One of my favourite pastimes since arriving in LA is sharing life-stories with my new friends, a wonderful group of people that come from different backgrounds, of varied ethnicities and whom each carry a unique history. One of my main reasons for embarking on this year abroad was to integrate in a different environment and listen to unique stories, anecdotes and learn about the world-views and ideals important to different individuals. Indeed, my friends are also interested in my opinions, stories and world-views. The inspiration behind this entry was a conversation me and my other British friend had with Daisy, our entertaining Mexican friend. What was uncovered in this conversation surprised me, something I never considered or believed would be the case: that at one point, Daisy her sister, brother and mother were illegal immigrants. The story is truly inspiring, revealing the lengths to which a mother would go to secure a strong future for her children. In this blog post I’m going to tell this story and reflect on how I felt when I heard it, how it has changed my views slightly on immigration.
When Daisy was the tender age of 4, her mum planned a trip to Daisy's grandmother, a trip that didn’t involve her father. Calculated and planned meticulously, her mother took Daisy and her sister to embark on the most dangerous journey of their lives, to cross the US-Mexico border, one that has been hotly contested for many decades and nowadays has very extreme border crossing prevention systems (Ackleson, 2005). Her mother knew that she was being dishonest with Daisy’s father, and risking all of their lives in the process, however she was driven by the dream of her children living a much more prosperous on the other side of the border. In doing this, her mother paid an intermediary (human trafficker) to get her and her small children across, a risky investment that fortunately paid off. Daisy now has papers, gets reviewed every few years but is not allowed to leave the US until she gains full citizenship, a process that could take another five or more years. Needless to say, she is eternally grateful for the risk her mother took and it has driven her to prosper, gaining a place at UCLA under difficult circumstances adjusting to American culture and way of life. Her father later joined the three women, reconciling and living in Nevada before eventually settling in Central Valley, a region of California with a high proportion of Spanish speaking inhabitants. Upon hearing this story, it was truly inspiring learning of such a courageous narrative and it certainly altered my view on immigration. Everybody deserves a chance to succeed in life, and Daisy’s mother among many others that have made the perilous journey only ever want just that. A lot of people in the UK, are blind to these kinds of stories, immigrants are so often perceived in a negative light, but rarely are people open to these narrative, nor care for the courage that is involved and the sheer, sole desire to make a better living for themselves and their family. Being exposed to such stories are exactly what this year abroad experience is meant for, crucial for development of ones exposure to people of different histories, cultures and lifestyle. Experiences like this can completely change ones view on the world, alter perspectives and inspire, as has this story of the Jimenez family with me.
Ackleson, J. (2005) ‘Constructing security on the US-Mexico border, Political Geography, 24(2), 165-184.
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