It is no secret that the United States’ economy has seen a massive drop within the last ten years. One of many facts that support this claim is that the United States’ GDP accounted for about 32% of the world’s economic activity in 2001, but has dropped to a very meager 21.6% in 2011 – just ten years later (Snyder, 2013). Also, as the nation’s debt continues to rise, all lawmakers in Washington, DC can do is point fingers at one another and claim their methods for fixing our economy are the best, while unconsciously refusing to listen to what the other group has to say. What they are unable to do is realize that there is a workforce of eleven million hard-working and eager people who have already assimilated into our population, with many …show more content…
The average income of a currently legal immigrant is $43,739 compared to the average native income of $50,293. While a $7,000 dollar difference doesn’t seem like much, consider this: of those same households, immigrants average 3.14 members per home while natives average 2.4 members per home (Camarota). So, immigrants have less money to pay for more people, thus making them more susceptible to joining social services. Now that we can see how immigration reform is such a complex problem, let’s look at the best way to fix it. A Nation of Immigrants, John F. Kennedy’s last book’s title, describes our first point well. Kennedy knew the importance that immigrants played in our nation’s history. He speaks of the different “waves” of immigration and their respective contributions to society. Immigrants, in Kennedy’s eyes, are not the menacing and threatening population that some proclaim them to be, but rather are a population who come here in search of freedom and economic opportunity that may not be afforded to them in their countries of origin. The Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, and other European groups that came in great waves during the later 19th and early 20th centuries each influenced the areas they moved to. They too, like the newest wave of Central Americans and Mexicans coming today, were largely poor and unskilled. The Irish, who came mostly in the years between 1820 and 1920, offered some 4.5
The collection “Coming to America” is comprised of journal entries, biographies, and autobiographies that discuss the social and political transformations that arose from immigration. “Of Plymouth Plantation”, “Balboa”, and “‘Blaxicans’ and Other Reinvented Americans” illustrate how immigrants shape America’s direction. The changes that occurred when settlers migrated seriously impacted the nation they were travelling to. The first of these changes pertains to culture. Immigrants brought their religions and languages to their host country, and that caused a great deal of acculturation, usually to the new religion or language. Government is another principle that was implemented into the “inner workings” of the new country. Lastly, the newcomers
Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many
Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and what they have done to contribute to the great country of the United States of America. Both authors have written in their own unique style which has changed the reader’s perspective of their accomplishments, contributions, and sense of community in their new nation. In the essays “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen and “The Immigrant Contribution by John F. Kennedy, they show similar writing styles by both using the formal diction in their writing, and contradict in the way that Quindlen takes a more poetic approach in her writing, while Kennedy, being the President of the United States, uses more sophisticated dictions.
Steadily walking the streets of New York, yellow, blurring lights began to blind you, and all you can see is the people that pass you. You begin to take notice of the people that are a completely different race then you; wondering are all these people immigrants? Soon you come to a realization that our whole county is built on immigrants. In the book, “A Quilt of a Country” written by Anna Quindlen and “The Immigration Contribution” written by former president Kennedy you can start to see all the differences and similarities that both of the books have.
Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and
By using technical diction, Kennedy is able to attract academic readers. In paragraph six and seven, Kennedy listed out famous industrialists that were immigrants and help build America up, and also scientists that made landmark discoveries or inventions. These list of people can be verified, and the long list helps reinforce Kennedy’s thesis by listing the immigrants and their contributions to the American society. Without these people, America will not be in its current glory, nonetheless being the global economic power and trade. Continuing, Kennedy uses numerical statistics to prove that not only immigrants help build America to its glory, they are an important part of the workforce and help change our culture significantly. By using clear numbers like “23.5 million people who came to America in this period,” and “20 percent of the businessmen, 20 percent of the scholars,…., and 61 percent of actors were of foreign births,” shows us the immense numbers of immigrants and their contributions to the American society. These numbers can be checked, which helps draw in some factual reader. Kennedy also uses abstract diction in his essay. In paragraphs fifteen, Kennedy uses abstract words with positive connotations. These words include “dream”, “confidence”, “possibility”, and “faith”. Words that Kennedy used here allows the reader to think that America is a perfect utopia for people who want to work hard and have a better life because of it. This diction is effective when it comes to empathetic and emotional people, in which Kennedy’s point can across more easily. Kennedy, in short, incorporated an excellent combination of abstract and technical diction to prove his point and also collect the same audiences like
The last 10 years of U.S. economy can be seen by the impact of immigrant reform in different scenarios. In 2013, undocumented immigrants have been granted legal status; citizenship has helped to increase the U.S. GDP and would accumulate by an additional $1.4 trillion compared to the 10 years in between the 2013 to 2022. This earning will give a chance for the Americans some additional earnings of $791 billion at the same period as a personal income, in which the economy would create job opportunities, about 203,000 new jobs per year. In these years the undocumented immigrants will earn about 25.1 percent more than the current earnings of the immigrants. These earnings show that they will be contributing significantly to the federal, local, and state taxes which will add to tax revenue in 10 years with $185 billion to $116 billion for the USA federal government as well as $68 billion to the state and local government (Stuart Anderson,2011).
Since the dawn of American colonization in the early 1600s, the notion of immigrating to America has long been instilled upon various people as a stimulating opportunity to begin a fresh chapter in their lives. Even now, this possibility has brought many variations of people to America, culminating a society that brims with dreams and aspirations to form the diversified nation of today. When speaking of the current state of immigration, it is easy to conclude that immigration is heavily discussed from political standpoints. Though this current condition is composed of highly controversial perspectives, many of the early-century viewpoints found in literature genuinely embrace reality, for these writers were indeed immigrants themselves, thus adding an authoritative standpoint over immigration. The Americanization of Edward Bok (1921) by Edward Bok and The America I Believe In by Colin Powell, display the perspectives of two authors, who have lived as immigrants, through their own personal anecdotes. Both Edward Bok and Colin Powell convey a sincerely grateful tone and develop the idea of Americanization and the quest for opportunity through the use of connotative diction in contrast to the Immigration Chart and Political Cartoon which have a downright concrete and pessimistic tone and supports the idea that immigration exposes various challenges to incoming immigrants.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
“We are nation of immigrants. Some came here willingly, some unwillingly. Nonetheless, we are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, one, and all. Even the natives came from somewhere else, originally. All of the people who come to this country come for freedom, or for some product of that extraordinary, illusory condition. That is what we offer here—freedom and opportunity in a land of relative plenty.” (Middletown Journal 2005)
The United States of America has the largest foreign-born population in the world. With nearly thirteen percent of the total population being foreign-born, one may find it hard to imagine an immigrant-free country (U.S. Bureau of the Census). Immigration has been an integral part of the United States’ overall success and the country’s economy since it was established and without it, would have never been founded at all. Although there are some negative issues associated with immigration and many native-born Americans believe to be more of a problem than a solution, overall it actually has a positive effect. Immigrants in America, among other things, fill jobs where native-born Americans may not want to work or cannot work, they contribute
When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they
Throughout history, immigration has remained a complex and influential piece of presidential policy—from the Age of Mass Migration, which led to the Immigration Act of 1924, to present day policy, which may result in the construction of a border wall. The debate on immigration remains contentious, inspiring emotional and empirical arguments by politicians and the public alike. Many of these aspects are discussed and defined within Abramitzky, Boustan, and Eriksson’s paper “A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration” and Peri’s paper “Immigrants, Productivity, and Labor Markets,” which analyze American immigration, both past and present. From these papers, it is evident that adopting a nativist
America's past is made up of immigrants who have came and formed our country. However illegal immigration has now plagued our economy. What happens when you allow millions into the country, both legally and illegally? Exactly what is happening today? You have tens or hundreds of groups, made up of various nationalities, from various places. Forming themselves into isolated communities, and then trying to get the country to change for them. This paper confirms detailed information on how America is being altered by mass immigration and by uncontrolled illegal immigrants.
there were countless opportunities for these newly arrived immigrants to assimilate into society and thrive. These opportunities were plentiful as many “settled primarily in the industrial states…or in farming areas” (Eitzen, 161). In the most recent waves of immigration, the new immigrants have primarily settled on the “two coasts and in the southwest” (Eitzen, 161). Eitzen characterizes this new immigration via two developments. The first being that this new immigration is “relatively large” and the second being that “the racial landscape and rate of population growth are greatly affected” (160).