Mothering+From+Afar


 * Mothering From Afar **

Illegal immigration is a significant problem globally. It is especially prevalent in modern politics in the United States concerning illegal immigrants from Latin America. This problem affects not only Americans, but the influx of illegal immigrants from these areas makes it even harder for legal immigrants to succeed. This issue has relevance to women due to the feminization of migration. The demand for low priced labor has lead women to pay to be smuggled into the U.S. where they can get a job to make money to send back to their families. These “transnational mothers” are forced to leave their families in order to make enough money to pay to take care of them.

Their journey and stay in the United States is often characterized by unique and overwhelming health care needs. They’re health risks start when they consider entering the country illegally, which is often both dangerous and expensive, if they wish to hire human smugglers to transport them. If they chose to brave the journey alone, they face desert conditions for days with hardly any food or water. For some of them, this journey takes 25 days. On it they must face the harsh conditions of the desert consisting of a lack of water, food, and constant fear of abuse from coyotes (human smugglers) or bodily injury from the long hikes and climbs. It is important to remember when considering these situations that these immigrants are human beings, with families and children to take care of. In fact, they choose to undergo these harsh conditions for their family’s survival. Results from a study by Rosa Maria Sternberg, PhD, RN and Charlotte Barry, PhD, RN in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship showed that all of these transnational mothers undergo “living in extreme poverty, having hope, choosing to walk from poverty, suffering through the trip to and across the US-Mexican border, mothering from afar, valuing family, and changing personally” (Sternberg, 2009, 2010). Every individual in the study reported living in extreme poverty. That is, they lacked a basic need for human survival such as shelter, health care, clean drinking water, etc. This extreme poverty along with the domestic abuse that many of them faced ultimately led them to leave their homes for the United States. While these transnational mothers undergo much physical stress getting to America, they often undergo emotional stress after they arrive. This arises out of separation from their families, specifically their children. This separation coupled with their adaptation of new cultural traditions and languages lead to personal changes that ultimately result in the women becoming independent and strong. These independent sacrifices help these women afford decent education for their children that they would not be able to afford otherwise.

Source: Sternberg, Rosa Maria, and Charlotte Barry. "Transnational Mothers Crossing the Border and Bringing Their Health Care Needs." Journal of Nursing Scholarship 43.1 (2011): 64-71. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.

On this page I will be examining the situation of migration of mothers to the United States to support their families from abroad as outlined in the Journal Of Nursing Scholarship.

Doug Krysan