Sulivan 1

Isaiah Sulivan

Professor Sinha

April 27, 2019

Stretch English Composition II

The Leavers

The Leavers, a novel written by Lisa Ko, is a testament to first generation immigrants and

their struggles to adapt to life in a new environment. Ko elegantly describes the lives of two

family members moving into the States and how difficult things could be in terms of learning

how to live in a foreign country and adjusting to a fast-paced lifestyle. The troubles surrounding

immigration have been an epidemic since the beginning of the creation of the United States due

to innate racism along with the refusal of acceptance. Many folks have been driven away due to

the massive problems stirred up by the slight arrogance of Americans. What many do not

understand are the conditions that immigrants have had to face when leaving their home

countries, the problems they faced getting to America, and the issues they encountered once they

had gotten here. The struggles and challenges that immigrants face tend to be prominent when it

comes to adaptation and assimilation.

These particular conditions that immigrants leave in their past lives include social,

cultural, and governmental struggles. They leave their cultures and lifestyles back in their real

homes and choose to create new lives in the United States. This allows them to create a new self

and be whoever they want to be. The conditions many people leave in their original homes often

stem from warfare, famine, and even political persecution (Central Intelligence Agency 2018).

For example, in The Leavers, Polly had to leave China in the hope to get an abortion, because

single pregnant mothers are not allowed and frowned upon to get an abortion. Even though she
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knew that citizenship would be difficult to obtain, she was willing to accept the challenges that

would come along with immigrating to the United States undocumented with the hopes of

obtaining a better life for her and her soon to be family.

Many people that are native to the United States or have been here their entire lives do

not grasp the concept of the troubles that people go through in order to arrive in the country very

well. The amount of paperwork and waiting that one must do to obtain an American Visa or

Green Card is extremely tiring and time consuming. Many have to wait as many as 10 years just

to gain citizenship let alone acceptance. Large scale immigration has affected the nation in terms

of a positive and healthy lifestyle for others to interact with people of many races and religions.

However, this forces them to have to work twice as hard to either obtain an education, or find

work that will support themselves or their families. The work that is available is usually not very

pleasurable, but it is a sacrifice that they are all willing to go for if it means a better life for

everyone that they care about.

The struggles that immigrants have to face once finally arriving to America are probably

the worst of any that they have ever seen. There is blatant racism, unacceptance, and challenges

such as language barriers, xenophobia, bias, education, and job searching. This is seen clearly

when Polly is treated unfairly throughout the entire course of the novel. When she finally gets

the chance to reunite with her son, she still has to deal with many problems that seem to haunt

her in her day to day life. The examples stated earlier are always on the mind of immigrants that

have issues with their new American lives. According to the Homeland Security Website, there

were 1,127,167 residents that legally obtained their permanent residence in 2017 (Homeland

Security 2018). These numbers have drastically increased since 2013 and prove that it is very

difficult to receive this form of residence. The language barriers normally strike first, causing
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one to realize that it will be quite difficult to express themselves verbally to others without being

mocked or scrutinized. This along with xenophobia, contributes to making the lives of

immigrants more difficult than they already are. The societal branding that Americans put on

foreign immigrants is quite vague but has such a negative connotation that it causes for others to

have this same sort of fear. Keep in mind that this is regardless of the fact that America was

founded by immigrants, and the multicultural diversity that it is known for today has stemmed

from this. Even to this day, there are so many immigrants that do crucial work within many

industries that allow for the country to thrive the way that it does. Another challenge faced is

education because individuals that are moving to the states, especially those who are escaping

political or religious asylum, are not normally educated enough to find a job that will allow for a

decent living in the States. This lack of education prevents for a fair and equal opportunity for

the people that are willing to risk their lives just for the hope to gain any sort of freedom to make

money and live their lives.

In conclusion, even though there are countless struggles that immigrants must fight

through in order to succeed in the United States, there are also many bright sides to what they are

fighting for. For example, their children have much easier lives in the United States as legal

citizens along with a much easier time assimilating to the culture that surrounds them. The home

conditions, problems coming to the States, and challenges they face seem more and more worth

it when they see how much the sacrifice pays off for the children. Each and every immigrant is

fighting for something that they feel is right and just that is what keeps pushing them forward.

Just how Polly always pushed for her own successes, or how Deming strived to be a better

person for the sake of his family, all other immigrants today are working in order to get the life

that they deserve in the United States. Polly is the prime example in all of these scenarios
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because she too was an undocumented immigrant that had to escape political asylum when she

was unable to receive an abortion. She willingly put her life on hold in order to find a way to

save herself the trouble of being ostracized by others. The type of behavior that is exhibited by

some citizens of this nations is mind boggling because of how unaccepting and arrogant many

can be. Her story serves as a reputable example of how truly insane it is to move oneself or a

family into this nation. Ever since the beginning of the nation these problems have existed, and

to this very day our country may seem diversified, but there is still and probably will always be a

barrier between immigrants and natives.

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Works Cited

Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018,

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/.

Quadrennial Homeland Security Review | Homeland Security.

www.dhs.gov/quadrennial-homeland-security-review.

“Racism.” National Museum of American History, 12 Sept. 2018,

americanhistory.si.edu/righting-wrong-japanese-americans-and-world-war-ii/racism.

“Student Resources | Federation for American Immigration Reform.” Leading Fight to

Stop Illegal Immigration, fairus.org/student-resources.

“The World Factbook Profile of Global Migration.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central
Intelligence Agency, 7 Feb. 2013, www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2013-
featured-story-archive/world-factbook-global-migration.html.