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Dora Cervantes

Professor Batty

English 028

05 November 2018

Fighting For Our Future’s Rights

If the United States is known for the American Dream, then why is it crushing many

children’s dreams? Many dreams of children are being crushed due to being brought to this

country at a very young by illegal immigrants. Though many did not have a say in the choice that

their parents might have made, they are being segregated from everyone else and have taken

some of their rights away. Many parents are capable of going through a rough time just to be

able to give their children a better life. ​Although children who immigrate here illegally should

not have a legal status, but they deserve to have some rights/privileges like a work permit,

DACA, and health insurance.

Many people believe that since they are illegal they should be thrown out of this country,

they should not. For many of the young people the thing they most hope for is an education and I

believe we should allow them to. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), tends to

be the only form that could allow them to be able to have an education. In the article ​Who needs

DACA or Dream Act?​, by Susan Dussault she is trying to convince us that we should help them

become legal citizens here in The United States. Dussault states, “Over two million immigrants

without legal status entered the country as children. These childhood arrivals have the

constitutional right to attend public schools without charge, and billions of taxpayer dollars have
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been invested in their education. Offering these young people the opportunity to remain in the

United States, use their education to contribute to the communities in which they have been

raised” (Dussault 1). What Dussault is trying to tells us is that we should try our best and help

these children and young people for a better future. Many of these young kids are the future for

the country and if we try our best to help them and invest money in them, they could provide for

our community. Many of these kids have been raised in their community here in the United

States they invest into their community, and the government should invest into their education.

There are many people who have many stories from when they came to this country, all

being different. People are capable of doing whatever it takes just to come to this country and

work, some people are even willing to risk their lives. In the article ​Enrique’s Journey,​ by

Nazario the author gives us the point of view of what it takes to come to this country and the

risks that people are willing to take. Throughout her article she follows Enrique, a young man

who left his things behind just to come the United States to see his mother who left him at a

young age to give him a better future. In the article Nazario states, “Minor tells me about his

perilous hitchhiking journey. He was threatened and robbed. Still, he says, he was lucky. Each

year, thousands of other children going to find their mothers in the United States travel in a much

more dangerous way. The children make the journey on top of Mexico’s freight trains. They call

it ​El Tren de la Muerte​. The train of death” (Nazario 12). The reason Nazario included Enrique

in this story is because he knew what he was getting himself into yet he went through it. One of

the main reasons that people immigrate to this country is because they want to work. Enrique had

no choice but to come to this country just to be with his mother, which proves that he is

hardworking and capable of providing the best. Young people that live in this country should be
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allowed to work in this country with a work permit. The youth that were brought to this country

had no choice so therefore they should be allowed to work and maintain themselves like any

other American.

With many of the rights that were taken from many of the children many are afraid of

asking for help or going to the doctor. If illegal immigrant children are able to study they should

also be able to have health insurance so they can take care of themselves. In the article,

Immigrant Children's Reliance on Public Health Insurance in the Wake of Immigration Reform

by Susmita Pati and Shooshan Danagoulian explains how immigrant youth with illegal parents

are most likely to also not have health insurance. In the article the author state, “Our finding that

public health Insurance enrollments were proportionally lower among US-born and mixed-status

children even after reversal of the public charge rule is contrary to popular perceptions. Previous

studies have documented that foreign-born children are likely to be uninsured, our study

contributes to this literature by showing that thistrend had continued” (Pati 4). Having health

insurance is one of the most important thing a person could have here in the United States.

Without insurance a person can be in so much debt or might not get assistance at all. Providing

this to many of the young immigrants can help them out and provide support by just simply

providing access to the doctor.

There are many young people that were brought to the United States at a very young age,

causing them to not have the same advantages as other people. Many are brought here for a

better future and hope for the best. Many young people want to study but are not able to because

they do not have the advantages to do so. The best way we can provide for them would be by not

giving them necessarily a legal status but a work permit, Deferred Action for Child Arrivals
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(DACA), and a work permit. People see illegal immigrants as bad people, but in reality they are

people who bring the country to a better and try to provide the best for this country sometimes

even better than our citizens here in the United States.

Works Cited

Arslangilay, A.Selcen. “The Reflection of Immigration on School Culture: A Qualitative Study.”

International Journal of Instruction​, vol. 11, no. 2, Apr. 2018, pp. 585–602. ​EBSCOhost​,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&

AN=EJ1175051&site=eds-live​.
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Chen, Annie, and Jennifer Gill. “Unaccompanied Children and the U.S. Immigration System:

Challenges and Reforms.” ​Journal of International Affairs​, vol. 68, no. 2,

Spring/Summer2015 2015, pp. 115–133. ​EBSCOhost,​

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&

AN=102305760&site=eds-live​.

Dussault, Susan B. “Who Needs Daca or the Dream Act? How the Ordinary Use of Executive

Discretion Can Help (Some) Childhood Arrivals Become Citizens.” ​Lewis & Clark Law

Review,​ vol. 22, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 441–499. ​EBSCOhost,​

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&

AN=132213468&site=eds-live​.

Intercultural Development Research Association. “Immigrant Students’ Rights to Attend Public

Schools (Derechos De Los Estudiantes Inmigrantes a Asistir a Escuelas Públicas).”

Intercultural Development Research Association, Intercultural Development Research

Association, 1 Aug. 2017. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&

AN=ED582809&site=eds-live​.

Pati S, and Danagoulian S. “Immigrant Children’s Reliance on Public Health Insurance in the
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Wake of Immigration Reform.” ​American Journal of Public Health​, vol. 98, no. 11, Nov.

2008, pp. 2004–2010. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2007.125773.