When These Latinos Tell Immigration Stories, They Push Beyond Fairy Tales

*This is good stuff to read. Real stories told with real, raw truth. VL

By Leah Donnella, NPR Code Switch (7 minute read)

It’s easy to believe in a definitive American immigration story. So much of this country’s mythos is built on that idea. (“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …”) It foretells a fairy tale ending where parents have worked hard, sacrificed much, and settled their children into the new country. The family has assimilated, and the life that came before is a distant memory.

But it’s more complicated than that. The telling of immigration stories exposes a rich array of experiences: loss, longing, duality, triumph and contradiction.

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When Latino colleagues from across NPR shared their families’ immigration stories for Hispanic Heritage Month, their essays were full of things achieved and things surrendered; cultures celebrated and cultures lost; decisions made by choice and by coercion. READ MORE