Short Essay number 2
Laura Cline
Immigrants in Our Own Land
The poem Immigrants in Our Own Land was a strong poem that compares prison and prisoners and how they are compared to people immigrating to a new country. It is a beautiful well written poem about how immigration might look like from someone else’s eyes. In the poem it describes how a prisoner’s life changes completely after they come into, “another land,” also known as prison by comparing it to how our country may react when immigrants arrive.
We live in a society where people discriminate others just by how they look when in all actuality they are no different from anyone else. In the poem it shows the point of view from an individual who has come to a whole new world being forced to start a new life. “At the gates we are given new papers our old clothes are taken and we are given overalls like mechanics wear. We are given shots and doctors ask questions. Then we gather in another room where counselors orient us to the new land we will now live in. We take tests,” (Line 3-8, Jimmy Santiago Baca) this line shows the process in entering the prison and how much goes into it and how similar it is to being an immigrant in our country. The line, “old clothes are taken and we are given overalls like mechanics wear,” (Line 3, Jimmy Santiago Baca) shows how inmates lose their clothes and have to wear the same thing as everyone else who is in the facility to be like everyone else. It can also be seen as how immigrants come to our land and they see how our society dresses and they will do whatever they can to make themselves look like everyone and maybe they change their wardrobe is the way that is most fitted to their environment. “But in the end, some will just sit around talking about how good the old world was. Some of the younger ones will become gangsters. Some will die and others will go on living without a soul, a future, or a reason to live.” (Lines 60-64, Jimmy Santiago Baca) I believe these lines are one of the most crucial parts in the poem what really made me think that this poem was about prison, the lines “But in the end, some will just sit around talking about how good the old world was.” (Lines 60-61, James Santiago Baca) really stuck out to me, it seems like prisoners would feel this way as they are in jail. But in another sense immigrants may feel the same way, they come to this country with such high expectations but all may not be able to live these high expectations and end up missing the old world they were in.
This poem had a double meaning to me and I think it had a very strong meaning, comparing a prison and the immigration in the prison compared to immigration in the real world and how similar they truly are. Baca gives many examples of how they are similar, “But it’s no different here. It’s all concentrated. The doctors don’t care, our bodies decay, our minds deteriorate, we learn nothing of value. Our lives don’t get better, we go down quick.” (Lines 40-43, Jimmy Santiago Baca) the line “But it’s no different here,” (Lines 40, Jimmy Santiago Baca) talking about the violence and how they’ve put a name for themselves with the wrong they’ve done and how they aren’t treated any different than the other world they lived in. I feel like this is showing how people may see an individual and see the skin color and suddenly go straight to them being aliens and other people. It’s weird how we’ve lived in this amazing country for all our lives and we really take freedom for granted. I think it’s sad that people are so segregated in such an amazing country. This poem really showed how something like a prison can be described the same way as an immigrant who is entering this country. The poem really puts you in the shoes of the prisoner and what he sees and the vast similarities between the new place he calls home, and the outside world for an immigrant.
Work Cited
• Baca, Jimmy S. "Immigrants in Our Own Land." Print.
