immigration

Language,immigration and clash of cultures

While immigrants often struggle with the language of their adopted country, most children of immigrants learn the language with greater ease, tending to be proficient in both the language of their parents and the local language. But this seems to occur with an interesting twist, with second generation immigrants developing a dialect of their own. Although mainly a spoken dialect, this still holds implications for legal immigration translation and interpreting. 

The history of immigration and language change, and their mutual effects on one another, runs deep. While there are many points of discussion here, ask yourself this question – what happens when immigrants and their children learn the language of their newly adopted homeland? While adults who immigrate may never learn the local language well, their children, who are born and raised in the new country, most probably will. Of course limited education and other socioeconomic factors can influence how well the second generation immigrants will learn the local language.

The spoken language of immigrants’ children depends to a large extent on where they live and their proximity to other immigrants who originated from the same part of the world. Other factors that determine how the new generation will use language have to do with how the children perceive their position in society and whether or not they are urbanites. Linguists have determined that the effects of immigration and language can be prevelent with immigrants’ children brought up in an urban environment. This particular generation tends to speak a dialect form of the local language. Interestingly, this form of the spoken local language follows its own grammatical rules that make the language easier for the new generation to learn as a second language. This is often referred to as vernacular speech but is actually a dialect.

What Are the Four Types Of Immigration?

When people ask “what are the four types of immigration?” what they actually mean is “what are the four immigration statuses?” and not “what are the four types of immigration?” The four immigration statuses include citizens, residents, non-immigrants, and undocumented immigrants.

1.Citizens

A citizen is someone who pledges allegiance to the United States and who is given certain inalienable rights as granted by the United States Constitution.

There are two types of citizenship.

The first type of citizen is someone who was born in the United States and by their birthright, they are deemed to be an American citizen. Someone may also be born in a territory of the United States of America, for example, anyone born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941 is considered to be a U.S. Citizen by birth.

The second type of citizen is someone who becomes a citizen through the naturalization process. During the naturalization process, a person must meet specific criteria before they can be considered as a U.S. citizen.

Currently the USCIS requirements for someone to become a citizen through naturalization are as follows:

Be at least 18 years of age at the time you file the application;

Have been a lawful permanent resident for the past three or five years (depending on which naturalization category you are applying under);

Have continuous residence and physical presence in the United States;

Be able to read, write, and speak basic English;

Demonstrate good moral character;

Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government;

Demonstrate a loyalty to the principles of the U.S. Constitution; and

Be willing to take the Oath of Allegiance.

2. Residents

A resident, also known as a lawful permanent resident, is someone who has been granted the right to indefinitely live within the United States. Lawful permanent residents are also referred to as “Green Card Holders” because they are granted a green card to prove their lawful status in the United States.

To be eligible for residency in the United States, you must qualify under one of the categories determined by the U.S. government. These categories include:

Green Card through Family

Green Card through Employment

Green Card as a Special Immigrant

Green Card through Refugee or Asylee Status

Green Card for Human Trafficking and Crime Victims

Green Card for Victims of Abuse

Green Card through Other Categories

Green Card through Registry

Once eligible, applicants for permanent residency must go through the application process which includes filling in an application for residence, paying a necessary fee, undergoing medical checks, and going through a biometrics process. Once all of the necessary criteria has been satisfactorily met, a green card will be issued.

3. Non-Immigrants

Non-immigrants are individuals who have a nationality other than American and who have been granted temporary permission to be in the United States for a specific purpose. Non-immigrants must have a non-immigrant Visa that proves their legal status as a temporary visitor in the country.

There are many different types of non-immigrant visas that someone can apply for to become a non-immigrant who is legally in the United States.

4. Undocumented Immigrants

The final immigration status in the U.S. is that of the undocumented immigrant.

The undocumented immigrant is sometimes referred to as the “illegal alien” although this phrase is being eradicated from the immigration system vocabulary.

Undocumented immigrants are individuals that have entered the United States illegally. There is no record of these individuals entering the country and they do not have the necessary paperwork to prove legal presence in the U.S.

Undocumented immigrants can be deported if they are caught living in the U.S. illegally.

The loss of one's social structure and culture can cause a grief reaction, as has been described by Eisenbruch. Migration involves the loss of the familiar, including language (especially colloquial and dialect), attitudes, values, social structures and support networks.

 Grieving for this loss can be viewed as a healthy reaction and a natural consequence of migration; however, if the symptoms cause significant distress or impairment and last for a specified period of time, psychiatric intervention may be warranted. Eisenbruch  has defined cultural bereavement as "the experience of the uprooted person - or group - resulting from loss of social structures, cultural values and self-identity: the person - or group - continues to live in the past, is visited by supernatural forces from the past while asleep or awake, suffers feelings of guilt over abandoning culture and homeland, feels pain if memories of the past begin to fade, but finds constant images of the past (including traumatic images) intruding into daily life, yearns to complete obligations to the dead, and feels stricken by anxieties, morbid thoughts, and anger that mar the ability to get on with daily life".

The expression of such bereavement is influenced by many factors, among which are social, cultural and economic. In a study of the palliative care experience of Bangladeshi patients and their carers in east London, recent migration, linguistic barriers, religious beliefs and financial issues impacted the ability to optimise pain control in patients and the grieving process of family members; burial of the deceased in Bangladesh and social support from family and friends were potentially helpful in the grieving process.

The importance of culture in the expression of grief was highlighted by a case report of bereavement in an Ethiopian female refugee. Her symptoms of grief were complicated by her inability to perform her culturally sanctioned purification rituals because of her relocation. Compounding her problem, she was erroneously diagnosed at various times due to the use of Western derived diagnostic criteria and a lack of appreciation of the cultural differences in the presentation of grief by clinicians.