Immigration Then And Now

When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the "land of opportunity," where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a "Golden Land" (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people's lives were made worse by coming to the "land of opportunity." Often times people were living no better than they were in their own countries not able to make ends meet, just to live in the United States. Virtually all immigrants during the 1900's had the same dream, to become successful and provide for their families as citizens of the United States, but they soon found out that the life in their new country was not going to be easy.

Throughout all of the readings and letters, there seemed to be a common theme faced by all of the immigrants, and that was hardship. Immigrants alike, no matter their country of origin, faced these hardships. The main thing that all of the immigrants wanted was to be able to have a real life and to be able to provide a better life for their children so they could have successful futures. While reading "Letters from the Great Migration," it seemed as though each individual in their own words expressed the same dilemmas. Most of the people in their letters were trying very hard to get out of the South and move to the North in order to find decent work and to provide for their families. It seemed like they would endure pretty much anything to secure a job in the North, particularly the man from Houston, Texas. He says that he wants to find a job in the North so he can go "where a man is a man," (Marcus 134). This shows that people from the South feel like their lives could be fulfilled in a greater way in the North rather than in the South, where they currently reside. Particularly for the men, this quote seems to also suggest that the men in the South do not feel like real men, in the sense that they can't find decent work in order to provide a good life for themselves or their families. It also appears that because their lives were so bad in the South that they would have moved anywhere to just get away from their current situations.

Along the same lines, both Jose Luis and Rosa would do anything to become American citizens even though their daily lives were so amazingly hard. They would have to cross a river to get to and from work everyday and barely make enough money to pay for lunch and transportation, let alone pay for food for their four children and rent for their apartment. I am sure that when they thought about moving to the United States they believed that their lives would get easier and not harder, but unfortunately that was not the case. They went through their daily lives, struggling in hopes one day that their children would get good jobs and could have happy and successful futures. What is also interesting is the fact that Rosa says, " We would be honored if they are chosen to serve. We would be very proud of our children for doing their duty for their country" (Marcus 313-314). The fact that neither Rosa, nor her children were even legal citizens of the United States and yet she would be proud of her children serving "their" country shows just how much she wants her family to become U.S. citizens.

Another major hardship that was faced by most immigrants was the way that they were treated. Often times they were treated like