By Amara Johnson
Thursday, 27 May 2010 01:20
"In Belize, Americans were perceived to be friendly people, so I expected to be welcomed when I came to America."
My name is Filiberto Martinez , and I am an immigrant of Belize, Central America. I was born and raised in Belize up until the age of nineteen. My childhood in Belize was amazing. There were a lot of things to do, and I had many friends. I grew up in a family with six other siblings; two older brothers, two older sisters, and one younger sister and brother. I thought it was nice having a big family growing up. Being raised with so many siblings, we learned to share things. It was nice having a large extended family as well. There were a lot of family members on both my mother and father's side.
I was very close with my siblings when I was younger, but when my mother and father got divorced, it really divided the family. My father started to see another woman shortly after my parents separated, and she was very cruel to all of the children. My older sisters had to make their own lives early on, so they found husbands and left home. Because of this, I had to take care of my younger siblings, and decided that we had to leave because the situation was getting worse. This was partially why I made the migration from Belize to America. It was ultimately the right decision, but as a result, I don't have much of a relationship with the siblings who stayed.
When I was growing up in Belize, the economic and political conditions were terrible. My mother was a teacher at a primary school, and she couldn't afford to raise all of us kids. She had to find ways of getting additional income. As far as the political conditions of Belize, I have never expressed any interest in them growing up. My parents were also never involved in politics either. It wasn't of any concern to my family. Two political groups in Belize were The United Democratic Party and The People's Democratic Party. These were the most prominent political parties when I was younger.
When I first arrived in America, I lived right here in Oakland, California. I was nineteen years old when I came to California with my younger siblings. I came to leave my life at my father's house behind, but also to help my mother. She had already been living in California and had created a new life for herself. At the point when I moved to California, she was pregnant, and unable to work, so I came to America to help take care of her. I had to work to help support her, and luckily, I was able to find a job right when I got to Oakland. The transition could have been a lot worse if I didn't get that job, so I'm very thankful that it all worked out. The migration was somewhat difficult because it really divided the family. It was a big part of my life and it allowed me to realize that when you do something like this for someone, you really love them.
I believe I was received well by Americans when I first moved to California. In Belize, Americans were perceived to be friendly people, so I expected to be welcomed when I came to America. When I first moved here I lived in a Latino community, so I didn't really interact with white people at all. After living in America for eight years I've gone back to visit Belize about three times. Everything is different there, and as soon as I get there I feel like I want to be back in California. I visit my uncles on my father's side, which is a big family. My mother also has a big family. She has ten brothers, and I usually visit them as well. I tend to favor my mother's side of the family because when my father walked away, his side of the family wasn't interested in helping us very much. Whenever I go back and talk to them, I don't really feel like I miss them.
Even after moving to America, I still have little interest in politics. However, I did vote for the first time during the last presidential election. I was pushed to vote, and I ended up voting for Obama, but politics are still not something I live for. As far as the current immigration situation in America, I can see where both sides are coming from. I understand why the government doesn't want to help immigrants, because there are so many of them. Financially, I don't think the country is able to support all of them. You have to prioritize people who qualify for these benefits first, and it's hard to give money and unemployment to undocumented people. I also understand that immigrants need help and I think we should be able to work something out to help them. In my personal opinion, I feel that the government should at least allow immigrants permission to leave their country and go back as needed. I believe the immigrants would at least be satisfied with something like that. All of my brothers are living in America now, and I worry about something happening to them. I am currently a citizen, and I would hate to see them in a situation like that. I think something has to work out, and that something should be done.
I have been living in America, specifically California, for thirteen years now. Although I initially moved to Oakland, I am now living in Bay Point with my family. I have a wife and two daughters. My oldest daughter is seven years old, and the younger one is two years old. I met my wife when I was living in Oakland. We met while attending the same Catholic youth group, and eventually we got married. I enjoy living in the Bay Area much more than my life in Belize. I feel like living in Bay Point I have a great Latino community. Your neighbors are always willing to help you out and you can always count on them to watch your house when you're gone. I definitely feel like I made the right decision by living here, and am thankful that I'm still able to maintain a close relationship with my community and my family.
