Immigrants in Our Homeland

Immigrants in Our Homeland by Jimmy Santiago Baca, in this, he describes his own experience in prison. Going to this "new land" shattered many futures of the immigrants coming there, as well as their hopes and dreams, with only a few coming out with desire of turning their life around, like how they once hoped for when they first arrived to this undesired place. At the age of 21, Baca was convicted on charges of drug possession. Having to serve 6 years in prison, his eyes were opened and decided to change for the better. During this 6 years, he enduringly taught himself on how to read and write, spending the hard years of trying to learn while sparking his never-before enthusiasm for education. This eventually led him to writing poetry, giving it to his fellow cellmates, which often in return of cigarettes, helping him and the others get through the hard times. All and all, this poem was trying to convey that anyone can change, it is the matter of the will. During all of the years he spent in prison, he stayed strong even in desperate times where many men would have been left broken. He rose from the dirt he once was buried, proving that he can change and that anyone can change.