Immigration Across The United States

America has, is, and will always be a nation of immigrants: the great melting pot. In the years that have passed since Emma Lazarus' poem was inscribed on the Statue of Liberty "the golden door" Americans have seen times when the door was open wide and times when it was close shut to most immigrants (Sure 4). Many people look at the present immigration problems as a purely modern dilemma. The truth is America has always struggled with the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. Changing times, however, makes it imperative that our government reexamines and adjusts today's immigration laws to today's standards. Those standards, however, are not easily defined. Too often the issue of

Immigration has been around since the first time the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock with immigrants from Great Britain looking for a new home in order to have religious freedom. If Americans actually glance back into the history of the United States they will understand that they are all ancestors of immigrants who came from other countries looking for a better life in the new world. What made the United States a powerful country were the positive contributions of immigrants, such contributions were only possible by the numerous mixing of races while keeping true to their individual cultures; immigrants should adopt to a “melting pot” and a American way of life to have greater opportunities.

Immigration has been a part of the United States history since its birth. America is a country that was found and built by immigrants. In the beginning everybody was an immigrant. There were people from all over the globe coming to America with the hope for a better life—which still holds true today. There are countless reasons that people are wanting to come to America today. Some immigrants are fleeing radical governments, while others are escaping countries that are torn with civil war. On the down side, America is not a newly discovered land with wide open land for the taking anymore. She simply cannot accommodate every individual who wishes to live here. Regulating who, when, and the quantity of those who are coming to America is extremely important. Illegal immigration has been a problem in America for decades, and there have been numerous attempts in controlling it.

Immigration has become an extremely debatable topic in the United States over the past 15 years. The United States has earned the term "the melting pot of the world" due to the country 's history as an immigrant nation. The United States was founded by immigrants seeking a better life from the foreign countries they once called home. Over the past two-hundred years Ellis Island and Angel Island have been open doorways for countless immigrants entering the country. Often the glories of America 's long and rich history of immigration cover up the struggles and problems that immigrants faced and the burden it places on everyday citizens in society. Today citizens must face numerous challenges and obstacles brought on by both legal and

A native of Mexico, Gonzalez came to the United States using a visa, to visit family members and in 1994, police convicted Gonzalez of the abduction and rape of a Waukegan, Illinois woman. During his conviction his attorney, Vanessa Potkin, addressed that at twenty years old, Gonzalez spoke very little English, had no criminal record, and yet the police wanted to pin the crime on him. Twenty years later, DNA from the crime cleared him of both charges, and Gonzalez is now threatened with deportation. Situations such as this occur often in the United States with immigrants subjected to being accused of crimes because of their inability to speak proper English and lay victim to stereotypical views. Americans have the misconception that all immigrants pose a threat to the United States and that immigrants entering the United States have the intent to perform terrorist attacks. This way of thinking continually perpetuates the stereotype that immigrants are dangerous. Although terrorists may be immigrants, not all immigrants could be terrorists, terrorists and immigrants posses many differences. Domestic terrorists or terrorists, who enter the country, have the intent of using violent acts to achieve a political goal. To further prove this argument, Sharon Bass, an Immigration Service Officer at the US Department of Homeland Security, addresses that “the average immigrant migrates to the United States to better their lives or their family’s lives, seek employment or reunite with

Many immigrant children are coming from different countries to the US and entering schools here that do not provide them with the support they need in order to be successful. Schools in America that accept these immigrant children in their school should provide more support to them. Newcomers should have a counselor that could help them with problems in school such as Bullying and discrimination. Also school districts should invest money in special programs that could focus on these children to help them succeed academically in school.

Immigration is a highly controversial and big problem in the United States today. “While some characterize our immigration crisis as solely an issue of the 11 to 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in this country, our problems extend beyond the number of undocumented people to a broader range of issues. The lack of a comprehensive federal solution has created a slew of lopsided, enforcement-only initiatives that have cost the country billions of dollars while failing to end unauthorized immigration.” The bigger issue with immigration is that we do not have a system in place to stop it on all the levels federal, state, and local the only system we have is when we find them we deport them which ends up costing billions of dollars.

When going into the immigration unit, I have to admit that I had very little knowledge on the topic. Therefore, I had to do a little bit more research to formulate an opinion and take a stance on the whole issue. My initial thoughts were to deport all of the immigrants in the country with no exceptions. After all, there are eleven million people in the United States who are forbidden by law to be in the country. Looking back into the history of immigration, I discovered that in 1986, Ronald Reagan implemented an amnesty policy that granted 3 million people citizenship. Unfortunately, this did not solve the overall problem in the long run because the current immigrant population is circulating around eleven million people. Due to the past failure with amnesty, I did not think it would be wise to try that again. In addition, I did not think that it is fair for legal citizens to have to pay for unauthorized peoples’ welfare. United States citizens spend eleven to twenty-two billion dollars a year on the welfare of people who, in my eyes, have not earned their way into the country. Next, I took a look at the process to obtain a green card. To my surprise, it is not very difficult to acquire a green card. I was worried that people are able to come into the country for malicious reasons and cause harm. I felt like the immigrants needed to show some effort in order prove that they want to be United States citizens for the right reasons. The only solution I could think of was to

The influx of the immigrants should have made the police department recognize the needs of being as diverse as the community. It is necessary that those who are policing the city reflect the demographics of that city. Miami was not prepared for the rapid demographic change and the lack of trust in the Cuban government made matters worse because the incoming immigrants didn’t trust those who worked for the government already. The Cubans were represented in the Miami Police Department but the mishap was that there were cops both Hispanic and non-Hispanic participating in drug trafficking. The issue that may have let this happen was the relaxed screening process that the police department started to use during the 1980’s. In order to get more men and women in law enforcement they made a quick decision to change the standards on getting into the department and it came back to haunt them. The famous police officers known to be corrupt happened to be a group of nineteen Hispanic officers known as the River Cops. This group exposed the corruption that had penetrated the department since the influx of Cubans during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The police officers took control of the drug trafficking in each of their assigned areas and by the time they were caught there were several State and Federal crimes including murder, threats that involved murder, robbery and various conspiracies. At the end of the 1980’s an astounding ten percent of the entire Miami Police Department was

Although the United States has absorbed and benefitted from the contributions of the undocumented, their presence has imposed harm to the country’s economy and political stability. Immigrants have taken over American jobs by retrieving several advantages that come along with the country’s policies, as well as harming the country by not assimilating to the culture and sustaining their identities. The influx of immigrants from other parts of the world has prompted an overwhelming change in society and the immigrants themselves due to more opportunities available in the United States. These immigrants have different motives for entering the country, hoping to obtain a better life in the land of opportunities. There is a greater chance of freedom, protection, and benefits, which are a priority to the migrants to achieve the American dream. Although the immigrants are advancing to achieve their goals, the government is advancing towards stabilizing the overcrowding population due to the hazards caused to the environment and the country. Many of these aliens have aspirations and hopes for a better future in this country, and they do not plan to harm it. On the other hand, some are a threat, but they come to reach that goal of self- independence and a new opening of opportunities. The only way to know that their goal has been achieved, is when they first arrive at Ellis Island and they see that symbolic figure of freedom which is The Statue of Liberty. Illegal immigration has been

Controversy regarding illegal immigration in the United States of America is an ongoing issue, and is in dire need of a solution to restore jobs for American citizens and revive the US economy. According to The Rasmussen Reports, a “survey found 51 percent of Americans believe they are competing for jobs against illegal immigrants living in the country without work permits”(Silva, 1). The competition for jobs, favors illegal immigrants due to their lower labor costs. The majority of the American workers know they are competing with illegal aliens for jobs because they will work for so little for each paycheck. Millions of Immigrants come to the country each year, taking up valuable jobs that citizens could fill (Foster, 1).

Through all of the events in history that happened to the United States, the issue lurking around for over 250 years and counting, which began ages ago, is immigration. In the U.S daily, there are approximately 70,000 foreigners that travel here from various countries from different parts of the world. Within the 70,000 travelers, over 60,000 of them are tourists, businessmen, and students. In the United States currently, with every 2,000 legal immigrants, there are 5,000 illegal immigrants. Since the 1990’s, illegal immigrants have been tremendously outnumbering legal immigrants by millions. Because of this ruckus with illegal immigrants, U.S lawmakers have made many attempts to restructure the immigration laws so that we can actually

Immigration in America has been a controversial topic for over a hundred years. Even though the United States was founded by immigrants; problems regarding immigration and the treatment of those who decide to come to America have increased. In modern politics, immigration is one of the many topics that people and politicians argue about. Question about allowing immigrants into the U.S and what to do if given permission are questions that aren’t being answered and keep the arguments fueled. One things that immigration has provided for the United States is diversity. Immigration is a large factor in our population growth and the cultural changes that the United States has felt. While our population has grown and diversified; the economic, social,

Immigration has always and will always play an important role in America’s history, along with the United States having the most open immigration policy in the world to this date. American history began with flocks of immigrants competing for lands to start a life, bringing over their vast traditions and values. Some brought nothing but determination. It’s disgusting to see our congress and lawmakers make these higher-end laws to keep foreigners out, yet our country is built off immigrants. Since the 19th century, America has been the leading destination unlike no other for immigrants to reside. No other country has such a wide range of races and population like America. Diversity is indeed, what makes this country so unique. America has always

Immigrants built America into the country it is today. Some were fleeing persecution in their own countries. The immigrants came as free individuals, indentured servants, or slaves. Most came here to pursue a better life. America welcomed those individuals, and it has a process in place for those wishing to gain legal citizenship. The immigration issue is a hot topic in the United States today and concerns individuals who are entering the country illegally. Our representatives are proposing new laws to limit access to our country through other than legal means. There are strong feelings on each side.