Gonzalez and Vargas
made a very clear statement as soon as the chapter began: undocumented
immigrants are at an extreme disadvantage compared to the rest of the
population. The disadvantages vary from education to employment to everyday
living conditions.
The L.A Metropolitan
area is made up of five different counties, together holding more than half of
the undocumented people that reside in California. As explained by Gonzalez and
Vargas, the “immigrant communities face clear educational challenges… Latinos
[they] are also underrepresented in the California State University system.”
With lack of guidance from school counselors as well as parental guidance,
these undocumented students who yearn for an education cannot fulfil that
feeling due to the lack of support and hope they have.
In addition to
education, undocumented people fall at a very hard disadvantage when it comes
to trying to support themselves. The chances of a man or women receiving a
minimum wage job in comparison to a documented citizen is near unheard of. The
closest these immigrants get to employment are dangerous factory jobs that pay
employees a daily wage of what is equivalent to a loaf of bread. It is truly sad and
difficult for these immigrants who just want to better their lives.
Gonzalez and Vargas
offer very intriguing and factual evidence when explaining how large of an disadvantage
undocumented immigrants come to be, especially in such immigrant dominated
counties such as the L.A metropolitan area. It is hurtful to see so many
hopeful people coming to the land of opportunity and only be offered the bare
minimum of opportunities. The following photo shows an example of undocumented
immigrants who are attempting to go to college but the legal system and their
backgrounds make it very difficult for them to achieve that goal. This occurs
for thousands of kids around the country especially in such immigrant dominated
counties such as the L.A metro area.
America is known as
the land of opportunity and freedom, yet when these people come here searching
for that, it magically disappears.
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