Running Head: IMMIGRANT INTERVIEW

Immigrant Interview

Amya Werner

College of Southern Nevada

Immigrant Interview

Leo Black is a family friend that immigrated from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He now lives

in Las Vegas, Nevada and my father knows him from Argentina. Before moving, Leo did not

realize how different cultures were. His story is fascinating to hear because of the differences

between the two places and the process it takes to move to a new country. Leo told me the

amazing things about his homeland, and how grateful he is to now be living in America.

In Argentina, Spanish is the main language spoken and was Leos first language.

However, the Argentine Spanish is very different from other places. Leo informed me that a

stereotype that is brought upon him often is people thinking all Spanish is the same. A stereotype

can be defined as an attitude toward a person or group that supposedly characterizes or describes

an entire group, gender, race, or religion (Manning & Baruth, 2008). Argentine Spanish

pronounces many letters completely different than Mexican Spanish, to the point where it is

difficult for the two cultures to understand each other. The religion is predominantly catholic,

and it is taken very seriously. Over 90 percent of the country is Catholic and there are beautiful

churches that fill the streets. Leo described the city to me as a metropolitan European setting. He

says that the city of Buenos Aires is filled with people of European descent and European

culture. Culture can be defined as peoples values, language, religion, ideals, artistic expression,

patterns of social and interpersonal relationships, and ways of perceiving, behaving, and thinking

(Manning & Baruth, 2008). Most people that are from Argentina state that they are European and

not Latin American; this separates them from the rest of South America. One of the most

important things in the Argentine culture is family. They have strong relationships with all of

their family members, and family always comes first. It is very different from the American
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culture because children do not usually move out of the house until they are in their thirties or

forties in Argentina.

Leo moved to America when he was eight years old with his twin brother, mom, and dad.

His parents knew that they could give their kids a better life in America. There were more job

opportunities, and a better lifestyle. The idea of a new start was exciting. The family hopped on a

plane leaving everything behind that they knew, and had to start all over. Leo said that was the

hardest part because of all of the personal belongings they left with their other family members

in Buenos Aires. It was also devastating to leave all of his cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends that

he grew up with. The biggest cost of the immigration process was once they were in America,

because they were starting a new life. They bought a new house, car, clothes, and every other

necessity they needed. Even though the family was scared, they knew that America would give

them opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise. America was the promise land, where dreams

come true, and moving to this land was the best decision they could have made.

To get a green card, the family had to hire an attorney that works on green card cases.

Once that was done, they had to fill out a heavy amount of paperwork of why they should get the

green cards and all the personal information about them. After that, the paperwork gets sent to

the government and then it is a waiting game until the government sends a letter back giving a

date for the family to go to the immigrant office. Leo informed me that this whole process took

many months and a crazy amount of time to get through. Next, the family went to the immigrant

office to get a temporary green card and that is when the family became legal. Having a green

card is very different from becoming a citizen, but immigrants are not required to become a

citizen if they already have a green card. Because Leo was so young, his parents did not feel the
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need for him to become a citizen yet.They thought the test was too much to put on a young boy

who moved to a new continent, where he did not know the language spoken. Leo waited until he

was 28 years old to become a citizen of the United States. To become a citizen, Leo had to take a

test about American history and had to answer other questions about America. Leo put a lot of

time and effort into studying for this test. Once he passed, they congratulated him for becoming a

citizen and gave him a mini American flag to keep.

Leo said once he told all of his friends he was moving to America, it was like he was

famous. Everyone in Argentina thought that was the coolest thing, and that's when Leo realized

how cool it was going to be. Even though Leo was very young, he still understood the magic that

America had. His parents thought that America had jobs available that would bring more income

for the family. The parents thought that America was a place where hard work turns into success.

Once Leo and his twin brother knew they were moving to Chino, California, they were ecstatic

because they have heard of Disneyland and knew it was in California. The thought of living the

American life was very exciting for these two young kids. Once they got to America, the parents

were able to get successful jobs and live the American dream. The main challenge they faced

was the language barrier. The children did not realize how very little people spoke Spanish in

Chino. Too often, we assume that European Americans are fluent in English (Manning & Baruth,

2008). Many teachers thought they should know more English than they actually did. For the

kids, this was especially challenging in school. Leo and his brother went to school and over time

picked up English from their teachers and classmates. This was a hard transition on the kids and

was very stressful for them to not understand everyone else around them. Language diversity is

one of the most significant challenges facing U.S schools (Manning & Baruth, 2008). Leo lived
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in Southern California where Los Angele has 1,111,000 students who speak English less than

very well and 1,574,000 speak Spanish at home ( Manning & Baruth, 2008). Leos family

spoke Spanish at home. Now that they are older, they are very grateful that they are bilingual. It

gives them many opportunities that they wouldn't have if they did not speak Spanish and

English.

The best part about living in the United States to Leo is that everyone has the chance to

be successful, and how safe it is here. He says that Americans do not realize how lucky they are

to live in a country where everything is so easily accessible. The most difficult thing about living

in the United States is that Americans prioritize long hours of work, and do not prioritize enough

family time and vacation days. It is very different from other countries who respect family time

more. Even though this is an issue, he could not be more grateful to live in a country with so

much freedom.
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References

Manning & Baruth, L.L. (2008). Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents. Boston:

Pearson.