‘The Leavers’, published in 2017 by Lisa Ko, a woman born in New York City to immigrants from China, reveals the difficulties immigrants go through. She was inspired by a news article about an undocumented immigrant that was arrested and separated from her son, who was adopted by Canadian parents.
In an article from Forbes by immigration lawyer Andy Semotiuk, he says that American identity is shaped by immigrants. Also, individual identity is shaped by American Culture because immigrants want to belong and fit in. Barack Obama for example, went by Barry Obama while he was growing up, but later in life, he embraced his real name and wanted to go by Barack.
In ‘The Leavers’, Deming is an undocumented child, born in NYC, raised by his mother. His mother disappears one day, leaving Deming very angry at her, but does not know why she left him. Polly, his mother, turns out to have been arrested and deported. Deming is then adopted by a White couple and becomes ‘Daniel Wilkinson.’ This couple attempts to ‘save’ Deming by helping him become more ‘American’ but always felt differentiated. He later tracks down his mother in China, visits her and return to America. She is a very adventurous, hard working woman, but spends her life regretting going to America and giving birth to her son there.
In the US, children separated from their aunts grandparents, or someone that isn’t their mother or father are placed in foster care by the HHS until they can be released by their parent or legal guardian. “About 11,900 children were in HHS shelters and nearly 5,800 children were in border patrol custody as of March 28” according to an article from Reuters. The immigration laws are too negligent of immigrants and the consequences are disdained. The affects of abandonment on a child are very severe and lead to many health problems like depression and addiction. ‘The Leavers’ gives insight into the “behind the scenes” of a family separation.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/lisa-ko-immigration-inspiration-leavers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2021/01/31/what-is-the-american-identity-and-how-should-immigrants-be-absorbed/?sh=5c40595e5e87
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-separations-idUSKBN2BM149
I really like your post. This is a really informative one. You provided lots of the background information of the book.Immigration has always been a very important issue in the United States. Who can stay and who must leave are also clearly divided. Expressing political appeal has always been a very important part of the author’s life, but not just because she is a writer.
I agree with zhu.2822, this gave a lot of information, and even better, in a small package. I had no clue that many children were in HHS shelters and honestly it is still a little hard to believe. I appreciate the background information you provided about the book.
I too was a little shocked and supervised by the number of children in shelters. Reading about Deming feels very personal and small scale, it’s really crazy and sad to think about how many other children this happens to across the country and across the world.
Hello, I found your presentation to be really interesting. Being an immigrant myself I can totally agree totally agree how the struggles of immigrants are so hard. Moreover, one can only imagine the struggles of being adopted while being an immigrant. Overall, I think you really did an amazing job presenting the issue.
I was surprised to read about the statistic with children in shelters and in border patrol custody. Many of those kids come with no other choice because their parents wanted a better opportunity for their family. A child should never be separated from their parent because they were trying to give their child a better life despite the risks. Something should definitely be done to try and prevent this. Thank you for your informational presentation!
I think this post was very informative about the immigration issues and how immigrant children born in America can end up in foster care. This is my first time hearing Barak Obama changing his name at one point in his life to possibly fit in more. It’s sad to see how families are being broken a part because of their immigration status.
Thanks for the post. Your presentation made me think about how disconnected I am from immigration problems in the US. I feel like a lot of it has to do with living in Ohio my whole life, so there are probably not as many illegal immigrants living here as some other states. I really do not know what to think of people being deported and families being separated other than it being bad. I think it could be beneficial to me to learn more about what problems this deportation can cause for the rest of the US. I have a similar reaction to this situation as I did to the Iranian Revolution that I learned about from Persepolis; that I had little to no idea as to what it was about. What’s even more alarming is that this problem more directly impacts me since I live in the US, yet I do not know much about it.
I apologize for using the term “illegal immigrant” I understand why it is harmful now. I would edit this comment to “undocumented” but I cannot figure out how.
Hi,
Thank you for your presentation. I thought I knew a decent amount on immigration, but there seems to be something new, often always disheartening, every time I learn more about the subject. I never knew that information about Barack Obama. It’s so interesting since he is American but still experienced much discrimination due to that fact that his father was an immigrant. You mentioned American identity being shaped by immigrants. Does this mean that this country is a melting pot of many cultures. Again, thanks for your insights!
I think your presentation is very informative! Immigration was a huge issue in New York City since it is a major city with easy transportation access. Your information about Barack Obama is new to me and provides insightful information about how immigrants may feel today even if they dont show it
I had no idea that Barak Obama went originally by Barry. It is genuinely upsetting to see so many people of color try to assimilate to “American” culture. Overall, this was a great post, and thank you for your insight into this topic!
I was so unaware of that rule about immigration laws and how children can be taken away from their extended families and put into foster care or even adopted by other families in different countries. This makes me want to look further into immigration laws, and it makes me curious as to how and why some of these laws were ever able to be passed in the first place.
Immigration laws can be cruel, which can lead to some sad stories. Children can be separated from their families and put into homes and adoption centers they do not want to be in. I thought your post was informative, and it taught me a few new things that I did not already know about immigration. Thank you for the exciting presentation.
Hi! I really think your post gives great backgrounds about immigration and just how bad the laws can be. I believe everyone should have to learn about laws like these. It is very important to be educated about this. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this post. I believe that immigration is one of the most important issues in the United States, yet at the same time one of the most difficult to relate to. People may feel hard done by if immigrants begin taking the jobs that they feel entitled to, but these people are just trying to survive. You cannot truly understand how hard it is to be separated from your family, parent or child. Yet somehow, this is the solution in the United States today.
Hello! Thank you so much for your post! I find it to be very interesting that Obama actually went by Barry. I also find it really interesting that many foreign exchange students change their name when they come to America because of the difficulty of their name. Also, I enjoyed reading this post. It was very informative about this weeks book!