Harry's Immigration Story

"I didn't feel so welcomed into America. I faced some racism when I came. People were calling me [derogatory] names and stuff like that." This quote represents a common problem that many immigrants in America face, racism. Racism and discrimination deters the idea of freedom and fair treatment for all. Here, we are going to review Harry's immigration story and how he was able to settle down in the US.

Harry was born in Hunan (湖南), China. Hunan is a Chinese province, the 10th largest by size and the 7th most populous. He has been living in Hunan for the majority of his life, around 11 years. The education system in Hunan is very rigorous and barely gives students any time to enjoy the place, as Harry states, "I just have a lot of homework in China and I don't have a lot of free time to play." The majority of his childhood is undocumented, but it was likely spent doing schoolwork and activities of a similar caliber.

In 2016, Harry and his parents decided to move out of the country and immigrate to the United States. He and his family believes that life in the US will be much better for them. Even though they don't know the circumstances in the US, they were willing to take the risk in order for Harry to have a better future and education. The majority of the immigration process for Harry is also undocumented, but we can hypothesize that his parents got a hold of HB-1 Visas, or green cards, permits where immigrants can have the rights, benefits, and privileges of permanent residency without obtaining citizenship.

Now, Harry lives with his parents in Rowland Heights, CA, the place where he first came from his immigration. He attended Jellick Elementary in 5th grade, Rowland Elementary in 6th grade, and is now currently attending Alvarado Intermediate for his 7th grade year. After staying in the US for several years, he does mention that he misses his family and the food, along with persisting discrimination ever since he came. Although Harry has faced these challenges in the US, he feels like he will have a great future staying in the country and doesn't want to turn back as he says, "I feel like my life would have been in the middle, like not so good and not so bad if I had not left, but here, I can do something."

About the Authors:

Benny Dong

If you are reading this, then let me introduce myself. Hi, my name is Benny Dong. I am 14 years old and I attend Alvarado Intermediate in sunny California. I am not your typical average student. I am in multiple extracurricular activities, such as the Rowland Debate Team, Mathcounts, Science Olympiad, Boy Scouts of America, and many, many more. Yes, it does sound like I'm bragging or what we like to call it, "flexing", and maybe I am, but some of these extracurricular activities make up apart of who I am as a human being. Recently, in our History/English period, we started to learn and talk about immigration overall, like "how does the immigration process works?," or "why do these immigrants wanted to move all of a sudden?" The topic has brought up this idea; this idea for a way to present the stories of those who migrated in the United States. It may seem far-fetched at the time, but it was possible. After weeks and weeks of interviewing, transcribing, etc., we were able to present these stories. Thank you for reading about Harry's immigration story. *PS, make sure to follow me @itsnotbennydong on Instagram!!

Kevin Tran:

My name is Kevin Tran. I currently attend Alvarado Intermediate School as an 8th grader. I am 14 years old, my birthday being on March 3.