Illegal Immigration

Introduction

One of the current national debates that cause a lot of anxiety in the country is the seemingly easy access immigrants have to the borders of the United States. The level of excitement being generated by this debate is noteworthy, especially given the country's history and the amount of time immigration has been going on for. America is often referred to as "the county of immigrants," however, as happens every year, it seems that this is a claim that is increasingly embraced. Apparently the reason for this may be related to the economic crisis that has recently been experienced by the country, along with the fact that an increasing number of jobs that are considered "too menial" for American workers are taken up by immigrants.

This research paper is a real life biography of a family who explain their hardships while they commit a social crime of illegal immigration into alien territory for a better living. It will explore how the social theories could be applied to this situation, in particular how it relates to a possible reason why this debate continues, years after they first appeared, and despite attempts to limit access to US borders. Second, we will explore how the current situation is an example of the three social paradigms, and briefly touch on the general umbra of a hypothetical concept of social practices in real life.

Case Study

I am Jazmine, a US citizen and the daughter of Edgar Martinez and Sofia Itzel, illegal immigrants from the Mexican city of Tijuana. We grew up in a close knit household, where everyone contributed to the sources of income and tried to live for each other. Sometimes it was difficult to make ends meet and we would live off bare necessities. My father used to work at a car wash for a living and my mother worked at a deli. This was enough to make for a decent living. My mom also had the added responsibility of looking after my elder sister Camellia, while she was still a child.

Years passed by living like this, but then the government introduced new caps for their fiscal and taxation policies which made living even more difficult. Life in Mexico wasn’t really working out for them. My father used to work night and day shifts at the car wash and went to look for people who needed a part time gardener, putting his hobby as a youth to good use. My mother would often work at local laundry stores during extra hours to bring some extra savings to balance the household expenditures. Mexico wasn’t a good place for living during those times since it was saturated with crime and immense taxation by the government. Our house mortgage was 3 years overdue and life for my family was a total mess. My mother would usually cry and go to the church to knock God's door for help. All because of these hardships, my father started drinking to ease off the pain.