I Am Not A Citizen Of The United States

Immigration can be seen as an important role to maintain diversity and a steady economy in many countries, including the United States. However, while people are trying to immigrate to locations where they would get better opportunities for themselves and their families, they are instead being greeted by death or closed doors, caused by awful conditions when trying to cross the border or the inability to gain access to a country with better opportunities. Immigrants are forced to cross illegally to improve their and their family’s lives due to the difficulty of attaining citizenship or visa; millions of families have been separated and they have to live not knowing what has happened to their loved ones. The trauma of an incident like this can impact someone’s life forever, and in order to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing, everyone should have a real chance to gain citizenship, disregarding their country of origin. The path to citizenship should be made easier and more inclusive so that people who are searching for opportunities are given the chance to improve their lives.

Since the early 1990’s, the immigrant population in America has doubled to over 40 million. The population could be higher factoring in illegal immigrants with the number estimated to be over 11 million. Majority of these immigrants both legal and illegal are mainly from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Uncontrolled immigration has been blamed on loss of jobs, higher crime rates and housing problems in the US. While these immigrants play a unique role in the economy, the executive and the legislature have found it necessary to control the inflow of these immigrants for various reasons. A number of laws and immigration policies have been enacted to create order in this issue. How these laws are perceived by immigrants and the general American population has varied and has been a major topic for debate.

Just like the natives, immigrants also commit criminal activities, and they are supposed to face corrective measures designed by the respective countries they reside. One of the research that was carried by and published in local dailies revealed that contrary to popular belief, immigrants are less likely to commit crime than the natives. Also, experts assert that the available evidence does not support the claim that undocumented immigrant’s disproportionate share of the crimes. When the U.S. president assumes s power, he gave executive orders stating that many people who are entering the country with no permission did present a significant threat to public safety and national security at large (Martin 136). Therefore, a directive to the

America is perceived the world over as the “Promised Land” where everything is possible. This lucrative perception leads many immigrants to seek diverse ways to enter this vast land of promise, with the aim of living the American dream. Illegal immigrants are considered the medium behind some of criminal activities perpetuated in America. Their participation in such criminal activity is prevalent in most criminal prosecutions and convictions, in state and federal criminal justice departments. The American criminal justice system has bared the brunt of illegal criminal activities, alleged to have been committed

It seems unusual for people to consider immigrants criminals to this day. Although we are in the 21st century, most immigrants are frowned upon and known to bring their cultural tendencies to the United States and cause harm. In Bianca E Bersani and Alex R. Piquero’s essay “Immigrants don’t commit more crimes. Why does the myth persist?” it is shown through various ways that immigrants commit less crime than native-born peers. Bersani and Piquero’s intention when writing this article was to prove to the nation that people are committing the same mistake as they did when large numbers of Polish, Italians, and Irish migrated to the United States and were blamed for crime without probable crime. Bersani and Piquero show the respect and commitment that immigrants have towards the authorities, providing another example that would diminish the fact of them committing crime.

Thirdly, criminal activity in communities in the US is of concern. Specifically, the approximately 11.7 million illegal immigrants account for less than 4% of the overall US population (330 million). However, illegal immigrants account for 13.6% of all offender sentences, 20% of kidnapping sentences, and 16% of drug trafficking sentences (Zimmerman).

Upon entry to the United States immigrants from all around the world are met with the harsh stereotypes that not only many Americans share but also the rest of the world. Following an immigrant 's journey into the United States we begin with the idea of how they made it in in the first place. The most common notion, that is falsely held is: they are lawless, alien people crossing country lines without proper

Almeida et al. (2010) found significant support for the claim that recent first-generation immigrants are not violent, but that, over time, there is some process of acculturation whereby immigrants eventually reach the violence levels of those who have been in the United States for longer periods of time. This finding suggests that it would be pointless for criminal justice policy to act upon the idea of the violent recent immigrant, as such an idea is a myth. Rather, criminal justice policy should focus on the identification of reasons why recent immigrants become more violent over time. If such reasons are identified, then policy steps can be taken to disrupt the process of acculturation to violence.

In recent years, a large number of immigrants moving into the United States, has jumped up the growth rate of population. “Over the last three decades, socio-economic conditions, especially in the developing world, in conjunction with U.S. immigration policy, have caused 25 million people to leave their homelands and emigrate legally to the United States. Additionally, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that the illegal alien population grows by 400,000 to 500,000 each year. The current influx has caused an enormous growth in the immigrant population, from 9.6 million in 1970 (4.8 percent of the population) to 35 million (12.1 percent of the population) in 2005.”(Steven A. Camarota, 2005) By 2014, there are 42.4 million immigrants living in the U.S. (Zong, J. & Batalova, J.2016) With this large number of immigrants moving in, it has caused significant social problems, especially on the parts of these immigrants and their next generation. Immigrants themselves regularly face enormous pressure due to work and financial issues, racial discrimination,

As time has passed, millions of immigrants have flocked to this country searching for these unalienable rights: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” With immigrants of the past and present the United States of America became and has remained the ultimate melting pot of the world: races of every color, varieties of languages, different cultures you name it, America has it, and that’s what make our country so special. However, today the immigration system is much more complex than the days of Ellis Island, making it more difficult to get into this country legally. This has given way to a new kind of immigrant: the illegal immigrant. Desperate to become part of this democracy and booming economy, these immigrants ignore laws set forth by the national government and flood this country. The United States is the third largest country in the world, giving it large borders that we are unable to fully police and enforce these immigrations laws. Instead of making a good impact on the country like the immigrants of the past, these

Many people in the United States believe that all of immigrants’ rights should be secure by law. The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law is a foundation that became unified in 1980, primarily focusing on the safety and security of immigrants, by providing certain legal services. This non-for-profit organization provides education, support and training to vulnerable families. These services are directed toward impoverished immigrant families and immigrant families that need assistance in certain aspects of immigration law (Human Rights). By providing these services, immigrants get one step closer to playing an active role in their community.

Immigration has consistently been linked to crime as more and more immigrants move to the United States. As of 2013, 13% of the United States population was compromised of immigrants and by 2050, the immigrant population is expected to grow to 19% (Bersani, 2014). The influx of immigrants has been one of the most controversial topics throughout the nation and there is strong public and political belief that immigrants are inherently crime prone and are dangerous to public safety. However, research has consistently shown that foreign-born individuals are less involved in crime than native-born Americans are (Bersani, 2014; Bui & Thongniramol, 2005; Harker, 2001; Warner, Fishbein, & Krebs, 2010; Dipietro & McGloin, 2012). Assimilation

Immigrants have been portrayed as deviant people who cause crime throughout the United States The media has even stigmatized immigrants as being a problem within American society. History shows the type of attention given to illegal immigrants from the Zoot Suit riots in the 1940’s to the minute men project today. Specifically looking at American society most citizens believes the myth that immigrants cause crime or display deviant behavior. This research will show that it is the native born people rather than the immigrants that have a higher chance of criminal activity. The research will also analyze crime statistics to further dispel the Myth of immigration.

Immigration is constantly the subject of debate among Americans. Is it wrong or is it right? Should they stay or should they go? The fact of the matter is approximately 10.8 million undocumented immigrants are currently in the United States who either entered illegally or entered legally on a temporary visa/green card but have overstayed. A lot of people leave there home countries in search of a better life. In the eyes of immigrants the United States is viewed as the land of hope, everyone is in search of the “American dream”. Some United States citizens view immigrants as a threat to their security due to the past terrorist attacks and crime rates among immigrants but in all actuality U.S. born adult male citizens are incarcerated over two-and-a-half times greater than that of immigrants/foreign born men.

Even before the Declaration of Independence was written, the United States was always a country where people journey upon to seek a better life to the land of the free in order to find a life style on the idea “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Since immigration is recognized as one of the largest dilemmas of homeland security, people value their safety, disregarding the fact that the United States was born from immigrants. However, this does not mean that immigrants do not have to obey the law; it is an obligation or else consequences will arise. Because the United States is a democratic nation, it trusts the people of the country to assist in the making and carrying out laws. When people do commit a crime, in a particular