Immigrant Families

Words: 674
Pages: 3

Children of immigrant families: Prevalence, characteristics, and risk
Incidence and Prevalence
In this day in age, immigration is a hot topic. With everything that is happening in our country and the way that politics are being played out, many families are uncertain of their situation. Immigration affects millions of people currently living in the United States. There are over 12.0 million immigrants in the United States from Mexico alone and 30% of current immigrants are born in Mexico (Passel, Cohn, and Gonzalez-Barrera, Pg. 6). An important aspect of this population is that a large number of immigrants are unauthorized immigrants. According to Passel and Cohn, about 51% of current Mexican immigrants are undocumented. This plays a major
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Although that is the case, there are certain aspects that might change that. One of the biggest obstacles that migrating families might face is increased border patrolling. In addition, the political ideologies that our current president holds in regards to immigrants; some including the removal of certain resources such as the deferred action for childhood arrivals, might deter families with children from making the treck to the United States. The Survey of Migration on the Northern Border of Mexico reported that the number of immigrants coming from Mexico to the United States decreased steadily between 2007 and …show more content…
A considerable aspect of children of immigrants is the tasks that are given to them based on the nature of their situations. Because children are more likely to know both english and spanish, they are given the responsibility to serve as translators between everyday encounters such as paying bills, school meetings, doctor’s visits, etc. In many instances, young boys and girls are given different roles based on family structure. For example, often times, young girls take on the roles of tutors, advocates, and teachers for parents and siblings (Valenzuela, 1999). In addition, older children are often times obligated to care for younger siblings and even help make decisions regarding child rearing. This is often the case because parents are either working to make ends meet or dealing with other difficult situations that prevent them from being present in their children’s