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Genevieve Holguin
Dr. Dev Bose
English 101
March 26, 2016
**Study mla format
The Immigrant Crises in Southern Arizona
In the last few years, the United States has seen an increase in immigrants and refugees crossing
the United States border seeking safety, security, opportunity and freedoms. Amnesty is sought
after by families currently living in the United States, while many children and adults are seeking
refugee and asylum status today. As of 2014, there are over 11.3 million unauthorized
immigrants living in the United States. Of these immigrants 69,909 are seeking refugee status in
this country. Of the total number, 38,759 are unaccompanied minors whove travelled to the U.S.
alone. There are over 15,266 seeking asylum status in the U.S., while 6,574 of immigrants are
orphans whove been adopted by U.S. citizens. It is estimated a number upwards of 300,000
immigrants live in Arizona today. Many people, including myself, have questions or concerns
about the crises being that we live in the U.S. For this reason, Im compelled to share with you
my research on the immigrant community. Due to the sensitivity of this topic, the individuals
Ive interviewed are identified using a pseudonym.
An American Perspective: Immigrant Children in Tucson, AZ
David is a transport specialist for a non-profit organization in Tucson, AZ. The non-profit
organization provides shelter, food, education, medical and psychological care to unaccompanied

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immigrant children in Tucson, AZ. David describes working as a transport specialist as an
individual accompanying an immigrant minor to Texas for status court hearings when their case
is presented for review. When I meet David, I notice hes a tall man, with light brown hair and
kind brown eyes. He wears slacks and a polo shirt to work everyday, and this day is no
exception. The children have been either trafficked, by having paid a coyote (human trafficker)
to smuggle them into the U.S., or theyve arrived by bus or train. David explains the children he
has seen are from places such as El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala.
I ask David where he sees the immigrant crises headed nationally. He thinks for a
moment and replies, It depends, if Donald Trump succeeds in his immigration laws, after
becoming the next President. I move to the next question because I dont know how to process
that answer. How has your work made you think differently about an immigrant unaccompanied
minor? He replies, I observe what theyve gone through, all alone, to get here. Theyve been
through all types of abuseand I just couldnt do what theyve done to follow the American
Dream. I ask if he sees success stories come out of these tragic cases, as I brace myself. David
replies with certainty, All the time. I ask him one last question: What do you want to public to
know about the immigrant crises in Arizona, or in the United States? Without hesitation, David
replies, I want them to know, they are humans just like everyone else. Just because they are not
financially able to meet VISA requirements, that should not hinder them from citizenship in
America. This is where everyone wants to be.
A Young Immigrant Perspective: You Have No Choice
I met with a young woman well call Ana to protect her privacy. Ana stands barely five-foot
tall with dark brown hair and small brown eyes. She is 25 years old but looks as though she
could be in her thirties. Shes wearing designer clothes and bright white Nike tennis shoes. Ana

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speaks to me in excellent English, with a slight Mexican accent. I was fifteen years old, when I
woke up in the trunk of a car in the middle of the night. Id lived in Mexico my whole life and
now my parents were bringing me and my sister to the U.S. She looks down as she continues, I
didnt want to move here, but I had no choice. I still miss my friends and wonder what my life
would have been like. Im wondering if she is now happy to have a civil rights attorney fighting
for her U.S. citizenship. Before Im able to ask, Ana says, I am grateful to live here, I know I
have opportunity now. America is like to Garden of Eden, like in the Bible, where anything is
possible and you can live in paradise. This is what the rest of the world thinks anyway.
****Update on her
A Report from Mexico: Two Mexicans Seeking Refugee Status
The New York Daily News reported on the growing, record number of immigrants
seeking asylum in the United States. If you drove into the rural community of Limon de Luna in
the summer of 2013, you would have witnessed a horrific sight. The bodies of residents hung on
the welcome sign of this community; hanged there by cartels terrorizing innocent families. The
bodies were of a pregnant woman, a high school teacher and college student, as well as the
husband of the pregnant woman hung in broad daylight; a shocking reality, no American will
ever comprehend. The article interviews two Mexican immigrants seeking asylum; one is a
business man Carlos Gutierrez, 30, forced to pay monthly fees to the cartel. As soon as he was
behind in payments, they chopped off his feet in a public park, leaving him to die in his SUV. He
is now in Los Angeles, awaiting an asylum hearing in Texas. He has acquired a work permit and
speaks publicly about the immigrant and refugee crises. The other immigrant is a Mexican
woman named Marisol Garcia, 20, who became a police chief in her town. After the cartel shot

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her office and threatened to kill her, she fled to the U.S. Marisol is also currently seeking refugee
status in the United States.
To these two immigrant cases, Peter Nunez, a former U.S. Attorney in San Diego says,
These people dont have a legitimate claim. Theyre not being persecuted by their government.
They should seek the help of authorities for public safety claims. A report out of Mexico City
sheds light on the challenges in addressing public claims in Mexico. It is reported as of 2012,
Mexican drug cartels have paid 4.5 million dollars in political bribes; to include police, military
and government officials.
A Hispanic-American Perspective: The Way It Was
In the 1950s, tensions were not as high concerning the United States border, as well as who
crossed it. When I interview my father Julian Samaniego, he speaks of a more peaceful time in
Mexico as well as the U.S. My father Julian, is of Spanish and Mexican descent. He is a
handsome man with a golden tan, silver hair and brown eyes. **We have family facing many
challenges in Mexico today, reports Julian Samaniego, sadly. Hes wearing a three-piece suit, a
homberg style hat, and shiny black shoes. I hardly ever see him without his neatly pressed suit
and pocket square. Although Julian was born in Chinapa, Sonora, he received U.S. citizenship as
an infant. His parents moved from Sonora, Mexico to Cutler, California where he grew up. My
fathers uncle, General Agustin Olachea is a historical political figure in La Paz, Baja, California
and Mexico. General Olachea was a leader in the Mexican Revolutionary War; Twice Governor
of La Paz, Baja, CA. and Baja, CA; President of the National Executive Committee of the
Institutional Revolutionary Party; most notably Secretary of National Defense of Mexico.

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This is one example my father gives when speaking about the good side of the family.
My father continues, Then we have family members who will do anything in order to stay
alive. I dont understand what he means, so I dig for more details. All my father Julian will say
is this, When you live in Sinaloa today, you will either work illegally, or you will die in the
street in front of your family. If youre a Twenty-year old man or woman, there is no university
or community college; or office job. You have one choice everyday, which is to stay alive.
Conclusion
What is the American Dream? This is a question that rings in my head as my search results
provide countless stories, similar to the ones Ive just heard. What does it mean to feel immense
despair and fear, youll leave everything you know and love, to hide in another country? These
questions will remain unanswered. Ill never know, what its like to feel I dont belong in a
country, with a new language. Ill never know, what its like to have someone dismiss me when I
describe my family being hanged. Ill never know this, because Im the definition of the
American Dream: The granddaughter of a Spaniard man and a Mexican woman, who crossed the
border into the United States, where everyone else wants to live.

Bibliography

Articles

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(Unknown), Amanda. "Population Education." 27 January 2016. Population Education. 2016.
<https://www.populationeducation.org/content/what-are-recent-us-immigrationstatistics>.
Cota, Isabella. "Rueters.com." 10 February 2012. Rueters.com. 5 March 2016.
<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-drugs-idUSTRE81A05620120211>.
"Directorial la paz.com." n.d. <http://www.directoriolapaz.com.mx/1946-1956.html>.
Fischer, Howard. "Arizona Daily Star." 18 November 2014. Tucson.com. 5 March 2016.
<http://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/report-number-of-illegal-immigrants-inarizona-drops/article_a6664580-6f64-11e4-b22d-3b31e6af72b4.html>.
Hastings, Debra. "New York Daily News." 23 October 2013. New York Daily News.com. 5
March 2016. <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/mexicans-fleeing-drug-cartelmayhem-seek-ing-u-s-asylum-record-breaking-numbers-article-1.1493183>.

Interviews
David Jones, Transport Specialist, Non-profit organization, Tucson, AZ. Interviewed by
telephone on March 4, 2016
Ana Smith, Illegal immigrant, Tucson, AZ. Interviewed on March 2, 2016
Julian Samaniego, Social Worker, Tucson, AZ. Interviewed on March 4, 2016

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