Best Answer
We would really love to know which country you are writing about, because the immigrant experience varies tremendously depending on both the country of origin and the destination country. There are other factors that can impact the psychological impact of the immigrant experience as well. Is a person immigrating with their family or on their own? Will they be able to have continued contact with their family? What are the reasons for immigrating? Is the immigrant escaping trauma, such as in many refugee scenarios, moving for better economic opportunities, or moving for another reason? All of these factors are going to impact how an immigrant experiences immigration.
Therefore, we would make our introductory paragraph an introduction to the immigrant. What is the immigrant’s country of origin? Where are they going? What are the details about the immigrant? You want to include things like age and gender, because they help paint a portrait, but make sure and go into greater detail, as well. Is the immigrant married? Do they have children? Will their spouse and children be immigrating with them? Are they immigrating legally or illegally, because the stressors involved are very different? Will their religious practices be different than those in their destination country? Is there an established immigrant community where the person is going? Does the immigrant know anyone in their destination country? What will the immigrant’s work and general economic situation be like when they get to their destination country? Was the immigrant persecuted in their home country for any reason, and, if so, what is the reason?
While you cannot write the immigrant’s entire life story in the introductory paragraph, you do want the reader to have a good idea of who the immigrant is. If you are not writing about an individual, but about a group of immigrants, you want to provide the same sort of details, but apply them across a group.
