Plancarte 1

Daniel Plancarte

Professor Susie Huerta

English 1T

19 March, 2018

The Reality of Migrating North

The United States of America from the beginning of its existence has been a country of

immigrants. Unaccompanied minors are chasing a dream and are hoping for a better life which

many of people in America have or are doing. Not allowing these kids who have left everything

to be given some kind of asylum for what they have experienced in their short lifespan is in some

form violating basic human rights. Valeria Luiselli who is an award-winning author from Mexico

was an interpreter for undocumented children coming from Central America. Later on, she wrote

a book from those stories that she heard has a form for them to be heard in her book Tell Me

How It Ends: An Essay In Forty Questions. In her book, she tries to change the stigma around

unaccompanied children coming into the United States by informing the reader the hard truths of

the broken legal system. Luiselli also informs the reader how the United States has played a

major part in the lives of these kids which have ultimately made them flee their home. Because

governments involved are not fully taking responsibility for the trickling effects that they have

caused on unaccompanied minors, they should have the ability to be granted asylum.
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In order for unaccompanied children to be properly judged in court to be given asylum

status in the United States the immigration laws need to be systematically changed. The courts

in the United States have never been in favor of people of color since its origin. This unjust

system is causing many unaccompanied children to be left helpless. Luiselli makes a valid point

when she states “ Before the immigration crisis … cases involving unaccompanied minors from

Central America were grouped together and moved to the top of the list of pending cases in

immigration court. Being moved to the top of the list, in this context, was the least desirable

thing- at least from the point of view of the children involved”(39). Luiselli claims that

government in the United States is trying its best to not let these kids stay. It is going everything

in its power to try to avoid and take recognition of the problem at hand. In doing so it makes the

problem much worse by sending these kids back to their own death. These children have already

risked so much just to come here and be sent back in such a short time. For things to change for

these children need to be given more time to make a more convincing argument for them to be

able to stay here. They are still trying to understand what they went through and what they need

to do and changing the time they are allowed to find representation and when they have to be in

court is just cynical.

Likewise, the United States and the other governments involved have done their part in

creating the problem and now it is time for the governments to amend their mistakes in order to

create change the children's home countries and here in the States. The United States has sent all

the gang members back to their home countries which have has left these countries in civil wars.

The United States also has helped fund governments from these countries with guns and money

to help defend themselves. Another example of these injustices would be Mexico because all
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these kids traveling through Mexico and many of them have been assaulted mentally or

physically and the government has done nothing to try and stop its citizens. Luiselli informs her

readers that “... both the Mexican society and the rest of the world views the situation as of

migrants crossing Mexican territory, nothing has actually been done about it” (27). Luiselli

examines the torturous journey that these minors have to do all by themselves, She also dives

into a serious issue about the rest of the world knowing what is being done to these children but

decided to turn a blind eye. In order for change to occur, all stakeholders need to be able to take

the blame for not trying to do anything and start demanding for some.

Although not everyone in the United States government is for deporting these

unaccompanied minors, lawmakers and anti immigration activists have made the presence of

these minors a worldwide controversy. Anti immigration politicians and activists have argued

that their presence places a huge burden on our governments funds and societies overall.

Politicians may support this idea by stating, “It’s about $9,000 per unaccompanied child in our

schools”( Hodgson 1). Lawmakers and Politicians in the government might say that they are

given enough help already through programs such as DACA and TPS. These programs already

cost citizens thousands of dollars in taxes and the United States should not be given the burden of

having to assimilate these children into the American culture. Although the cost of keeping

unaccompanied minors here in the States might be expensive, these politicians forget that their

contributions outweigh their cost.

Even though there is some truth in the claims that the government is doing almost

everything in its power to stop these programs and make it harder for these children to stay here,

but in reality undocumented minors and adults help improve the economy and communities. In
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an article written by Dr. Jenny Minier who is the professor at the University of Kentucky informs

her audience about the reality of undocumented people living here in the United States. Minier

mentions that serval economists view immigrants as beneficial to the economy in many ways.

The most important impact that they have here in the United States could be that they create jobs

and increase the productivity in companies. The outcomes of immigrants living here in the States

outweigh the costs by adding billions of dollars in revenue to the economy (Minier 2). Minier

proves that immigration does not only help companies invent new products but help the economy

in general. She proves that the stakeholders that claim that immigrants are here only to take

money from hard working citizens are wrong because many immigrants work as hard or harder

than citizens since they have no other choice. It also brings to light how much America relies on

help from immigrants to be able to stay ahead of the curve and to keep the economy from

collapsing. By giving undocumented immigrants the recognition they deserve it can help change

the negative stigma associated with them and ultimately lead them to be given asylum or another

forms of legal status.

Unaccompanied children need to be given a platform to be able to tell their stories in

order for the governments involved and their citizens to truly understand what they are going

through. Many government officials make laws that do not benefit these children because they do

not understand what these minors are going through. Many of these laws that are made to make it

harder for them to get some kind of visa or refugee status. In order for these kids to be given

some kind of legal status here in the United States, they have to tell a convincing story but many

children are scared to tell their story. Most of the people that they have to tell their story is

someone in authority that their guardians have told them not to trust. Luiselli agrees when she

informs her readers “ … After showing it to me, he folded the document backup and put it in his
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pants pocket… like he was activating a lucky charm” (43). Luiselli claims that these children's

stories are the main way of getting their legal status here in the United States. In order to appeal

to the government, there are certain marks that these children need to have when they tell their

stories. If these children do not provide an adequate story they are most likely going to be sent

back. In doing so, many of these children are sentenced to their death. For things to change for

these children, a platform needs to be created for them to tell their stories where they feel

comfortable doing so.

Unaccompanied minors have faced many devastating events coming to and and being

here in the United States. These minors are not at fault for what the governments involved have

done to their home countries therefore should be granted asylum here in the United States. The

United States has a lot to gain if they help these minors reach their full potential. In order for that

to happen the United States along with the other governments need to accept their role in creating

the problem and should try their best to fix it. In doing so, these governments will set examples

for other countries struggling with the same problem of unaccompanied minors entering their

territory. If these countries are successful it can possibly help create a movement which can help

make the world a better place in such a dark time.

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Work Cited

Hodgson, Thomas. “The Cost of Keeping Undocumented Minors in the U.S.” PBS,

Public Broadcasting Service, 4 Sept. 2014, www.pbs.org/newshour/show/cost-keeping-

undocumented-minors-u-s.

Luiselli, Valeria. Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay In Forty Questions. Coffee House

Press, 2017.

Minier, Jenny. “Immigrants Benefit the Community and Economy.” University of

Kentucky UKnowledge , Sept. 2017,

uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=cesj_reports.