Challenges Immigrants Face

Where to go?

One of the first and most important questions immigrants think about before coming to the United States of America is where do I go?  This can be one of the most stressful decisions of the process because this is one that can affect their life forever.  The opportunities for them may be amazing in one city but may not be as great in another.  This is something that an immigrant and any family that is moving with them have to heavily consider.  They also have to consider what is the best fit for them and their family.  Just because one immigrant family is able to succeed in one city does not garuntee that another one will also have the same level of success. 

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, between November 2020 and November 2021 the states with the largest increase in immigrants are Florida (increase of 615,000), California (increase of 451,000), Arizona (increase of 173,000), Wisconsin, (increase of 156,000), and Virginia (increase of 135,000).  From this, we can infer that a lot of the immigrants that came to California could be from Mexico.  My reasoning from this is because California is neighbors to Mexico which can be easier than going to other states.  The Center for Immigration studies also stated that Hispanics accounted for most of the immigrant growth since November 2020.  Hispanics accounted for 924,000 or 61% of growth since November 2020.  This is one of the most important steps of the whole process as it will change their lives forever.

Adjusting to American culture

Another major part of transitioning into life in America is adjusting to the culture that is here.  The typical lifestyle here is most likely completely different from their lifestyle back home.  One major obstacle to overcome is the language barrier.  Since they are moving from another country it is likely that English is not their first language.  They may know just a little bit of English or none at all, and on top of that English is not an easy language to learn. 

One study done by the Migration Policy Institute was able to find out some opinions from immigrants on having to learn English.  This was conducted by a telephone survey where they were able to get 1,002 foreign born adults who are age 18 or older.  These were all adults who came to live in the U.S. when they were at least five years old.  They know they need to be able to speak the language in order to be able to communicate, find jobs, etc.  Out of that survey sample, 85% said that it is difficult to get a good job or be successful in the United States without learning English.  Out of the 1,002 adults only 12% say that leaning English is easy to do.  Amongst this group, it was common for them to feel it was an “ethical obligation” to learn the English language.  65% of the sample group believed that the U.S. should expect immigrants to learn English if they do not already know it. 

With this transition, it brings a lot of fear and uncertainty to the lives of the immigrant families.  This fear and uncertainty can be something that affects immigrants no matter where they come from, but this is especially prominent for Hispanic and Muslim immigrants.  There are a lot of negative connotations surrounding these two groups of immigrants.  Even though these stereotypes are not true, people still believe them.  One thing they fear is being attacked by someone who is racist or looks down upon immigrants.  For those immigrants who are undocumented, they have to fear being deported from the United States constantly.  This is something that can happen to them at any moment, which takes away their opportunity for better life here in America. 

Work and Finances

Another important aspect of the immigrants’ lives who move to the United States is their financial status.  As a part of that, they will also have to figure out how they will make money.  This can be especially important if the immigrant also has a family coming with them.  He or she has to be able to provide not only for themselves, but also for any family members that may have come with them as well.  It is especially critical that they be able to provide if the others are children or are adults who aren’t able to work. 

The money side of immigration can be a major stress factor for immigrants and their families.  Depending on their financial situation, the uncertainty of living paycheck to paycheck or not knowing if they will have money to provide dinner is something that is scary.  This can be extra hard for them because it is expected that parents be able to provide for their kids no matter the country.  With that being said, this does not mean that all immigrants who move here struggle and never reach true success.  There are many cases where people moved here from another country for a better opportunity, and they are very successful.  I just wanted to shine light on those whose situation is more challenging than others.

Photo by: Tim Mosshold via Unsplash.com

As for jobs that immigrants have, they tend to show a very strong work ethic no matter the job they are doing.  Referring back to that same study done by the Migration Policy Institute, out of the 1,002 respondents 73% of them said that they think it is extremely important for immigrants to get a job and to stay off of welfare.  These immigrants know that just because they move here, this does not mean that they will automatically become successful.  Many of them from the study stated that they had this realization when they first moved to the United States.  They realize that in order to achieve the “American dream” it takes time, hard work, and dedication.  To be specific 81% of them said that it is important to work hard in this country in order to become successful. 

The money side of immigration can be a major stress factor for immigrants and their families.  Depending on their financial situation, the uncertainty of living paycheck to paycheck or not knowing if they will have money to provide dinner is something that is scary.  This can be extra hard for them because it is expected that parents be able to provide for their kids no matter the country.  With that being said, this does not mean that all immigrants who move here struggle and never reach true success.  There are many cases where people moved here from another country for a better opportunity, and they are very successful.  I just wanted to shine light on those whose situation is more challenging than others.

Sources:

Camarota , S. A., & Zeigleron , K. (2021, December 20). Immigrant population hits record 46.2 million in November 2021. CIS.org. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://cis.org/Camarota/Immigrant-Population-Hits-Record-462-Million-November-2021

Farkas, S. (2017, March 2). What immigrants say about life in the United States. migrationpolicy.org. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/what-immigrants-say-about-life-united-states

Samantha Artiga Follow @SArtiga2 on Twitter and Petry Ubri Published: Dec 13, 2017, & 2017, D. (2018, June 22). Living in an immigrant family in America: How fear and toxic stress are affecting daily life, well-being, & health. KFF. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/living-in-an-immigrant-family-in-america-how-fear-and-toxic-stress-are-affecting-daily-life-well-being-health/