Sociological imagination is known as the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society. Virtually any social concept can have sociological imagination applied to it. An example of the application of the sociological imagination is on illegal immigration. The perception of being undocumented can be viewed from several different perspectives rather than just the simple fact of just being a normal person. Being an undocumented person is an issue many people face in the united states and for a long time I was one of those people.
Certainly being an undocumented mmigrant can have a lot of sociological imagination. society there is this concept where it is to believe that being an undocumented person is like committing a crime or just morally wrong which is not the case at all. Many citizens who come to the united states are coming for one simple fact to have a better life. When I was an undocumented immigrant I struggled alot with belonging because of the simple fact that I felt like an outsider.
Consequently I felt like I wasn’t apart of being a normal person because of how society and the government labeled and estricted illegal immigrants of certain rights, moreover I didn’t feel a sense of belonging in society. New Dreams a article by E. Tammy Kim. lis is a young undocumented immigrant who like me didn’t feel like she belonged. In the article it states “Like other undocumented youth, she began to worry in high school. College was on the horizon, but she was ineligible for financial aid or public licenses. Before going to college, I wanted to be a veterinarian, and I wanted to be an intern at the Central Park Zoo. I couldn’t do any of those things because you need ID or a social security number.
There are so many things that you’re restricted with”. Just Like liz I as well faced those struggles and in society people don’t see the baggage of undocumented immigrants they just see another person who is in the united states without proper documentation. re these stereotypes against undocumented people that are perceived as mainly coming from a certain religion or race. For instance many people tend to think that the most undocumented people are the mexicans or that the most undocumented religion are muslims which is very untrue. There are a complex types of religion and nationality that are illegal mmigrants as well. In my case people wouldn’t assume that I was an undocumented young lady because of what society tends to think a illegal immigrant is like.
In the article American Girl by Moustafa Bayoumi. Rasha too was targeted for stereotypes she and her family spend quite some time in a detention home that they wouldn’t give them a reason for the arrest but I could sure you that they were targeted because of their religion. culture was really like because when I came to the united states at a very young age. I took a part of my culture with me but certainly not entirely. Coming to the united states at a very young age and not being able to return back to experiences and know my culture.
It made me feel like I wasn’t apart of my culture I grew up in new york city and this was all I grew up knowing. However if it wasn’t for my family connecting me with my roots, I wouldnt be connected to my culture asI am today. Most people don’t tend to see that immigrants leave their culture family language and for most people that is tied to who they are as a person in addition they leave all of that behind to come to a country who won’t even treat them equally to everyone else. In American Girl by Moustafa Bayoumi ” Rasha’s mother taught her how to be a proper Arab Muslim girl in the United States.
As her parents were not particularly religious, the lessons revolved less around theology than values: honesty, compassion, and protection of her honor”. Regardless of their In civilization there I had many hardships in knowing what my statues in america rasha’s family still carried with their beliefs and they took their beliefs from a country that was very common to a place where it is very minimal butt that is the beauty of being of all different backgrounds. o citizenship it was a long process and it wasn’t an easy process because there were many barriers and it was a expensive process to obtain the citizenship.
In society it is viewed how immigrants just want to take the easy way out but they are many undocumented people who don’t have the means to pay for the process or the time it takes to obtain the citizenship. Many people leave their family back home and can’t waste anytime because they need to make money to help their family back home and unfortunately they hold on to becoming a citizen, in addition some people may not qualify and don’t want o take the risk of being sent back to their country.
In New Dreams by E. Tammy Kim “Jeff understands that not all undocumented people are similarly situated, pointing to the need for a DREAM Act at the federal and state levels. And, he In the road said, “What is next for the other people who don’t qualify for the DREAM Act? It’s a step-by-step process. ” It is definitely a step by step process that is also very expensive and it is an act that many people may not qualify for however for many it is a an act that change their lives because it opened the doors for plenties f undocumented immigrants. issue that undocumented people face is economic inequality.
Illegal immigrants face the most economic inequality because they are not able to work in regular jobs that get paid by the minimum wage they tend to work in very little to almost no money at all and because of this they lose many opportunities to prosper because like many young immigrants who desire to go to college are faced by a very hard obstacle which was not being able to get financial aid and this may affect many young immigrants since they don’t have the financial opportunity to ttain money. As well as obtaining money people lose many benefits because they are not documented.
In the article we are A very difficult social not illegal by Sukjong Hong it states how ” Tania, a 17-year-old from Ecuador, told the story of her cousin, an excellent student who is unsure if she can attend college because she is undocumented. “If you are documented, you have to support other people who are undocumented. That is why I am here. ” I totally related to tania cousin when I was in highschool I was unaware if I could even attend college due to the the fact that I as undocumented and I had no financial support.
Luckily I received a scholarship and had the opportunity to attend college nevertheless that is not the case for many students and due to the fact that they are undocumented they may not get the chance to attend college. called “We are Beautiful! Immigrant Rights Do Matter! “-was organized by the students themselves. Ellen, a 17-year-old from China, explained the message behind the title: “We wanted to show the beauty of our cultures and the beauty of immigrants. We are not criminals. We wanted to show our confidence. “
