Spaces & Exhanges

Spaces and exchanges

I'm going to talk about the notion Spaces and exchanges. To begin with, I'd like to give a definition of exchange. The different spaces of the world are nowadays more and more connected to each other. The exchanges can appear on many forms: people, trade, information . The immigration is linked to this notion as it implies the motion of legal and illegal people to other countries. Immigration: from dream to disillusion. We will focus on the journey of immigrants to the USA by showing the pros and cons of these trips.

1.In search of the American dream

First of all, we studied an extract entitled «I remember » The main character is a young scottish girl pf 15yo. She is called Marge Glasgow. She may have disease of the eye. She is mature be        cause she travelled alone and she looked pretty as what the nurses said who compared her to Mary Pickford.
Marge is feeling bad, alone and she is scared of the places which is so big and because her mother told her terrifying stories. She doesn't want to return home. Once at the hospital she calmed down probably because she felt revived and reassured because she realizes she be able to stay in the US. Then she is offered a job so she understand she will have a life here.

With this document we can see that few of them will be able to land in the US, this minority will workhard and do the menial job/ unskilled jobs.

We also see a document about the Ellis Island museum. E.I station closed in 1954, today more than 100M american citizen can trace ancestry to an immigrant who landed at E.I.

Since 1600, 60 million people have come to the US, 1/5 of that 60 so 12 million arrived in a little more than 30 years.

Today the museum offers visitors access to the « family center » where people can learn about their ancestors. A data base has been created from the ships, visits of passenger, proof of the millions who came.

It took 5 years and cost 22.5 million dollars to create this date base so that shown the importance of this place which is one of the symbolic station of immigration in the history of the US.

The hope to live the American dream made of immigrants, individuals wanting at all costs to settle in the USA even if it means to cross the line of legality.

2.From dream to reality

The number of illegal immigrants entering the US from Mexico is falling. This is the result of both a worsening employment problems in the US and improving law enforcement measures. Efforts to secure the border completely are unlikely to succeed while the incentives for illegal immigration remain so great.
We have seen a text extract from the book « The death of Josseline ». The protagonist is Josseline 14yo girl from El Salvador. Although she is small and young she is responsible of her young brother. Together they travel accross the desert of Arizona to join their mother in L.A.

It is the first time they get away from home. During this journey they must face many hardships : crossing the desert, endure the weather and climatic changes, back of comfort for sleeping, they don't eat as much as they need. They have already been traveling for several weeks.

Even the children have to risk their life to have a better life in the US/ or to join their family. Those who land in the US like Jose will have to do menial jobs.

This document is a testimony on TV news, the topic is the situation of illegal immigrants in the US. Jose is a butcher from Honduras who is in situation of illegal immigation, he is still undocumented. In the US he gets as much money in one week as he would in 4 or 6 months in Honduras. He is ready to do anything to earn money even clean animal extrements. Because he has no paper he is always afraid of beeing arested by the police. He also says that latinos are treated like animals.

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