Immigrant Influx
Contrary to popular belief, over 1 million new immigrants come into the United States every year. This is only accounting for the legal immigrants, and there are thousands, if not millions, more immigrants that come in on top of those. Past that, there are many more millions of immigrants that come into America on visits, vacations, business, or temporary stays and stay past the amount of time that is allowed on their visa. This influx of people into the country happens throughout every day of the year, meaning many people come into America each day, but many people do not realize this or simply do not care.
These immigrants are left without getting their stories told. I thought it would be interesting to create a different take on what the stories of some of these immigrants are. Even if some people don't agree with illegal or undocumented immigrants coming into the country, it is still interesting to hear their stories and understand what their lives are about.
These immigrants are left without getting their stories told. I thought it would be interesting to create a different take on what the stories of some of these immigrants are. Even if some people don't agree with illegal or undocumented immigrants coming into the country, it is still interesting to hear their stories and understand what their lives are about.
A Brief Introduction
I have spoken fluent Spanish since first grade because I attended a charter school with a Spanish immersion program. Before fifth grade, all of my classes were taught in Spanish, including math, science, history, etc. The only class that I had in English was any type of language arts class. In fifth grade, I switched over to half of my classes in Spanish and half of my classes in English. Through this school experience, I was able to learn Spanish and use it to communicate with other people. It eased my socialization skills with people that speak a different language and I used this to my benefit when traveling and in my job.
I traveled to Costa Rica with my grandparents in 2007 and I was able to speak Spanish with the natives. I was also picked to travel to Ecuador in 2011 and I learned about the culture and customs there. Speaking Spanish made it a lot easier to communicate with the people that worked hard to make my experience really amazing. Traveling to two different Spanish-speaking countries was a fantastic experience and it allowed me to master my Spanish and use it to communicate with others that did not understand English very well.
This past year, I worked at a fancy Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia. A lot of my coworkers spoke fluent Spanish because they were born in another country. They could understand English, but it was definitely a lot easier to communicate with them in Spanish, because that is what they grew up speaking. I ended up speaking a lot to the chefs, because they did not speak English at all. I loved talking to them about their hometowns, their customs in their countries, and what they miss the most about where they lived. They were so happily surprised and impressed to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl speaking such great Spanish with an accent. I told them about my experiences as well and we all talked together every time I came to work.
I traveled to Costa Rica with my grandparents in 2007 and I was able to speak Spanish with the natives. I was also picked to travel to Ecuador in 2011 and I learned about the culture and customs there. Speaking Spanish made it a lot easier to communicate with the people that worked hard to make my experience really amazing. Traveling to two different Spanish-speaking countries was a fantastic experience and it allowed me to master my Spanish and use it to communicate with others that did not understand English very well.
This past year, I worked at a fancy Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia. A lot of my coworkers spoke fluent Spanish because they were born in another country. They could understand English, but it was definitely a lot easier to communicate with them in Spanish, because that is what they grew up speaking. I ended up speaking a lot to the chefs, because they did not speak English at all. I loved talking to them about their hometowns, their customs in their countries, and what they miss the most about where they lived. They were so happily surprised and impressed to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl speaking such great Spanish with an accent. I told them about my experiences as well and we all talked together every time I came to work.
The Purpose of this Site
This website aims to spread awareness about immigrants and their stories. There is one specific story from one of the chefs in the kitchen that explains what this chef went through and what he is going through now. I wanted to be able to tell the story anonymously, because if this chef were to tell his story, it would set up an unsafe environment for him. It is not a good idea to advertise the fact that you are undocumented because there is a risk that you will be deported. I hope that you enjoy exploring the tabs of this site and that it will possibly open up a new way of looking at undocumented citizens.