Reyna Grande’s The Distance Between Us and The Issue of Immigration

In the memoir, The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande shares with us a story about her childhood and the struggles that she faced while she tries to keep her family together on their journey across the United States-Mexico border. Throughout the memoir, there are many instances where immigration causes a great amount of hardship for Grande. One instance is when Grande was feeling sad that people were calling her an orphan since her mother left her to go to the United States. After this, she was taken to the hut where she was born by her sister, who told her that her umbilical cord was buried there, and as long as it was there it would connect her to her mother. Another is after Grande’s immigration to the United States, she becomes homesick and misses her Grandmother. To stay connected to her grandmother, she continues the tradition of going to church every Sunday, since her Grandmother took her to church on those days when they were still living together. These examples demonstrate that immigration can create a lot of challenges, like causing emotional and physical distances to form between family members, but these challenges can be overcome by staying connected to your family. Although many negatives arise from immigration, I believe that the positives far outweigh them.

There are many advantageous benefits that come from immigration. The first is it allows people to escape the hardship that they faced in their homeland. Immigration gives them the opportunity to obtain a good education and job, which in turn will allow them to better provide and care for their families. In addition, it also grants safety for immigrants and their families from the persecution that they might have encountered when they are living in their native country. From the short story, “An Immigrant’s Experience: Chance for Better Life Worth the Sacrifice: A U.S. Education Was Ticket to Success”, an immigrant from the Philippines by the name of Dianne Frances de Guzman Powell, tells us about her father’s journey to the United States in order to obtain a degree in criminal justice from a prestigious university. Then using the job that he had obtained with his degree, he was able to bring his family over to the U.S. From the example, it can be seen that immigration provides many opportunities for immigrants. The opportunities that are granted by immigration are a significant benefit that alone can overweigh the consequences.

The second benefit is the knowledge that can be gained from immigration. Immigration can be a learning experience for most immigrants. They can learn about new lifestyles and cultures when they go to a new country and these can change their perspective of the world. My mother, who immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam, learned a lot about the culture, and the lifestyle of those who are living in the U.S. during her immigration journey. One thing she learned about U.S. culture is how U.S. families differ from Vietnamese families. In Vietnamese families, the elders are in control and they have the most power. The elders control what everyone does and how they live their lives. In contrast, American families are more equal and fair. Elders don’t have full control over the lives of those that are younger, they can only guide them by giving advice. Besides cultural differences, she also learned about the American lifestyle. In Vietnam, people had very difficult lives since it’s a third world country and lacked the necessities that people needed to survive. Compared to the Vietnamese lifestyle, the American lifestyle is a much easier way of life filled with more resources and services that meet people’s basic and luxury needs. From what she learned when she came to the U.S., she was able to create a new perspective of the world. She had a different outlook on what poverty looks like, and instead of thinking that elders have control over everything, she now thinks about whether or not what her elders are saying is justifiable. This allows us to see the educational benefits that immigration has on people. The educational factor is another benefit that goes against the negatives of immigration.

The third factor that makes immigration rewarding despite all the unfavorable outcomes is that those unfavorable outcomes can be eliminated. Problems like separation from family and the fear of whether or not the person will be able to make a living and be successful in this new place, all have ways around them. In 1980, my father immigrated to the U.S. and he faced many of these challenges when he arrived, but he managed to overcome them. When he emigrated from Vietnam, he had to leave family members behind, but to eliminate this problem he worked hard and was able to bring them over after he had a job and the ability to support them. He also feared that he was not going to be able to survive in this new country since he spoke very little English and didn’t have much education that was valid in this country. Even though this was a constant fear he had, he defeated it by his determination. He spent a great amount of time studying English and put in a lot of effort into his school work. In the end, he managed to learn English and obtain a degree, which in turn allowed him to make a living and be successful in an alienating country. Regardless of the consequences that arise from immigration, there is always a solution to the problem. The problem that comes with immigration shouldn’t be a reason to not immigrate since ways exist to get rid of them.

Overall, immigration is an important thing that people should do and not be deterred by its consequences. Furthermore, a great number of benefits come from it, like chances for a better life and learning new things. As of right now, with our current president, the process of immigration into the U.S. is very difficult because of the laws and actions that he plans to implement. They will cause the immigration process to be more difficult and in turn, deter people from trying to immigrate. Hopefully the points that have been made will help more people understand the benefits and be more willing to immigrate without fear of consequences.