Artifact 5: Education for Immigrants

Education is valued in the United States and in Mexico children are not getting the proper schooling they need, so when children travel to the U.S. it is crucial that they attend school or they will not have a good life. 

The Justice and Education Departments are teaming up to remind public schools that they are required to provide equal education to all children regardless of their citizenship or immigration. All children should be given the chance to receive an education, hopefully graduate high school and then go on to college. There are many things that are going into school so that immigrants can attend without being denied. School are now excepting proof of residency forms instead of drivers licenses because my immigrants do not have their license. To prove a student meets the age requirements they require some sort of certificate that shows their date of birth. Although, schools are not allowed to discourage students from enrolling because they do not have a birth certificate. School also issue you provide your social security number, that is voluntary, but if you refuse to give it they will still allow the student to attend school. 

This article relates to The Distance Between Us because the first thing that Reyna’s father told her and her siblings was that school was their priority. If they got bad grades or didn’t try they would be sent back because what’s the point of moving to the United States if you don't have an education? Reyna, Carlos and Mago were all excellent students except for the fact that they didn’t know any English. As Reyna entered Junior High she was taken out of the ELS program and was switched into regular English. She entered and short story contest and won, from then on she knew what she loved. Mago was also the first one in her entire family, mom and dads side, to graduate high school. Education goes a long way in the United States. 

Article: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/feds-to-schools-you-must-accept-children-of-undocumented-immigrants/

Artifact 4: Illegal Immigrants and Green Cards

People who illegally come to the United States wait years, even decades, to receive a green card. The debate whether to allow 11 million immigrants to get the chance to become an American citizen is one of the bills passing through the senate right now. Right now there are 4.4 million immigrants waiting for their chance to finally not be afraid. The wait is so long now because the United States is only allowed to give out a certain amount each year. Currently the United States allows 226,000 illegal immigrants to get their green cards. The United States is making calls the clear the backlog of illegal immigrants in seven years there is still some doubt whether to do it or not. Clearing would mean the need for more jobs, which would make wages go down, and this would cause more people to cross to be with their U.S. citizen families. Many changes are now being put into action involving illegal immigrants and getting their green cards.

Alejandro's story is one that is hardly unusual, but never really told. When Alejandro moved to the United States with his father he was 14. When they first moved Alejandro's father filled out green card petition, he is 29 now now and still awaits his green card. Even after waiting 15 years he will have to wait another five years to finally get one, which makes him have to wait 20 years to finally be a citizen of the United States.

This article relates to The Distance Between Us because after being in the United States for over a year Reyna's father gets married to Mila and submits the green card applications for everyone. Five years later Mago graduates and they receive their green cards. As soon as they get them Reyna's father doesn't seem to be afraid anymore about going places and doing things. After getting their green cards Mago has the opportunity to go to college and actually make something of herself to where to can get a real job with good pay.

Article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/23/millions-of-immigrants-waiting-for-green-cards/2450461/

Artifact 3: The Dangers of Border Crossing

Over the years crossing the border has become increasingly dangerous. Everyone who crosses the border knows of the dangers it inhabits, but that does't matter because they all have to same goal and that's to live a better life. Over the years there has been so much border crossing that the border patrol has asked for the militaries help. On top of military patrol the desert comes with some harsh conditions such as: the heat, the wildlife, the harsh currents and surprisingly the desert freezes. Its the conditions that kill people most of the time not the military or the patrol (dehydration, heat strokes, hypothermia, malnourishment). People who plan on crossing the border do not go into to this very prepared, they don't really know what's ahead of them, unless they have crossed it before. Once you're out there in the desert there's no help, you are on your own.

This article relates to The Distance Between Us because as Reyna and her family we trekking across the desert they came across many obstacles which included: being caught by the border patrol, malnourishment and dehydration. Even though Reyna did not describe or really mention the dangers of crossing the border you just knew by the way her father described crossing. Although in the book she found a man lying in the ground, dead, from the harsh conditions.

Article: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/26/19120052-sun-frost-thirst-and-bullets-a-deadly-border-could-become-even-more-dangerous-under-senate-plan

Artifact 2: The Separation of Families

Immigration is a traumatizing event that tears families apart. Parents leave their children hoping to create a better where they don't have to worry about feeding their families or not having enough money to give them an education. They leave telling themselves that they will come back, but most of them never do. There are some benefits to migration like, sending money so that they can go to school and eat but there are also some consequences. Children who are left behind feel abandoned and they feel like no one loves them or cares about them. Many make choices in which they are not proud of, but do anyway to feel the love that they never felt like they received. 

A story that can tear a family apart is the one of Enrique. His mother had left him when he was young and when he turned sixteen he left to seek his mother, leaving his pregnant girlfriend behind. It took him eight tries to finally cross to border into the United States. When his little girl was four she and his girlfriend made their way to Florida where they could be a family. One night the police came and arrested Enrique for not paying a ticket that he received while driving. He was then handed over to the federal immigration officers where he was soon deported. He was being separated from his family, but this time in reverse and he was the one leaving, not his mother.

In the book The Distance Between Us Reyna was left by her mother, to help her father, at her abusive Grandmother's house. Her father had left years earlier to earn enough money to build his dream house. About a year and half after her mother left she came back with their new baby sister, but not their father. Reyna and her siblings soon learned that he left their mother for another women. She was a different person now. They soon went to go live with their mother and they ran out of money really fast. Their mom soon left again with her boyfriend and they were left alone again. She came back a few months later because her boyfriend had been killed in a car crash. Reyna and her family could not forgive her and soon she moved in with her sister miles and miles away and it was like she left all over again. They soon felt like they were not loved by their mother, but hen their father came a rescued them. 

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/opinion/the-heartache-of-an-immigrant-family.html?pagewanted=all

Artifact 1: Being Smuggled by "Coyotes"

Being smuggled by coyotes is one of the few ways to safely cross the border and create your new life in the United States, which many people in Mexico long for. "Coyotes" are, paid, human smugglers that try and help you safely cross the border and avoid the patrol by leading you through the desert all night and putting you in a car in the morning to take you where you desire. These smuggles are mostly successful but in the last decade more than 3,800 have died attempting to cross."Coyotes" get you the the United States faster when you pay them more money but when you give them less it takes weeks, which makes getting caught that much easier. When crossing the border with "coyotes" you never are safe until you have arrived and even then you're still not safe from being deported.  

This article can relate to The Distance Between Us because it was the "coyote" that got Reyna and her family across to border so that they could start a new life and live with their father they had imagined and pictured ever since he had left. Many people are lucky enough to start over in the United States but most people aren't because they are too poor to even pay a "coyote" to lead them across the border.

In the book The Distance Between Us Reyna's father finally returns, after eight years, and decides to take Mago and Carlos back to El Otro Lado with him, leaving Reyna behind. Reyna cannot take no for an answer and convinces her father to let her go. They were sent back twice and this was their final try and if they didn't make it they would make their way back to Mexico and live with his mother. The third time a "coyote" led them across the desert and all of a sudden they saw lights and heard a helicopter. Reyna, Mago, the "coyote, and their dad hid in a little cave and Carlos was left behind. They were there for hours until the helicopter finally vanished. Carlos was underneath the bushes. The next morning they were piled into a car and were driven to Los Angeles to where their father and their stepmother lived. This is one of the few stories that can be told to the world because Reyna and her family are now considered US citizens.

Article: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/arizona-immigration-smuggled-coyotes-search-life/story?id=10759682