Visibility and Invisibility of Immigrants

The feeling of invisibility can be an advantage for immigrants as it allows them to mesh into the host society drawing little attention. Lauren Alwan’s grandparents “were content to live apart from the mainstream, within the bounds of home, family, and the community of Armenian and Lebanese immigrants” (56). They spoke Arabic at home, cooked and decorated their house in an Arab heritage, but interacted in the outer world as businessmen in tweed suits or, as Alwan notes, her grandmother had “conveyed a certain urbanity” with her “careful grooming and gold jewelry” (58). Without emphasizing their heritage to the outside world, her grandparents were able to assimilate into the culture. Many immigrant families had a “legacy that included silence as a way to belong” (63). In addition, there are undocumented immigrants like Krystal A. Sital who work at staying invisible out of fear of being deported...