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Formal Outline

1. Nowadays more and more people is emigrating looking for a better life in other countries, leaving their houses generally in the search of a better income, but what they don’t realize is that with the house they leave their home, and with their home a lot of cultural and social things that are going to change in that new place.

a. Despite the cultural and social differences immigrants might have to face, they are always looking for their personal growth and as Lin-Manuel Miranda say “immigrants do their job”.

b. Background information

i. The motivations for leaving one's homeland are diverse, but essentially fall into an economic or political category, or both. Fundamentally, emigrating expresses a desire for freedom to improve our quality of life.

ii. It is possible to appreciate a difference between native people and immigrants who live with them, since it is not only a different passport or place of birth, but also clothing, ways of living, languages, ethical codes, complexions physical, wages, religion and culture.Immigrants are not always completely free due to the cultural, social, ethnic and physical differences they must face, so they can achieve their true personal growth once they have achieved true total freedom.

2. As is common knowledge and has been going for a long time (since immigration has existed), immigrants once settled (or not) in a country that is not theirs of origin, are not completely free because many are exploited and they are not recognized; on the contrary, they are rejected despite their efforts to support their families and wants for a better life.

a. Alexander Hamilton

i. “Born illegitimate and orphan by the time he was 10, and penniless” (Lin-Manuel Miranda)

1. He was not completely free since he did not have the same opportunities than other people.

b. Concepcion Dieguez (my grandmother, Spanish in Uruguay)

i. She immigrated to Uruguay in the Spanish dictatorship and was really tough for her to find a job, since she was an immigrant.

1. Her first years in Uruguay were really hard since although she was legally in the country, she was not used to the culture and certain differences were marked towards her.

c. Immigrants in America that are exploited and not secure in the country.

i. “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” – Alexander Hamilton Mixtape.

1. In this song people “tells” how they are called lazy, ugly people or people that come just to steal jobs just for the fact of being immigrants, but they are the one that actually do the “dirty job”.

d. Almost all immigrants are going to feel the differences between countries and most of them are going to be subject of complaints, but it is on their hands to make the people respect them by working hard and setting the tone, always being respectful with others. In addition to being respectful, all the previous mentioned things can be achieved by overcoming some differences between immigrants and the native people of the country.

3. An immigrant may not feel comfortable or “free” in the country where he/she lives not only because of the obvious fact that they are not in their “home”, but also because of cultural, social and ethical differences that are constantly being felt by them everywhere.

a. Cultural differences

i. “Individuals who migrate experience multiple stresses that can impact their mental well-being, including the loss of cultural norms…”. (Bhugara & Becker, 2005)

1. Not possible to be mentally free unless the immigrant inserts himself in the culture.

b. Social differences

i. “If the individual feels isolated from his or her culture, unaccepted by the 'majority culture' and has a lack of social support, a consequent sense of rejection, alienation and poor selfesteem may occur.” (Bhugara & Becker, 2005)

1. Due to the social differences, immigrants will not have any social support, feeling rejected to the point of not being “one more” citizen of a country.

c. Due to the aforementioned differences, it is possible to affirm that immigrants are not totally free, since there are differences with the people of the country of origin from which they cannot easily escape. So, although immigrants are said to be free, they are not totally, and that’s why in many cases they do not get to achieve their wanted personal growth.

4. People immigrate for a reason, and although sometimes is for political issues, family issues, or something out of the ordinary, they are always looking for a better life, better economic solutions, in fact, they are looking for their personal growth, which cannot be achieved without first getting a full freedom, not only physical but also mentally.

a. Alexander Hamilton

i. “This is a guy who pulled himself up from out of nothing and helped to create our nation” (Lin-Manuel Miranda on Hamilton)

1. Hamilton is an example of personal growth, which could be set as an example of someone who went from rags to riches.

b. People that immigrate looking for personal growth

i. “immigrants have become a significant driving force in the creation of new businesses and intellectual property in the U.S. …” (The Cost and Benefits of Immigration).

1. The balance between economic and mental goodness should be a priority, since people think that they are going to another country to improve economically, but they end up being a prisoner of a culture to which they do not want to belong, ending up not being free at all.

c. Personal growth refers to improvements in habits, behavior, actions and reactions, but is often confused by people with economic growth, so immigrants leave their country looking for personal growth but the only thing they end up finding is maybe more economical freedom, but no personal one.

5. Conclusion

a. Freedom and immigration (macro): Immigrants are not always completely free, personal growth, cultural and social differences.

b. People who are immigrants in a country will almost always have noticeable differences with people from the country of origin, so they must face them. This can end in many cases with immigrants not being free since although they are not imprisoned, there are certain actions towards them and differences that will make them not be able to enjoy total mental freedom, being that only when they manage to overcome the state of non-freedom , they may just achieve personal growth.

c. People emigrate and immigrate in search of happiness and freedom, but sometimes they end up not being free due to the differences that they themselves decided to move to.