’s independence. While this may seem like paradise for many people living in poverty in third world countries. This idea has been blown out of proportions, leading to many false assumptions. Commercialization of the American Dream leads to many false ideas and assumptions, and to a heavy flow of illegal immigrants. These assumptions are shown throughout Sonia Nazario’s book Enrique’s Journey. This novel was based on a real story, in which a boy named Enrique was left in Honduras by his mother, Lourdes, to go to America to provide money to her family. Lourdes’ experience of immigration is a primary aspect …show more content…
Immigrants are discriminated against, especially latin American immigrants. There are many biases about immigrants, and people of color in general. There are high levels of racism in the U.S. found in business, politics, and even law enforcement. The American Psychological Association has concluded immigrants experience high, ongoing levels of “racial profiling, exposure to gangs, and ongoing discrimination” all under the constant threat of deportation and separation from their families (APA). Immigrants from Latin America, especially undocumented immigrants, are put at a high disadvantage, due to the bias against them. Many argue immigrants steal jobs and sell drugs, which is usually not true. Immigrants have a different experience in the U.S. than its citizens. Since they are treated as inferior, and taken advantage of in many ways. There is a racism element to the issue, but for the most part, it is ethnic bias. There are gangs who abuse immigrants lack of rights, due to the issue of deportation, which prevents them from contacting law enforcement. This is a major cost for immigrants in the underclass, they get robbed, beaten, and in some cases raped. Even so, they cannot contact law enforcement with the threat of deportation. Through Enrique’s experience in the United States, Enrique lived in an apartment complex with his family and was blackmailed and manipulated by local gangsters. The gangsters would steal from the immigrants and beat them. Since they knew Enrique or anyone living in the apartment complex were illegal immigrants (Nazario 205). This experience adds to the issue that some Americans do not merely discriminate against immigrants, but abuse their power. This continues to put stress on immigrants, and put them in a worse situation than they