Cover Letter and Pursuing the American Dream

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The Challenges of Immigrant Women
Individuals from around the world have wished to come to the U.S. to pursue the “American Dream.” For such individuals, America remains a land of opportunities. The increase in the number of immigrants to the U.S. has prompted the government to implement measures to curb immigration. One of such measures is the Immigration Act of 1882, which introduced the term “Likely or Liable to become Public Charge or LPC” The rule meant that immigrants classified as LPC may be denied permission to enter the U.S because of their disabilities or lack the of economic resources. Under the rule, many individuals have been denied entry into the U.S., the majority of whom have been women. Historian Mather Gardner’s The qualities of a citizen: Women, immigration, and citizenship, 1870-1965, document the application of the U.S. immigration law to women to the late 1960s. Similarly, in The Immigrant (2013), Gray demonstrates the plight of immigrant women to the U.S. The LPC was applied unfairly to discriminate against immigrant women and deny them entry to America.
Historically, ideas about gender roles have continued to discriminate against women. The law has been used unfairly as a tool to segregate women. Gardner indicates, “As such, race and gender linger within the shadow of the law.” Here, Gardner shows that instead of the law protecting immigrant women against such discrimination, it unfairly targeted them. In an attempt to deny immigrant women their rights, government officials misused the provisions of the law. Deportations were rampant for immigrant women. These deportations were “gendered racial removal.” With women being disadvantaged, a majority of the immigrants deported would be women. This was unfair considering that immigrant women had a right to live in the U.S. as their counterpart men. Focusing on gender roles was an effective way for America to treat women unfairly. Instead of appreciating the contribution of immigrant women, American society termed them as a liability and used that as an excuse to prevent them from gaining entry.[Gardner, Martha. The qualities of a citizen: Women, immigration, and citizenship, 1870-1965. Princeton University Press, 2009. 254] [Golash-Boza, Tanya, and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo. Pg. 274]
Immigrant officials translated being a single woman as a potential ground to engage in prostitution. In The Immigrant (2013), the officer asks Ewa, “Married or single?” “I am not married,” Ewa replies. Gender and race mattered in the admission of women at the border. In the boat, Ewa had been assaulted by some men. The immigration officer believed the men who had assaulted her more than he believed Ewa. The lack accompanied men, either fathers or husbands meant to the immigration official that Ewa could potentially engage in prostitution. Instead of looking at the assault in the boat as a crime committed against Ewa, the officer interpreted it as a sign of promiscuity. Hence, the officer said that “unescorted women are not allowed into the country, especially in [her] case with the issue of low morals”. In this case, if Ewa was married, the ...