1. By: Katie Winkler Advisor: Dr. Donaldo Urioste
The Image of the Children Left Behind by Immigrant Parents in U.S. Latino Literature
By: Katie Winkler
Advisor: Dr. Donaldo Urioste

2. Outline My Inspiration for this Investigation Research Questions
Research Methods
Immigration: a Definition
Children Left Behind in Literature about Immigration
Children Left Behind in Cinematic Film about Immigration
The Perspective of a Father in a Poem
Conclusion

3. Abstract
The main objective of this project is to analyze literary works on Latino/a immigration to the United States. The books that I study and analyze are Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother by Sonia Nazario, and The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande. Both of these works relate the issue of immigration and the unintentional abandonment of children by immigrant parents. I also included one film that touches on the theme of children left behind by immigrant parents. This project begins with a brief reflection of why I chose this topic. It then leads into the authors and summarizes their works making connections with their texts and the themes of immigration its effect on children left behind. Finally, I comment and analyze a poem with a similar theme. Making these connections on such issues as undocumented immigration and childhood abandonment is so crucial in today’s world and helps us empathize and understand the trials and tribulations of other human beings less fortunate than ourselves.

4. My Inspiration
According to the 2016 Current Population Survey (CPS), “immigrants and their U.S.- born children now number approximately 84.3 million people, or 27 percent of the overall U.S. population. In 2015, 1.38 million foreign- born individuals moved to the United States”
Primero creo que el propósito es para entender que este existe. Clarificar esta estadística es para los inmigrantes en los estados unidos en general

5. My Inspiration Life in Central America
The reason why many people leave their home countries behind
Immigrant children
El tren de la muerte (The Train of Death)

6. My Inspiration Poverty Childhood Abandonment Immigrant Parents
Feelings of Abandonment
Young Immigrants

7. Research Questions How is immigration defined?
In the context of immigration, what is it to be a child left behind?
How are children left behind represented in works about immigration?
How do the feelings of abandonment affect the children left behind by their immigrant parents?

8. Research Methods Primary Sources
Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother (2006), by Sonia Nazario
The Distance Between Us: A Memoir (2013) by Reyna Grande
Bajo la misma luna (Under the Same Moon, 2007): a movie
Un sueño, de un padre a su hijo: a poem by Juan Ramón Martínez
Secondary Sources
Various scholarly articles about immigration and its effect on the children left behind

9. What is immigration?
Immigration: “the action and effect of immigrating
Immigrate: to enter and usually become established; especially : to come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence

10. Sonia Nazario Born in 1960 in Madison, Wisconsin
Lived in Kansas and Argentina
Studied Latin American studies
Humanitarian and journalist
Published Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother (2006)

11. Reyna Grande Born in 1975 in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico
Raised in México, but her immigrant father later brought her to the United States
Studied creative writing in the University of California Santa Cruz
Writer
Published Across a Hundred Mountains (A través de cien montañas, 2006) and Dancing with the Butterflies (Bailando con las mariposas, 2009)
In 2012 she published The Distance Between Us

12. Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother
A Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.
When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, leaves to work in the United States. She sends money back home to Enrique so he can eat better and go to school past the third grade.
Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled. Enrique despairs of ever seeing her again. After eleven years apart, he decides he will go find her.
Without money, he makes the dangerous and illegal trek up the length of Mexico the only way he can – clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains.

13. Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother
Main individuals presented in the book: Enrique Motiño Pineda, Lourdes Pineda
Secondary individuals: Belky, Maria Isabel, Jasmin, Marco, Maria Marcos, Diana

14. Enrique’s Journey: Analysis (1)
Sonia Nazario speaks with her maid, Carmen, and learns that she had to leave her son in El Salvador to try and find work in the United States
She then learns that many Latino children are left behind by their immigrant parents
"I was stuck by the choice mothers face when they leave their children. How do they make such an impossible decision? Among Latinos, where family is all-important, where for women motherhood is valued far above all else, why are droves of mothers leaving their children? What would I do if I were in their shoes?” (Nazario, xii)

15. Enrique’s Journey: Analysis (2)
At this point in Enrique’s Journey, his mother has already left him to work in the United States
She has been sending money for him to buy food and clothing so he does not need to scavenge in the streets. She also sends money for his sister’s tuition for her to one day attend college
“In a country where nearly half live on $1 or less a day, kids from poor neighborhoods almost never go to college.” (Nazario, 26)

16. Enrique’s Journey: Analysis (3)
At this time, Enrique is desperate. He has been using drugs for a while. He has also been acting out irrationally towards the rest of his family and his girlfriend, Maria Isabel, who, at this point, might be pregnant with his baby.
He begins to feel remorse for what he has been putting everyone through and fears he will end up on the street or even dead. He believes his mother will be the only one to fix his dire situation.
“Only his mother can help him. She is his salvation. ‘If you had known my mom, you would know she’s a good person,’ he says to his friend Jose. ‘I love her.’ Enrique has to find her.” (Nazario, 42)

17. Enrique’s Journey: Analysis (4)
By this time Enrique has made to the Mexico/United States border, but he cannot cross without a coyote. He is able to call his mother and talk to her about getting him across.
Because it has been so long since he had talked with her and even longer since he had seen her, he felt as if he were talking to a stranger.
“His mother is a stranger … But he can feel her love.” (Nazario, 178).

18. Enrique’s Journey: Analysis (5)
After Enrique has been living with his mother for a while, he starts acting out and becoming resentful of the fact that his mother left him.
At this point they start to fight and she hits him. He claims she cannot hit him because she did not raise him. She believes sending money was raising him, but he tells her sending money didn’t solve anything.
“I sent money. I supported you. That is raising you!” (Nazario, 195)

19. The Distance Between Us: A Memoir
Born in Mexico and raised by her grandparents after her parents left to find work in the U.S., at nine years old, Reyna enters the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant to live with her father. She quickly realizes that life in America is far from perfect. Her father isn’t the man she dreamed about all those years in Mexico. His big dreams for his children are what gets them across the border, but his alcoholism and rage undermine all his hard work and good intentions. Reyna finds solace from a violent home in books and writing, inspired by the Latina voices she reads. After an explosive altercation, Reyna breaks away, going on to become the first person in her family to obtain a higher education, earning a college degree and then an M.F.A. in Creative Writing.

20. The Distance Between Us
Main individuals presented in the book: Reyna, Mago, Carlos, Mami, Papi
Secondary individuals: Abuela Chinta, Abuela Evila, Tia Emperatriz, Betty, Tío Crece, Elida, Mila, Diana, Rey

21. The Distance Between Us: Analysis (1)
Here Reyna Grande is prefacing her book by saying that both of her parents left her for the United States.
“What I knew back then was that El Otro Lado had already taken my father away. What I didn’t know was that prayers didn’t work, because if they did, El Otro Lado wouldn’t be taking my mother away, too.” (Grande, 8-9)

22. The Distance Between Us: Analysis (2)
Reyna’s father left when she was two years old and all that she had left to remember him was a black and white photo of him.
Her mother tried to throw it out because they were moving to live with their grandmother.
“She didn’t understand that this paper face behind a wall of glass was the only father I’d ever known” (Grande, 9).

23. The Distance Between Us: Analysis (3)
After Reyna’s mother leaves, life continues but feelings of abandonment grow
It is Mother’s Day and Reyna is at school making where they are making cards for all the kids’ mothers. Reyna questions if her mother still loves her
“I thought of the day I learned to spell ‘Mama.’ We were doing phonics, and el maestro wrote on the board MI MAMA ME MIMA (My mother spoils me). MI MAMA ME AMA (My mother loves me) I started to rearrange the words so that they formed a question: ¿ME AMA MI MAMA? (“Does my mother love me?” (Grande, 66)

24. The Distance Between Us: Analysis (4)
Reyna’s sister Mago is done with their father’s stubbornness and abuse. She decides to cut college classes and get a job to buy a car. She tells Reyna this and Reyna is surprised by Mago’s lack of desire to have their father’s approval
Reyna has done everything she can to get her father’s approval and yet, he still does not recognize her efforts or achievements
“My father’s acceptance of me had become my sole reason for being.” (Grande, 241)

25. Un sueño, de un padre a su hijo (A Dream, from a Father to his Child)
I left my country, Honduras,
leaving behind my pregnant wife
I ignored what they were telling me:
you could be robbed, kidnapped or killed.
That didn't stop me!.
I arrive to Veracruz, Tierras Aguas,
a feared place.
I met a father with two children,
We shared the same destiny.
One night between nine and ten,
A young boy stood up on top of the train,
tossing him from the train
the branches killed him.
disconcerted I thought about returning
to my pregnant wife: my soul.
Then I received wonderful news:
My child is born!
I will continue on!!

26. Nights were usually very sad,
so far away from my family,
only with God.
Protect me, dear God, from this train
In a split second I could lose my life,
Please look after my countrymen
those behind me and those ahead of me.
Mexico: The Valley of Death for migrants.
We are simply seeking
the wellbeing of our families,
we do harm to no one,
we are just passing through
"God, please bestow blessings
upon the Mexican people.
And to all my Salvadorian, Guatemalan, and
Nicaraguan, Belizean
brothers and sisters
May God also be with you
and watch over you..
With love to all parents and to all migrants.

27. Reflection of A Dream, of a Father to his Son (Un sueño, de un padre a su hijo)
This poem is from the perspective of a father. Enrique’s Journey and The Distance Between Us were both from the perspectives of the children left behind by their immigrant parents, however this poem is from the perspective of a father who had to leave his wife and baby behind.
I believe that it is important to understand how leaving loved ones behind affects an immigrant parent. For this father, there was no other option. It’s evident that all he desires is to help his family even if he must face the dangers of immigrating. For example, traveling on the top of el tren de la muerte (the train of death) or being an undocumented immigrant in Mexico. However, he continues with the hope that God will help him.

28. Conclusion
In Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother and The Distance Between Us: A Memoir, the children experience a strong feeling of abandonment and carry this throughout their lives. Even though to them it feels like they’ve been abandoned, it was not the intent of their parents. Their parents felt that they had to leave their children behind to give them a better life. They have completely different perspectives and it is difficult for both child and parent to see the same side.

29. Conclusion
Even though this presentation is an analysis of literature, they are not just the experiences of characters from books about immigration. They are experiences of thousands of individuals every single day. Although this may seem obvious, it is still a fact that I have to constantly remind myself of because this makes me connect with the reality that these things are happening while I am living my life here. Remembering is so important and crucial to empathize with and understand the individuals that have gone through an experience similar to that of Enrique and Reyna.

30. Bibliography
Cummins, Amy. "Education in Children's Picture Books Portraying Mexican American Immigrants and Written by Mexican American Authors." Dragon Lode 33.2 (2015): MLA International Bibliography.Web. 16 Nov
Francisco Jiménez, Pam Muñoz Ryan, and Gloria Anzaldúa." MultiCultural Review 18.1 (2009): MLA International Bibliography. Web. 16 Nov
file:///C:/Users/wink4334/Downloads/MexCentAmimmigrants.pdf
"The Distance Between Us." Reyna Grande. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2017.
Grande, Reyna. La Distancia Entre Nosotros. New York: Atria Paperback, Print.
Grande, Reyna. A Traves De Cien Montanƒas: Novela. New York: Atria, Print.
Km "Border Crossing in Children's and Young Adult Literature: Transnationalism in the Works of Francisco Jimnez, Pam Muoz Ryan, and Gloria Anzalda Jess..." Master Your Classes™. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2017.
La Misma Luna. 01 Distribution, DVD.
Nazario, Sonia. Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother. New York: Ember, Print.
Serrato, Phillip. "'what are Young People to Think?': The Subject of Immigration and the Immigrant Subject in
"Update on the Family." Enriquesjourney.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2017.
Yu, Stella M.1, Singh, Gopal K.1. "High Parenting Aggravation Among US Immigrant Families." Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr

31. Thank you
Gracias

32. Questions?
¿Preguntas?