The Meaning of Family

According to Dictionary.com the word family means: a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, consideredas a group, whether dwelling together or not. In reality though, family means so much more than this. They are truly our biggest supporters and love us unconditionally. Although important to many, family is especially important to these illegal immigrants, because they don’t have anything else. Families, like Enrique’s, are so poor they don’t have shoes, or enough money to feed the family. In times of struggle like this, you lean on your family for support and hope. But what happens when moms and dads feel compelled to leave and go work in the United States? Then their children and other family members are left with nothing but hope that they will return soon. The separation is the initial cause of why so many new families are created. For instance, Lourdes has another child in the U.S., Enrique gets Maria Isabel pregnant, and Enrique’s dad finds another girlfriend. Ultimately this causes complexity within the lives of migrants because they eventually feel compelled to return to their original family and integrate their new families with their old. Migrants must blend in, which is why they learn how to speak and sometimes dress like the people in cities they are passing through. Although, “Migrants are easy to spot. They wear dirty clothes and smell bad after days or weeks without bathing. Often, they have no socks. Their shoes are battered. They have been bitten by mosquitoes. They look exhausted” (Nazario98). The dedication these illegal immigrants have to their families never fails to amaze me. What role does family play in your life? And would you be willing to embark on this dangerous journey to be reunited with your family?