Migration: the Search for the American Dream

Everyday there are thousands of people attempting to cross the border into the United States in search of one thing, the American dream. The goal is to cross the border and find work in order to earn money to provide for their families back home. Many of these people get apprehended by border patrol agents, but the few people that do successfully cross the border still face many challenges. Once these immigrants cross the border, legal or illegal, survival is still a major task. These immigrants need to find shelter, but more importantly a job.

Many Americans do not accept these immigrants, legal and illegal. These immigrants are faced with discrimination and racism because Americans are under the impression that these immigrants are stealing their jobs. However, the claim Americans are making is not true. These immigrants are making the bare minimum working jobs that nobody wants to work. Many of these jobs revolve around farming, agriculture, construction, fast food industry, and retail. Furthermore many of these jobs require long hours in terrible working conditions.

In The Nation article titled, “How US Policies Fueled Mexico’s Great Migration,” we learn of Roberto Ortega and David Ceja, two Mexican immigrants from Veracruz, Mexico. Ortega and Ceja worked as farmers and butchers in their hometown of Veracruz until they were no longer able to provide for their families due to massive pork imports from US companies such as Smithfield Foods thanks to NAFTA. Ortega and Ceja were forced to migrate to the United States by raising money to cross the border. Once in the United States they both struggled to find jobs. Ceja explains how he could not find work for three months and was desperate to find work in order to provide money for his family. Eventually, both men ended up in Tar Heel, North Carolina, where they found work in meat plants. The company they worked for ironically was the same company that forced them to come to the United States, Smithfield Foods. In addition, the article explains how many of Veracruz’s farmers who left their hometown in search of work in the US ended up working for Smithfield Foods.

Similarly, I can somewhat relate to the stories of Ortega, Ceja, and many other immigrants as my parents are both immigrants. Both of my parents migrated to the US from Poland in the mid 1980s. My parents fled Poland in order to escape the socialist government as well as to live the American dream to provide for their families back home. Many Poles at the time had the bare minimum to survive. They were forced to wait in long lines for long hours in order to buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. Once my parents made it to the United States, they found a small place to live with a few friends who had also fled Poland. My mother worked at a small local grocery store while my father was a factory worker. Fast-forward to today, my parents can say they are living the American dream. Although neither of my parents have attended college, they are both successful immigrants that have gained US citizenship living the American dream providing for their families.

"Immigrant Employment: Most Common Jobs." Jobs in the USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar.

2013. <http://www.usa-job.org/immigrant-employment-most-common-jobs.php>.

Urban-Klaehn, Jagoda. "Three Waves of Massive Polish Immigration - Polish Culture."

Three Waves of Massive Polish Immigration - Polish Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2013. <http://culture.polishsite.us/articles/art41fr.htm>.