Two Sisters' Journey to the U.S. in Search of a Better Life - Essay Sample

Introduction

People migrate to the U.S and other parts of the world from their native countries in search of better lives, healthier environments, and safe living. Mukherjee's "Two Ways to Belong in America" describes the story of two women sisters of Indian origin and who moved to the United States in the 1960s.

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Their initial plan was to live in the United States for two years, pursue their degrees, and jet back to India to and get married to grooms chosen by their parents. Nevertheless, things failed to go as initially planned. Mira, the sister to the author, became a teacher, got married to an Indian man who had pursued a degree in business administration. Though staying in the U.S and working there, Mira still holds on the Indian culture and traditions and wishes to go back to India once she retires.

On the other hand, Mukherjee, the author, got married to an American-Canadian and lived in different parts of North America. Mukherjee has embraced the American culture, which includes the mode of dressing and the music as opposed to Mira. Both Mira and Mukherjee have different opinions on Americanization topic and what it means to become an American. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of immigrants in the U.S whether they adopt legal citizenship or choose to stick to their homeland traditions.

According to Mukherjee's narrative, there are two ways to belong to America; by becoming an expatriate and secondly, by attaining the legal citizenship. Mukherjee believes that to belong to America, an immigrant has to go further than just being a legal immigrant to being a legal citizen. On the other hand, Mira wants to belong to America by being an expatriate. Mira does not wish to a legal citizen. In turn, she wants to enjoy green card benefits and retain the Indian citizenship.

The narrative describes parallelism that exists in the minds of people who want to move to the U.S from their native countries. Some welcome the change and are more than willing to adopt a new culture. However, others embrace the American culture but are still tied to their native cultures, which they do not wish to let go. People who are still tied to their native countries want to obtain an official identity, the green card.

With the green card, expatriate immigrants are recognized by the state as legal immigrants. The immigrants are also entitled to get social benefits, including labor certifications, which are crucial for them to run hassle-free employment and residence. People living as expatriates are also recognized for their contribution to the American economy through their professional engagements. However, people living as expatriates have no sense of belonging in American society.

On the other hand, those immigrants that choose to embrace the American culture can obtain national citizenship. By adopting this citizenship, immigrants have a sense of belonging and enjoy a high level of freedom compared to their counterparts. By belonging through citizenship, immigrants are in an excellent position to bypass many legal requirements, including the labor-certifications and quota system (Mukherjee 273). By being an American, immigrants have the freedom to their self-invention, fluidity, and renouncing their less progressive cultural beliefs.

In belonging to America, there is a difference in the level of economic and protection benefits achieved by immigrants who become citizens and those that choose to live as expatriates. Those immigrants with their minds still tied to their native countries have a different way of thinking, an aspect that makes it hard for them to survive in the United States. In most cases, they seem to struggle with the day-to-day lives of the country.

The expatriates are more likely to be affected by changes in immigrants' laws, which do not consider the time an immigrant has lived in the country. An example of such a case is showed by Mira, who complains that "I've obeyed all the rules, I've paid my taxes, I love my work, I love my students, and I love the friends I've made. How dare America now change its rules in midstream? If America wants to make new rules curtailing benefits of legal migrants, they should apply only to immigrants who arrive after those rules are already in place" (Mukherjee 274). In regards to this, expatriates in America can only offer their professionalism and maintain their identity but have limited freedom in making demands to transform their identity. The anti-immigration bills in the U.S subject the immigrants to some social injustices like inflicting travel bans to some parts of the world.

Living as an expatriate in the U.S limits one the freedom of exploring the job market and even moving across the country. Most of the immigrants live in fear as participation in some activities could see them getting deported. At times expatriate belonging has no significant difference from the illegal migrants.

Belonging by identity does not make an immigrant part of the larger American culture, and most are times that these people feel neglected (Simington 11). Mukherjee (275) argues notes that "I will never forget the pain of that sudden turning, and the casual racist outburst the green paper elicited." It describes how belonging through identity is unrecognized and how expatriates are likely to be betrayed.

Belonging through acquiring national citizenship provides a set of priorities for the immigrants, whereby they feel they feel they are part of the broader American culture. "I need to put roots down, to vote, and make the difference that I can" (Mukherjee 275). With citizenship, an immigrant can participate in making essential national decisions that affect his/her personal life. With the type of belonging, an individual has the freedom to make demands relating to self-transformation as opposed to expatriates.

Since the inauguration of Trump as the American president, the anti-immigration laws have taken a new direction. The president has introduced the "America First" and "Buy American and Hire American" bills. The bills are meant to ensure that only the legal citizens are prioritized in government services as well as in the provision of social services (Scott, Miezin, Taba, and Witz 166).

The implementation of these anti-immigration bills is meant to end unlawful immigration, exile criminal immigrants, and protect American lives. In regards to this, the only option for immigrants is to become Americanized is by adopting U.S citizenship and embracing the American culture. The bills recommended by President Trump do not consider the expatriates. Expatriates in the U.S are at a risk of facing employment-based discrimination. As a result, many expatriates are at risk of being locked out of social services.

According to Scott et al. (167), "prior to applying for visa status with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, employment-based visa petitions require extensive review and certification from the U.S. Department of Labor to ensure that U.S. jobs remain unthreatened." Immigrants play a significant contribution to the American economy, especially in the employment of qualified and talented professionals.

Though the "Buy American and Hire American" means well for the citizens, it is, however, complicating the ability of companies to outsource qualified talent. In regards, most of the expatriates are facing hard times to access employment opportunities as compared to legal citizens.

Expatriates living in the U.S and who are applying for visas to extend their stay have no control of their future in the country. With the implementation of the new anti-immigration bills, these immigrants can be deported at any time. Belonging by identity does not give these immigrants the power to dictate the period they can stay in America. With the implementation of Trump's migration laws, these immigrants may lose their status forever.

The new anti-immigration laws also do not favor the victims of human trafficking (Simington 11). Though these victims may be willing to embrace the U.S. citizenship, the President Trump laws place these people at more significant risk as they try to establish their eligibility. Though the victims might be willing to apply for national citizenship, the fear of deportation deters them from coming forward to apply for relief.

The U.S immigration policies compare to that of Britain in that they both call for judicial review. In both cases, the court is involved in making critical decisions on immigration status. The courts in both countries have the power to give a verdict on whether an immigrant can remain in the state or whether they stand to be deported (Moffat 51).

The courts ascertain the credibility of the immigrants based on behaviors such as involvement in criminal activities and adherence to national laws. Additionally, the U.S. immigration policy compares to that of Britain in that it denies citizenship for those immigrants found to have behaved in a manner that violates the national interests. It also applies citizenship acquisition through fraud (Moffat 52).

Conclusion

In conclusion, being part of a community calls for a sense of belonging. The belonging sense means that an individual embraces the culture and social values of the new community. Acquiring the citizenship of a given country makes an individual responsible for self-transformation as well as taking part in decision making. On the other hand, failure to embrace the culture of the community limits participation in decision making and makes one feel out of place.

Works Cited

Mukherjee, Bharati. "Two ways to Belong in America." The New York Times, 22nd September. Amitava Kumar (ed.) Away: The Indian writer as Expatriate, Penguin, New Delhi (2003).

Scott, Lisa, et al. "The Current Minefield for Immigration Practitioners: Protecting the Rights of Clients in the Trump Era." Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 51 (2019): 165.

Moffatt, Rowena. "2014 In Immigration, Citizenship, and Deportation." Judicial Review 20.1 (2015): 48-56.

Simington, Maire O. "Chasing a dream." Phi Kappa Phi Forum. Vol. 96. No. 4. Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, 2016.