As more immigrants from the south enter the United States, the battle continues to grow. There are some that want the current illegal immigrants to become citizens, since now they receive many benefits paid for by tax payers but do not legally work, because they cannot be legally hired, and therefore do not pay taxes. Other feel that with the flood of immigrants comes a workforce that is willing to work for minimum wage or even less, adding to the nation’s unemployment issues. Salvadorians come to the United States for a better quality of life and are caught in this struggle.
The International Organization for Migration has helped people from the Salvadorian community transition to life in the United States. Some of the assistance offered has been gaining legal citizenship, fighting deportation when necessary, and offering transitional support services. To natives, and especially immigrants, it is difficult to navigate the system of legally becoming a United States citizen. This becomes especially difficult to those who illegally enter the country. They are scared to seek out legal assistance to get valid citizenship for the fear of being deported. It is difficult for them to know where to go and who they can trust in times where their very lives are at stake. To exasperate matters, the services are not free, and they are often working for meager wages, making it difficult for ends to meet economically, let alone to find additional financial resources for legal assistance .
In El Salvador, the injustices were often faced and fought by the United Nations Development Program and the field offices that it deployed in the nation. The injustices that were being fought often involved poverty, the inability to find work, drug cartels, and an oppressive government that is not interested in helping the impoverished people of the nation, rather than the plight of the people. There were civil wars that affected the lives of families, especially those with pre-adolescent and teen boys who were drawn into the conflict, regardless of their desire to be involved .
There 817,000 – 2.7 million Salvadorians in the United States. The largest concentration of Salvadorians in the United States is from eastern El Salvador and is in the Washington D.C. area. They have built an apparent replica of their community. The most common form of employment is for the men to work in construction, frequently in crews made up entirely from their community. Most of these families send a significant part of their earnings back to family members still residing in El Salvador to help them improve their quality of life .
In the United States, the Immigration and Naturalization Department of the federal government is available to assist immigrants who are trying to become citizens. It is also wise and worth the cost to find an attorney who has been successful within the local community to assist during these processes. They are confusing, time consuming, and can lead to being deported for anyone who immigrated illegally or who has an expired green card.
In El Salvador, for people trying to legally migrate to the United States, there is assistance available. The transition is easier if there is already family in the United States. The chanced of being able to migrate to the United States also increase if there is a family here willing to host the migrant during the transition period .
The United States is supposed to be the land of opportunity. It can be for those who are willing to work hard and legally become a resident of this great nation.
Works Cited
Andrade-Eekhoff, Katherine. Migration Information Source. April 2006. Web. 2 October 2013.
Mitchell, Paul. Immigration Benefits. n.d. Web. 2 October 2013.
n.a. International Organization for Migration. 14 May 2012. Web. 2 October 2013.
