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Immigration And Its Impact On America Essay

Decent Essays

For hundreds of years, immigration has been the engine to social and economic progress. The social mobility of populations has always existed and will never cease. It all began with the persecution of religious groups, escaping tyrants, looking for freedom and peace. It started as a movement of religious freedom, but quickly transformed into a quest for political freedom and democracy, which even today constitutes a model for other nations. In that sense, every immigrant that set foot on the American soil, contributed to the creation of the political, social and cultural American power house. Filling in the unsettled territories of the west, populating what we now call the 51 states, immigrants made America a leader in the world, and the promised land for other thousands of immigrants, who aspired to be part of this amazing project. The impact immigration has had on America is considered one of the most significant aspects that shaped the country and will continue to do so.
To begin with, one of main arguments against immigration is that people don’t change, and that they harm the American society and values. They are also perceived as being a burden, too radical, and undermining the established society. Though in reality, this is more of a result of xenophobia. The idea of newcomers has never been welcomed. One example is “Benjamin Franklin [, who] worried, that too many German immigrants would swamp America’s predominantly British culture. [then] …mid-1800s, Irish

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