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Stephania Saldana
Prof. S. L. Kelly
English 120
3 December 2016
Immigration and How It Affects How Children Develop An Identity
The United States is rather famous for its diversity, both wanted and unwanted. It is
almost impossible these days not to hear about immigration and what everyone might have to say
about it. Immigrants, a hot topic among politicians and activists alike, often in these debates
there is one group of people who are easily forgotten. The children that are born to immigrants, a
sector of kids who age in a country their families are not originally from. Children of
immigrants face a lot of challenges growing up in America but, the most challenging of all is
forming their own identity.
In order to form an understanding of who the children of immigrants actually are, it is
important to understand them as defined. Children of immigrants belong to a group where either
a child who is an immigrant or not a citizen, who has at least one immigrant parent or who has at
least one noncitizen parent. According to the 2000 Census, 1 of every 5 children in the United
States was a child of immigrants. (Future of Children 1). A number that has been increasing over
time at rapid rates, ethnic minorities are becoming less and less of a minority as the years past.
These children who are either born in the US or come to the US from somewhere else usually
arrive in boats, automotive transportation or on foot. The highest population of immigrant
children in the US are from Mexico or of Mexican descent, followed by Asia, Central America,
and the Caribbean. Immigrant children come with surprising statistics that impact their
formulation into the US and their ties with their culture. Immigrant children are more likely to be

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born healthier and to live with both parents. They also are more likely to be living in poverty and
to be without health insurance. (Future of Children 1). Realizing that these children are here to
stay is the first thing needed to tackle the process of understanding who they are. The numbers of
this growing group are enough to start a general push in how to educate and help assimilate
them. In order to have a successful group of people and a progressing nation, we need to have a
clear understanding of these children and how to assist them in this country they now call home.
Among the environmental challenges immigrant children face are the various identity
challenges that come with the relocation. Cultures clash for many in the United States as religion
and family are not as predominant as they are in their home countries. While the US provides
many opportunities to escape hardships in their homeland, the US also poses a threat to cultural
influences and what is viewed as morals. Identity issues surface once a young child has become
stuck between what they learn at school and among new peers vs. what their family has tried to
teach them from where they come from. Children of immigrants also get trapped in various holes
as they enter their adult life, as with applying for Financial Aid from the government, many do
not have parents who have social security numbers. For these young group of people, their
parents do not exist in the country theyve tried so hard to formulate themselves into. Children of
immigrants tend to get caught up in both worlds but, as noted by the Future of Children, are
imbued with a strong sense of family obligation and ethnic pride, and with the importance of
education. As a result, the children of immigrants tend to have high educational aspirations and
are less likely than children of U.S.-born families to engage in risky behaviors such as substance
abuse, early sexual intercourse, and delinquent or violent activity. (Future of Families 6). This
quotation shows that while they are broken up between two different identities somehow they
managed to pull through with enough aspirational goals that are quickly showing them to be not

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only a growing group of educated individuals but, quickly surpassing even native children in
their own right. Tackling their identity crisis would only further move them ahead in our country,
issuing proper documentation and helping them work out an identity are equally crucial to this
group of people.
Identity is something that for better or worse has some role in everyones life; Identity is
possibly the most important part of someone. From the first time you speak you begin to develop
an identity, a way of being. Being unable to form an identity could literally prevent someone
from ever really knowing who they are. Oxford Dictionaries establishes the definition of identity
as being the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. (Oxforddictionaries.com). We rely
on the fragments of identity we have to build a person from, these fragments are where our goals
and personalities come from. Being from a culture alien to America and growing up in America
cause a clash among children of immigrants. (Yu). It leaves them having to choose between
assimilation and integration; often this choice is not made lightly and never satisfies the
individual who has to make that choice. Going down the route of assimilation has the person
choosing to fully immerse themselves in American life and culture while abandoning the culture
they were originally born into. Integration, though it is assumed to be the better solution, is not
always met without challenges. Integration is the act of accepting your old cultural traditions
while practicing the new ones in America. This becomes a challenge when your culture causes
differences among fellow American peers that view that part of your identity as foreign or just
not something theyre accustomed to; thus causing the individual to feel alienated. (Yu).
Immigration itself affects millions of families around the world; both mentally and
physically. The act of moving your entire life or being in a whole new country is enough to
shake a family to the core. Understanding that immigration has lasting effects that while they

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might not be immediately apparent can change how a person will develop and structure
themselves after. Immigration policies also affect the children as much as their parents; these
outdated policies make immigrants feel like theyre constantly being targeted. According to Dr.
Carola Surez-Orozco, a representative of the American Psychological Association, Research
indicates that the emotional and sometimes physical trauma associated with shortsighted and
overreaching immigration policies can have a lasting impact on children and adolescents.
(Apa.org). There is a deep acknowledgment in the psychology community that the law has not
always taken into consideration the human needs of immigrants when being created and
enforced. There is this unspoken understanding many interpret that the law dictates that if a
person is illegal they do not deserve the same rights and human reasoning as those who are legal
citizens. However, it poses a question that haunts many immigrants and their children, can a
person be illegal? This constant struggle hanging over their heads is enough to have high
numbers of developed depression and anxiety in immigrant families. (Apa.org). Alongside
policies, another strong influence that affects immigrant families are America societys pressure
to label them outsiders. Presenting yourself in what looks foreign what looks Un-American, is
enough to have constant hounding or acknowledging of your difference. American society is not
very comforting to those that enjoy speaking their mother tongue or practicing worldly customs,
being immersed in your culture and being in America doesnt often go over well or unnoticed. A
young Peruvian-American student named Shirley Acuna highlights the pressure society puts on
children of immigrants, When people meet me, they want to know what culture I come from or
where my family is from. They want to put me in a box or assign me a label. So the question of
what are you has always made me feel defensive of who I am and how Im presented in the
world. Separating a person from whatever they might bring to the United States by the color of

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their skin or the accent they may have is prevalent in American society. The constant need to
separate immigrants from native people is strong and constantly being shown in day to day life.
The refusal to accept immigrants and their families as part of the US shows that much, without
the proper support it is almost like the system wants them to fail. Failing in a system rigged
against you is enough to form deep mental effects on immigrants and children of immigrants.
I am a child of two immigrant parents. Both my parents came from Mexico, fleeing their
country for several reasons. My mother crossed the border with her sister when she was fifteen
years old. (Saldana). My father in my mothers words, --was the first to cross from his family.
Some of his family told him that he was the bravest and thats why he crossed first. Others told
him he was the stupidest and thats why he crossed first. Both kids coming to a land that
everyone kept calling the promise land, somehow America seemed great enough to leave
everything they knew behind. My mother worked while she was in high school as a cashier at a
local grocery store. Growing up I heard stories of how she hardly got any sleep from school and
work, she rode the bus daily until the latest hours. She and her sister paid part of the rent for a
two bedroom apartment despite the fact that they slept on the floor and barely had enough to eat.
My father was more of an orphan when he came to America, he was all by himself. He worked
odd jobs, most of them construction, eventually on one of those jobs he found a group of
brothers who liked him enough to take him home. With apprehension at first, my father found a
new family who had also immigrated from Mexico. My parents met and shortly after they got
together my mom became pregnant with my oldest sister. This pregnancy came as they decided
to leave California to move to Las Vegas where all their children would be born and raised. My
parents led many hardships that I witnessed growing up, though there was a fear that was always
dominant and present in my family. Fear of being found out. Fear of being deported. It was a fear

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that crippled my family and kept me limiting how much of myself I could share to my peers.
(Saldana).
Growing up I limited how much of my culture I would project and how much of myself I
would sacrifice in order to keep my family intact. It was my parents venture to America that
would eventually allow me to develop a strong enough sense of self to try and make it in the US.
However this motivation is constantly tested over the years as I find myself unable to develop a
strong sense of identity and have constant inner struggles on who I am. I struggle with what I
stand for, what I believe in, what I want to be, what my family wants of me and what my country
wants of me. I have never felt normal enough to want to speak out and claim my American status
but, I have never felt fearful enough to want to hide where Im from. No matter how much I
grow, I keep finding myself limited in identity and constantly wanting more.
The children of immigrants, while theyre often a forgotten group of people, are growing
at rapid rates. This struggle with forming their own identity while it impacts them deep has not
caused them to give up just yet. Some immigrant families find themselves with second or third
generations already and education has managed to reach them at impressive lengths. In the near
future, as they rise in careers and demand to be heard, we will soon hear of ways to help them
combat this war they have with their own identity. It is expected that having individuals who
understand a culture outside of America and still prospering in the land of the free will be the
real ones to look out for.

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Works Cited
"Identity." Def. 1. Oxford Dictionaries.Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Maucci, Quetzal. "Children of Immigrants." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20
Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.
Saldana, Marisol. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2016.
Shields, Margie, and Richard Behrmen. "Children of Immigrant Families." 14.2 (2004): 1-12.
The Future of Children. Princeton University. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Vonachen, Benjamin. "APA Informs Congress about Risks to Immigrant Children." American
Psychological Association. Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Yu, Theresa. "On Integration: The Struggles of the Second Generation." Pulse. 31 May 2015.
Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

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INTERVIEW with Mom (Marisol Saldana).
Translated by me (Stephania Saldana).
December 1, 2016.
1) How old were you when you crossed the border for the first time? How old was dad?
I was fifteen, barely turned fifteen. Your dad was seventeen I think, almost eighteen.
2) Who had crossed before you? Who crossed before dad?
Your Tio Ismael and your Tia Rosa were already in California. Your dad was the first to cross
from his family. Some of his family told him that he was the bravest and thats why he crossed
first. Others told him he was the stupidest and thats why he crossed first.
3) From the moment you came to the United States, how long did it take you to go back again?
By the time I went back I already had you and your sister and was pregnant with Emmet (My
younger brother), it was twelve years before I saw my mother again.
4) Did you or dad ever use fake names or identities to get work or other things?
I did once for work, one name only. Your dad had five different names, he used them all for all
different things.
5) Why did you want to come to America? Dad?
To have a better life, to have more opportunities, to go to school. For high school, you have to
pay there. We were poor, we couldnt pay. In America, high school is free. Your dad came just
to see what everyone was on about, to work for a while. He did have any particular goals for it
like I did. He never did good in school, he dropped out in 3rd grade.
6) Do you remember how you got to Mexico without any papers to come back to the US with?
How did you get through airport security?
Well this was before 9/11 so the security wasnt very strict as it is now. All I had was my
drivers license from Nevada, birth certificates for you and your sister and thats it. I went and I
came back with no big problems.