Self Portrait Essay

If not for immigration reform in the 1980’s, I would not be here. Both of my parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1970’s. My mother from Hong Kong and my father from Jamaica. Both of their visas were about to expire during the early 80’s and both had to contemplate staying in the country illegally. They both worked 2 jobs and eventually found each other soon after in 1985. Juggling multiple jobs apiece simultaneously, they strived hard for the “American Dream” that was about to slip out of their hands. Then by some miracle, the “Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants” bill was passed in 1986, giving the people who would eventually become my parents their green cards and eventually their citizenships. Many of my friends, peers, and colleagues come from parents with similar stories and that blessing has enabled all of us to both exist and pursue the lives our parents worked for. Not everyone can be so luck, unfortunately. Some of my closest friends are here illegally because of their parents and have lived every day since childhood in fear of deportation. Some had to give up their dreams of graduate and medical school programs because their immigration status prevents them from any sort of aid or student loans. Growing up privileged, in the regard of having citizenship, I got to live in the ignorance of the pain so many of my peers live with everyday when I was only so lucky because my parents were lucky. Having grown up racially ambiguous, having a Chinese mother and Jamaican father, nobdy could even guess my ethnicity and eventually stopped caring. In today’s sociopolitical climate I feel that my gift of racial ambiguity would be a gift for those who frequently get stopped for bag checks on their commutes or at the airport. Immigrant amnesty and reform is a cornerstone of what makes modern America so great and President Ronald Reagan thought to too. It was quite a surprise for the traditionally conservative political party for a Republican President to push for immigration reform. In an interview in 1988, President Reagan stated that his stance was that: “anybody that wants to be here, should have the right to be here” (Kotkin, 2017). Granting green cards and citizenship for over three million immigrants, this bill paved the way for a better future. The focus of my project are the children of people who benefited off this bill. In light of the recent political climate regarding immigration, it’s important to remember where we came from. Despite the polaroid collage of people directly descended from those who received their green cards and citizenship from this bill, everyone in this country is the descendent of an immigrant, to whatever degree. This collage is inspired by the mosaic of what makes America great: the people. In light of the Presidency of Donald Trump, illegal immigration has once again been dragged into the spotlight. Threatening to build ludicrous walls on our southern border and implement a ban on Muslim immigration. Although he is widely criticized and unpopular on a global scale, President Trump’s personal approval rating, that is the percent of people in the country who approve of his presidency, is still around 38 percent (Agiesta, 2017). Despite being far from a good score, it’s almost haunting that over a third of the country, about one hundred million people, either do not regret voting for him or simply do not care that he’s the President. This speaks volumes to the ignorance, and possibly even the hate, many people in the country have about the people who come into the country. Many people are under the assumption that Immigrants take their jobs, however I find that this is not the case. On my journey to become a scientist and back to school at Pace and work at Mt. Sinai Hospital, I see people of all creed but the people I see who have advanced the most and have the most successful careers tend to either be immigrants or their parents were immigrants. Far be it for me to say immigrants, and their children, are necessarily better scientists or people, but immigrants and the children of immigrants tend to occupy the most prestigious and highest pay jobs (Strauss, 2017). My self portrait is the embodiment of the ambition I have for my future and the people I’m blessed to work with, finish my degree with, and share my life with. These people are some of the most ambitious, intelligent people I have met and most will certainly go on to do great things with their lives. From my chemistry tutor who got into a PhD program at Cornell to my girlfriend who’s about to set off to the Peace Corps in Africa, we embody the thing that makes America so great and it didn’t matter where we came from. Most people in this collage are the children of immigrants and few are not. But at the end of the day that doesn’t and shouldn’t matter because it’s a generalization or classification that can be broadly applied to all. I also included some close friends in this collage because I don’t think any person can really distinguish whose parents are immigrants versus those whose families have been in the country for three to five generations.