Shadae Chambers
Spring 2022
Amy is an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic who moved to the United States when she was 12 years old. Her mother, who used to make frequent trips to America for her small business, always knew that her family would move to this country eventually. Her father was also very familiar with the United States as he lived here for several years. Even though Amy’s parents were already financially well-positioned in the Dominican Republic (DR), there was still substantial economic instability, limited professional development, and precarious employment that her parents wanted to evade. For instance, with a Psychology degree, Amy’s mom had very little options that paid a living wage. Whereas people who were uneducated in the United States were getting paid more than highly educated Dominicans.
As she was growing up, Amy engaged with American culture in various ways before immigrating to the US. Her mom, in preparation for their migration, put her in English classes at age 10. She also watched American news, listened to pop music, and read English literature. These forms of American media influenced her perceptions of the country. She imagined it to be almost like a utopia where money grew on trees, the power never went out, and there was an abundance of everything. The messages her parents transmitted to her was that there were more educational, financial, and professional opportunities for their family to pursue, and for that, their standard of living would be better than it was in the DR.
Amy is now 23 years old and can say that these expectations were definitely not met. In Pennsylvania, her family experienced an immense culture shock. They realized quickly that people in America are not as culturally “warm” as they are in the Dominican Republic. Not being able to rely on their neighbors for assistance anymore forced them to depend more on each other. Although they already knew some English, additional learning was required in order to communicate more effectively with classmates and community members. Further, the town was notorious for its racist and anti-immigrant sentiments, which initially intimidated Amy.
Their undocumented status created even more restrictions for the family, as they were not afforded the same economic, social, and political opportunities as everyone else. The most significant consequence is Amy’s inability to enter the professional field after graduating from Swarthmore. On one hand, her parents were well aware of the risk they were taking by residing in the United States as unauthorized persons. In fact, they felt it was worthwhile to sacrifice the life they were leaving behind for the one they desired. On the other hand, they did not anticipate how long the naturalization process would take, expecting that they would become citizens by the time Amy graduated high school.
“But, above all, my parents always held the belief that, relative to the conditions that we were in in the Dominican Republic, being undocumented here was a little better.”
Nevertheless, these struggles were no worse than those experienced in the DR but rather of a different type. After all, Amy’s transition didn’t turn out to be all that bad. Upon arriving, she appreciated several things about America, like how her hair didn’t frizz after getting it straightened, how relatively peaceful it was in the streets, and how accessible McDonald’s was, which “in the Dominican Republic, is like going to Red Lobster.” With Amy’s aunt already being a citizen, her family had help with securing a place to stay, finding under-the-table jobs, and enrolling in welfare services. They also found various ways to assimilate by attending communal tutoring sessions, taking English classes, and going to their local church. Amy was fortunate enough to still have much of the social support she had back home as many of her family had also moved to the US, and she maintains regular contact with her friends via WhatsApp. Lastly, despite living in a highly xenophobic town, it actually feels safer to Amy than her neighborhood back in DR. In fact, she expressed how she no longer fears deportation after discovering that the chances of it occurring to her are actually quite slim.
As much as she misses the blue skies in the Dominican Republic and yearns for the things that she never got to experience, Amy finally feels at home in the US. After years of battling with imposter syndrome, she realized that she had to redefine her concept of “home” in order to achieve some solace. For her, being American is not just about citizenship. It isn’t even about how patriotic one is to their country or the language they speak, but rather it is about how much they contribute to the social fabric of this country.