How Do Immigrants Make Up America?

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most

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

Our nation is a nation of immigrants. The first settlers here (that is, after the Native Americans) were those from Western Europe, seeking religious freedom. The next wave of immigrants left Europe, filled American cities and pushed back the frontier; they were seeking the new American Dream. The Asian and eastern European immigrants sought labor, prosperity and a new start. Following the end of the immigration pause in the mid1960’ s, immigration has steadily increased and the number of persons entering the United States is close to its highest level since the turn of the century.ii

“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)

It is evident that the topic about immigration has been rekindled lately with Trump becoming president of the United States, this led to a polarization of the country into two sides: one that accepts immigrants into their country and another side that stands behind Trump’s point of view about Mexicans and other immigrants. Immigrants have been a great influence in forming the Unites States’ culture, history and economy over the years. In 2015 almost the 20% of the United States population were immigrants from foreign countries (mainly Mexicans and Asians), they have been a really important piece of the population of the United States in history and thus they have had an important role in what this country has become.

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.

Immigrants into the the states were given the same promise of the American Dream as the citizens already there. This dream was meant to release them from a previous suppression and give them the opportunity to better their life. They had the right to work towards this better life with fairness and without discrimination. Once a group had taken full advantage of the dream and substantially improved their own quality of life, they were able to destroy this opportunity for others. The dream that was once “held to be available to every American” became difficult to achieve. The problem was that individuals were looking out for only themselves and forgetting to take into account the welfare of their nation and fellow citizens.

“We didn’t raise the Statue of Liberty with her back to the world, we did it with her light shining as a beacon to the world. And whether we were Irish or Italians or Germans crossing the Atlantic, or Japanese or Chinese crossing the Pacific; whether we crossed the Rio Grande or flew here from all over the world — generations of immigrants have made this country into what it is. It’s what makes us special.” President Obama. November 21, 2014 (White House, 5). Although illegal immigration is often considered negative, recent studies and social trends suggest illegal immigration has had a more positive impact on the United States through observing the cases of modern day life. The number of immigrants to the US

In the late 1800s and early 1900’s, there has been an increase on immigration in the US including from Germans to Europeans and Chinese. Recently in the US, there has been a rise on immigration coming from our neighboring country, Mexico. They cross the border knowing the risks but all they have in mind are the new opportunities and better way of life. Immigration is such a heated and controversial topic in the US but it’s something that we have to address. Even politicians and artists, such as former president Barack Obama, have been helping out legal and illegal immigrants on their behalf and have been raising their voice. Immigrants are an essential part to the US and should have the opportunity to stay here in the United States without fear of being deported. They come here for a better education, a better way of living, and help boost up the country’s economy.

Immigration in the United States continues to increase rapidly year by year. According to an analysis of monthly Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies, the immigration population in the United States, both legal and illegal, hit a record of 42.1 million in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 1.7 million since the same quarter of 2014 (CIS.org). Clearly, Immigrants make up a large part of the population in the United States, and for most immigrants, migrating to the United States contains one main purpose: to pursue a better life with more opportunities, a purpose also known as “the American Dream”. The concept of immigration is embodied with different viewpoints that can be based on facts or subjective reasoning, but overall, the viewpoints on immigration are narrowed down to two general perspectives. For some Americans, Immigration, especially illegal immigration, impacts the United States in a negative way. People with this perspective argue that immigration has a negative impact on the country’s security, economy, education, and public health. On the other hand, supporters of the presence of immigrants in the country suggest that immigrants contribute to the well-being and development of the country. Supporters of immigration argue that immigrants help boost the economy of the United States rather than hurting it, and believe that the moral thing to do is to give people the opportunity to better themselves in a country filled with the

The United States of America has repeatedly been called a “land of immigrants” due to its extensive and continuing history of taking in large amounts of foreign born people from all over the world. Despite this, immigration has always been a controversial subject. These issues have existed as far back as the time of George Washington; it was thought that too many German settlers would flood and eventually stamp out the treasured British culture of the colonies. Throughout history, each new wave of immigrants has brought along new fears and disputes. In the face of these hardships, immigrants have carved out places for themselves within the US and even succeeded in paving the way for future immigrants. For many,

Throughout the history of United States of America, immigration has grown to important parts of our life. Many politicians tried to improve and control immigration, by giving foreigners all over the world chance to explore “The American Dream”. Therefore, during the presidential race, immigration always became a hot topic as politicians debated about how to handle the large number of illegal immigrants in the United States. But these debates are nothing new. Historically, Americans have frequently scorned new arrivals, despite the fact that their ancestors were also immigrants. Past presidents, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama has also made negative and positive comments on the immigration. During Bill Clinton’s term in office, President

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

Thousands of immigrants arrive to the United States every year looking to begin a new life. They abandon everything in order to chase the “American dream”. However, it is not easy. Some lose their lives in the attempts to reach this country. Moreover, they face discrimination, unbeara-ble working conditions, and language barriers. They have to work very hard and do the jobs that some Americans would not prefer to do. Although some believe that immigrants are taking American jobs and negatively affecting this country, they are making this country stronger.

Each year approximately 1.05 million immigrants come into the United states. According to the Center for Immigration studies, there “are 10.9 million students from immigrant households in public schools, and they account for nearly 23 percent of all public school students”. Immigrants come to the United states for many reasons, religious freedom, the chance to start over, the ability to have a job, for health and happiness, education purposes, regardless the reason it is called the American Dream. The American Dream is what people dream America will be like. Whether it be fame and fortune, a happy and healthy family, or a good education and a well-paying job.