Artifact 1: Why Do People Migrate?

     Why is more than half of the world considered an immigrant today? People become emigrants generally because their origin of country is suffering from poverty, over population, etc. Over 20% of immigrants move to the United States because we offer better living situations and jobs than their country. In the book The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande, young Reyna suffers most her childhood living under horrible conditions because her mom and dad migrated to the United States to send money for her and her siblings to live. Unfortunately, that money wasn't spent on her and her family but on her caretaker, her grandmother.
 
     In the video, people explain why they migrated and what was given in the country they migrated to. Most of the reasons include poverty, better work opportunities, over population and more. Reasons why people migrate vary by place and time period. In the past, millions of people migrated because of depression in their country. That is still a large reason for migration, except now it is mostly for work in other countries. When people decide they want to migrate to another country, it isn't just an easy one way trip to paradise, its an intense and very scary ride across the border.

     In the book, Reyna explains El Otro Lado as a worry-free place, as most emigrants do. Poverty was the biggest issue for the Grande family and as a resolution their father fled to El Otro Lado and sent money back home but soon the mom joined them and the kids thought of themselves as orphans. Soon enough the children found themselves on the other side, experiencing a proper form of education and work. But the children find out that this place that seemed like heaven at one point isn't what it is cracked up to be.