Reasons for Leaving the Homeland A multitude of individuals from various countries around the world have made the difficult choice of immigrating to the United States illegally. Some come to the United States hoping for a better paying job, a better education, or better health care. Immigrants would have the ability to give themselves and their children a better education than they could get from their own countries. Many immigrants are tired of getting paid less when they can go to the United States to earn a better wage. In the homeland of immigrants, they have poor health care compared to the United States. Similarly, the protagonist Lourdes, from the novel Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, faces the difficult choice of leaving her family and immigrating to the United States illegally. The prospects of obtaining a better paying job, allowing an individual’s child to continue his or her education, and the opportunity provide a better life for one’s family exemplify reasons why struggling individuals immigrate to the United States. The first reason why immigrants come to the United States is to search for better paying jobs. In the article by Daniel Stein, he states that the presence of a large illegal workforce discourages Americans from seeking those jobs. This allows the immigrants an opportunity to achieve a better paying job. Many immigrants were professionals back in their countries. Immigrants would get ahead of themselves and believe that the United States would provide better paying jobs, but they were wrong. Immigrants become desperate to find a decent job to send money back home, such as clothes and food. The novel Enrique’s Journey, Lourdes states “she fills a wooden box with gum, crackers, and cigarettes. A good job is out of the question” (Nazario 4). Immigrants came here to the United States to better themselves and their families, but they