Psychological Effects of Discrimination and Poverty

Many immigrants leave desperate situations and unknowingly enter another as they try to provide the basic necessities of life in the United States. Most immigrants enter the United States in search of work or fleeing from violence in their home countries. Joaquín crosses the desert to reach the United States in order to find work. Surviving a near-death experience in the mountainous desert, his first steady job was on a ferry service, and he helped transport workers in and out of Ground Zero after September 11, 2001. Despite heroic efforts, both personal and professional, the ferry company fires all the Mexican workers post 9/11. Because of this backlash against immigrants, Joaquín is now a day laborer—and his story is not an only case. Immigrant workers are at the bequest of employers, lack work regulations and are frequently harassed and fired at will. The...